At the end of the day, it can be intimidating to use what little energy you have left to get out of your comfort zone and connect with a wider community. Many indie bookstores have taken on the burden of organizing events and services that address a wide range of patron needs—everything from social engagement to meaningful activism.
What defines a story as “young adult”: the protagonist’s age, the reading level, the story’s contents, the specific themes, or the intended audience? More concerning, how might the presence of a marginalized identity (e.g., BIPOC, feminine, LGBTQ+, disabled) color one’s perception of what is considered—and acceptable—“YA” fiction?
As we have entered the Fall 2025 term, I have had to readdress what the Quick Start Guide project is and its relevance to the publishing industry we hope to soon enter. Most importantly, there has been a major alteration to the scope of the project.
I’ve had the opportunity to work on the back cover copy for several fiction and nonfiction Ooligan titles. There are principles that will be true on any back cover regardless of genre, but the conventions of fiction and nonfiction will necessarily diverge at points.
“We seek to publish regionally significant works of literary, historical, and social value to the Pacific Northwest. . . . we encourage works originating from, or focusing on, the experiences […]
Interactive fiction is a nebulous term. After all, isn’t all fiction interactive? “Interactive fiction” specifically refers to text-based games where you get to choose what path the narrative takes.
At Ooligan Press, we have two main stages in the publishing process that involve creating interior layouts for print books (not EPUBs): the galley and the final book interior. For our title Cekpa (launched in November of 2025), I had the opportunity to design both versions of the interior, and they were different processes. I wanted to take a moment to demystify what goes into each.
Now that the initial work of developmental edits, cover design, and putting together the book’s marketing plan has been completed, the book is moving on to the next steps in the process: contact lists, blurb requests, and review requests. While this may sound tedious, these tasks make up much of the backbone of a book’s publicity.
Especially in a visual culture and literacy crisis, images are more immediately and widely accessible than prose. That makes them not only dangerous to those who want to control information, but also vulnerable to moral panics and cherry picking. Since comics are the art of juxtaposing images, it’s not particularly difficult to manufacture a case of obscenity by removing a panel from the context that gives it meaning and showing it at a board meeting or other assembly.
I performed extensive research on accessible text formatting and layout design for children’s publishing. I paired this information with multiple case studies to exemplify accessible title text formatting and layout simplicity for intentional accessible children’s book design.