Blog

44308389075_d7b5e394c8_o

University Presses: Innovating in the Digital Age

University presses have tended to be slow to change, mirroring the incremental pace of change of their host institutions. However, as their traditional revenue streams have dried up, and as digitization has upended the publishing industry, university presses have been under pressure to innovate to keep up with changing times.
Alt-text: Interior of the Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington. The library is lined with bookshelves, has students studying, and features gothic architecture.

sapphic fantasy

The Rise of Sapphic Fantasy

In a genre that has predominantly featured stories by men about men, the rise of sapphic fantasy in the mainstream is long overdue. Readers are demanding more women with swords falling into adventure (and love) with other women. This fresh subgenre expands fantasy with new voices and stories, but it also empowers and validates the LGBTQIA2S+ readers who have been a fan of the fantasy genre for years.

elmo mail

You’ve Got Mail! Inside the Marketing & Publicity Inbox

A majority of my position is digital collaboration: reviewing Marketing or Publicity documents for project teams, corresponding with Project Managers, or reaching outside Ooligan for various extracurricular publishing activities. Marketing and Publicity are actually two distinct departments at Ooligan Press. The role of Marketing and Publicity Manager is unique because it is one of the few positions that is currently combined; while the responsibilities vary, the skillset is similar.

marissa pens

Manager Monday: The Role of Copy Chief

Ooligan Press is a student-run trade press that operates in conjunction with the book publishing master’s program at Portland State University. Those of us inclined to bite off a bit more work operate as project managers (those who manage the publication of a book project) and department managers (those who run the various departments within the press). As copy chief it is my responsibility to oversee and edit all the copy that goes through the press.

literary_scouting

The Enigmatic Role of Literary Scouting in the Publishing Industry

When it comes to publishing, there’s quite a bit that goes on behind the scenes, unseen even by other people in the industry. Literary (or book) scouting is a very specific niche of the industry that often gets overlooked—even as a publishing student, it wasn’t until I got a job with a scouting agency that I fully started to understand what the job actually entails. Over the past few months, I’ve gotten an inside look into the world of scouting and the impact that scouts have on an international level. So, in the spirit of more transparency in the industry, here’s a quick run-down on scouting.

Phillips_blog_image

The Marketing Plan: Setting Your Book Up for Success

Marketing plans are a foundational document that make sure the entire process of publishing a book is cohesive, intentional, and appropriate to the audience and the goals of the book. The marketing plan is referenced in almost every other stage of the publishing process, so we have to be careful and put a lot of thought into the decisions we make because mistakes could cascade throughout the process and cause problems later.

1 2 … 168