Inside the Press: The Art of In-House Note-Taking
At Ooligan Press, one of the important things that keeps the press running are notes. Once a week, the entire press meets together to provide updates and share widespread announcements […]
What Are Subsidiary Rights?
Subsidiary rights are a vital aspect of modern publishing, offering significant benefits in terms of revenue, reach, and brand development. For authors and publishers, effectively managing these rights can lead to greater success and sustainability in the competitive world of books. Understanding and leveraging subsidiary rights can transform a single publication into a multifaceted product with global appeal.
A Crash Course on the Crash Course: The Creation of Ooligan’s First High School Workshop
When this blog post is uploaded, Ooligan Press will have taught its first ever workshop aimed at high school students. Our course “A Publishing Crash Course for Teens” was on February 22, 2025, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Forest Grove Library in Washington County. Washington County is about a half-hour drive from Portland, and before this workshop, the librarians had never heard of Ooligan Press. So, how did we get here?
Reorganizing 101 . . . 102 . . . 103
I can safely say that storage rooms are a black hole of fruitless despair. Perhaps you, dear reader, live in a world where storage rooms are idyllic, organized paradises of serenity and calm. Good for you.
From PDF to Print: A Guide to Ooligan Book Production
Books at Ooligan take a wonderful journey as an author writes, editors edit, and publishers publish. Throughout it all, there is a design lead (that’s me!) who is making sure that the Word document turns into a tangible book that you get to hold. This is the process of turning that digital file into a ready-for-print file here at Ooligan.
The Handoff Process
It’s not always clear how manuscripts move between departments in the publishing industry. Who decides when they’re ready to go and what information gets exchanged? This process may vary from press to press depending on the size of the departments, but here at Ooligan, there’s a standardized process to transfer the manuscript from acquisitions to copyeditor and the project manager who will take the manuscript throughout the rest of the publishing process.
Tips to Avoid Overediting
It all comes down to readability and ensuring the author’s message is being told in the best possible way for the readers while remaining true to the author’s voice.
Unpacking KDP: Revolutionizing Self-Publishing or Sparking Controversy?
At Ooligan Press, we use KDP to upload our upcoming titles and our ebooks. It is a fast and easy way to publish a title that seemingly doesn’t have much screening process. After creating a couple of KDP pages for our upcoming titles, I thought to myself, “That’s it? I just have to click a box that says ‘this was not written by a computer’ and I’ll be able to sell it?”
Tips for Writing Author Queries
When you’re editing a manuscript, there are an abundance of reasons why you might want to pose a query. For example, if you’re copyediting, you may want to point out a spelling you’ve found that’s inconsistent, ask for clarification about ambiguous wording, or find out more about an author’s intended meaning, just to name a few. Although the best method of query writing may vary by author based on what they respond well to, there are a few best practices when it comes to writing effective author queries.
Creating a Captivating Sales Video
A well-crafted sales video doesn’t just tell potential readers what the story is about, it makes them feel the story before they’ve even turned the first page and helps them get established with the author on a personal level. This is a step-by-step guide on how to create a compelling video to capture readers early on.