Publisher to Library Pipeline: How Libraries Get Their Books
So, how do libraries get new books, old books, ebooks, and so on? Do they go and buy them? Wait, who is “they”? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
So, how do libraries get new books, old books, ebooks, and so on? Do they go and buy them? Wait, who is “they”? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
Satisfaction clauses can be a way for a publisher to ensure that they will get a return on their investment. However, these kinds of clauses often hold a level of subjectivity that make them controversial in the publishing industry, and not everyone chooses to use them.
When Ooligan acquires a book, we give the decision to the entire press—consisting of students and staff. Everybody gets a say in what this press publishes, and everyone gets to vote.
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.
Ooligan strives to handle every manuscript with care and to take into account every aspect, and angle, of the potential of each one that comes our way. It is an anxious time waiting for a publisher to get back to you about your story that has been worked on for years. That is not something that we take lightly.
When I started managing the rights department at Ooligan Press about a year ago, I took on one of our first major projects: acquiring the rights to nine different French science fiction short stories for an anthology. It was an ambitious enterprise, but the previous managers did all of the legwork for setting it up. They found a French professor at our university who already had the idea for the anthology and agreed to translate (with the help of a few others); all that was left to do was find the owners of the rights to each story and acquire them for the anthology.
Everyone has a favorite genre or story, but comfort isn’t always the key to selecting a desirable manuscript. A publisher should be aware of systemic issues and internal bias. There are fine lines between genre expectations, tropes, and stereotypes. A publisher should consider how these expectations function in the manuscript before rejecting a piece or prescribing edits.
What is it like to read and evaluate manuscripts from real authors? What is the best way to give authors feedback on their work in order to bring it one step closer to publication? How do you know if a story is the right one for our press to publish? These are just a few of the many questions I had when I became an acquisitions assistant for Ooligan Press.
The process of getting your book published with Ooligan Press can feel both exciting and nerve wracking in equal measures. To demystify some of the process and help our authors understand what the process will look like, let’s talk about what happens after you’ve received the great news that Ooligan Press has acquired your project. How do you become your own book’s best advocate?
When people learn about what we’re doing, entering the world of comics with no experience, with only logical reasoning and a sincere desire to learn spurring us on, I generally get two reactions: enthusiastic delight or doubtful dissuasion.