Editor’s Note: Post originally written Spring 2025

Hi! My name is Tanya and I am a “noolie.” This is my first term as part of the Ooligan family and with that came the opportunity to attend my first book launch! I have to admit though, I’m not entirely new to this world. During my undergraduate program I was a part of two student-run magazines and even helped plan the release party for one of them, but don’t get them confused. Release parties and book launches are hosted in a similar fashion but they do differ. They differ in the sense that a release party makes the published content official and is oftentimes very informal. Meanwhile a book launch is used more as a marketing strategy and usually leads up to the release party. Both can exist without the other though, so it’s not necessary to have one in order to have the other. But how does this compare to what I would call my first indie book launch? And why does it matter? It matters for contextual background, and to give you, the reader, more insight on me! Just like many others, when I heard the words “book launch” the first thing that popped into mind was—envision this—a large group of people at a coffee shop mingling and sharing their thoughts on the book and author, and conversations about how they discovered the author and why they love their work filling the room. We see the author off to the side talking in awe with their editor and publisher about how great the turnout was, and as their conversation is wrapping up, the crowd starts settling into their seats ready for the event to start.

The book launch I attended was for The Blue Line Letters, and it was almost exactly like the vision I had, with one major difference being that it wasn’t hosted at a coffee shop. The book launch was held at the Multnomah County Library in a small conference-like room. There was a large crowd and people were talking about the book and the author. I even saw the author conversing with his editor and publisher, and they were, in fact, in awe and talking about the launch and how great the turnout was. The book launch was very intimate and felt very personal. The author Steven Christiansen even gave us a peek into the creative process behind his debut young adult novel. What makes it indie though? Well exactly everything I just mentioned: the intimate and comforting environment and the MAX that kept passing by in the background. It all fed into the indie vibe since Ooligan isn’t a big publisher and does not have any ties to the big five (by definition anything that’s considered indie simply just means that it is not affiliated with any major companies). I have very fond memories of the event, but one memory in particular that I have been thinking about since is a brief story that the author shared with us during the Q&A portion of the launch. As he spoke to us about the editing process behind his book, he told us about a comment left behind by an Ooligan editor in which they made sure to remind him that the team working on his book LOVED the book and to keep that in mind as he read the edits left behind. This book launch was such a great first experience, and I can confidently say that it further fueled my ambitions. For new incoming editors, writers, or any kind of person who is new to publishing, these kinds of events can really solidify and reassure you. They’re a reminder that you can also one day achieve either being the author answering questions from the readers, or the editor that makes the book launch happen.