Typography in 2020: What’s in a Trend?
If typography is out in the wild, it will demand your attention whether it’s effective or not. Even unsuccessful attempts at public graphic design grab the observant onlooker’s gaze.
Black-Owned Bookstores Can Handle It
Not getting your books on time? Putting the blame on Black-owned bookstores does more harm than good. Take some time to understand where the problem starts and why, during a global pandemic, we should aim to be more understanding.
Finding the Face of FAULTLAND
Cover design is an important, frequently complicated affair for any press, but Ooligan’s process probably has most beat.
Overcoming Barriers: Poetry in Translation
Poetry translation is a work of metamorphoses, where there is no space for literal translation, according to translator Edith Grossman. The intrinsic meaning and sounds of a poem are painted anew by the translator, who engages in an artistic transaction between languages.
Adjusting Strategies to Fit Life While Social Distancing
Hello from the LAUREL EVERYWHERE team. As you might have noticed, the world looks a little different right now. Like countless other companies and families, the students running Ooligan Press are trying to balance living in quarantine with the laundry list of life’s demands. For me, this means homeschooling a fourth- and sixth-grader while finishing up my graduation requirements, sending out blurb requests, creating a social media plan, and training the next project manager for the team.
“You’re crazy” is Lazy: How Editors Can Most Authentically Portray Mental Illness in Fiction
Words have power, and the way fictional stories about mental health are told can have just as crucial of an impact on readers as facts presented in news outlets. Editors have the responsibility to put forth stories that promote a respectful and authentic perspective on mental health, and below are four practices they can implement to achieve this goal.
Editing Trauma
William Faulkner said, “In writing, you must kill all your darlings.” A good editor knows that this process is sometimes painful to the author because their words are their babies. How, then, is an editor to approach nonfiction trauma manuscripts when an author’s words are their nightmares?
Into the Invisible World of the Publisher’s Assistants
The role of Publisher’s Assistants seems vague in the world of Ooligan because a lot of our work consists of managing metadata, cataloging keywords for search engine optimization (SEO), and inputting BISAC codes for all of our titles, just to name a few of the fun things. We also help other department heads, project managers, and (most importantly) the publisher with a lot of back-end tasks and fulfill certain requirements for getting books, well, published! This blog aims to uncover the mystery behind how the PAs help the rest of Ooligan.
Publishers Are Making Room for Smart Speakers
Smart speakers are becoming a staple in the average household and changing the way we interact with technology. Publishing companies are taking note and looking at their use of the digital space in order to attract a more tech-savvy crowd. The industry is no stranger to surviving a digital upset, but the question is how they will respond to it. Looking closer, we can already see what challenges publishers face and the innovative ideas they have brought to the table in response.
Writing Alt Text for Ebooks
Alternative text, or alt text, is different from including a caption for an image in your book; it is a clear description of what is taking place in the image so that readers who use voice-to-text software can understand its context. Used commonly on websites, alt text can be easily built into your InDesign document for all of your images before you convert your book into an EPUB—and here is how to write it.