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Books to Get You Hyped for THE KEEPERS OF ARIS!

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It’s been well established by now that diversity is extremely important in reading and publishing. Having diverse voices represented in all aspects of the industry is necessary to reflect the world we live in. One genre that has historically lacked diversity but has recently been improving is YA fantasy. As we at Ooligan prepare to publish our own YA fantasy novel, The Keepers of Aris, here’s a list of Black YA fantasy novels that I recommend in no particular order.

  • A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
    • The first in a fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore, this book follows a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee who find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction.
  • Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart
    • This Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut about two enemy witches who must enter into a deadly alliance to take down a common enemy has the twisted cat-and-mouse of Killing Eve with the richly imagined fantasy world of FurybornandAn Ember in the Ashes.
  • Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
    • This fresh take on a classic story will make readers question the tales they’ve been told and root for girls to break down the constructs of the world around them.
  • Legacy of Orïsha series by Tomi Adeyemi
    • Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic before a ruthless king ordered all maji killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie fights to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy while struggling to control her powers—and her growing feelings for an enemy.
  • Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen
    • Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata—a mermaid—collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home. But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi goes against an ancient decree and does the unthinkable—she saves his life. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy the gods.
  • Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray
    • In this much-anticipated series opener, fate binds two Black teenagers together as they strike a dangerous alliance to hunt down the ancient creature menacing their home—and discover much more than they bargained for.
  • The Legendborn Cycle series by Tracy Deonn
    • After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.
  • The Return of the Earth Mother series by Reni K. Amayo
    • A gruesome war results in the old gods’ departure from Earth. The only remnants of their existence lie in two girls. Twins, separated at birth. Goddesses who grow up believing that they are human. Daughters Of Nri explores their epic journey of self-discovery as they embark on a path back to one another.
  • The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
    • Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs. But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity—and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.

And don’t forget to check out The Keepers of Aris by Autumn Green this May 9, 2023!

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Inside Ooligan Press: The Beginning Stages of a Manuscript with Ooligan

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The dust has settled. The Where We Call Home launch party went off without a hitch (unless you consider a random man offering Ramon, the illustrator, some homemade chocolate drink in the middle of the book talk a “hitch”). Josephine and Ramon continue to participate in book events and sell the book. I am a proud project manager.

Now we get to do the whole book production process all over again!

My project team is sticking to the nonfiction category, but we’re moving away from the natural sciences; our next manuscript, A Family, Maybe, is a memoir by Lane Igoudin about his and his husband’s struggle to form a family in the mid-2000s. It’s got drama. It’s got humor. It’s got love. My team and I are having a great time working on it.

Much has been happening this term for A Family, Maybe. The acquisitions team wrapped up the developmental edit, we’re working on the copyedit now, and we are about to start on the cover design. For my team specifically, the main focus this term has been on generating the inward-facing documents that will help us market the book. The two main documents that we’ve had our hands on so far are the persona exercise and the marketing plan. The persona exercise is an activity that my team and I did together to make up characters who we think would be interested in the book. We make up a primary audience member and secondary audience member from the ground up, identifying everything from their demographics to their family lives to their favorite foods. Being familiar with these characters’ lives helps us figure out how they would find A Family, Maybe. Would they see posts about it on social media? Would people in their lives recommend it? Would they purposely, directly seek it out?

The marketing plan is similar in the sense that we are creating the backbone of the manuscript. We include the “demographics” of the book (title, ISBN, BISAC codes, etc.) along with comparative titles, hook, back cover copy, and much more. This document serves as the foundation from which all subsequent documents stem. Soon it will be finalized, and then we’ll be moving onto generating a contact sheet. Once we reach that stage, I’ll have come full circle as a member of Ooligan; when I joined the press back in January 2022, the team I was on was in the contact stage.

It’s bittersweet, the thought that I’ve almost arrived at the same place that I started. Professionally, I’ve come so far in the past year. I have so many invaluable skills and experiences that I will take with me into my career. Yet my time at Ooligan is approaching its end. I’ll be training up a new manager in spring who will take over my role when I graduate in June. Although I am looking forward to imparting my knowledge to my successor, I’m finally starting to feel like I’ve really got the hang of this whole Ooligan thing.

But so it goes. I’m going to give my last few months, and the A Family, Maybe manuscript, my all, and I can’t wait to help it be the best it can be. There are some strong contenders for project manager after me, and I know that the next cohort is going to do a fantastic job!

Queer Book Recommendations Based on Your Favorite TV Series

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As any fan knows, it can be hard to move on when you’ve just finished binge-watching your favorite show. So if you’re looking for something new, or just want to read a book that feels like a familiar show, here are four book recommendations based on your favorite queer TV series!

  1. Our Flag Means Death / The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
    Both Our Flag Means Death and The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue take place during the Golden Age of Piracy and follow men born into nobility who leave their lives of comfort for adventure at sea. Our Flag Means Death, HBO’s newly released romantic comedy, loosely follows the real life of The Gentleman Pirate, Stede Bonnet, and his adventures with the infamous Blackbeard. The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue tells the story of Monty, a roguish young man as he begins his Grand Tour of Europe. While traveling across the continent, Monty, his sister Felicity, and his best friend/long-time crush Percy, find themselves thrown into a grand adventure that changes their lives forever.
    Whether your favorite thing about Our Flag Means Death was the thrilling adventure, the witty humor, or the queer romance, you can find all these elements in The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue.
  2. Elite / Ace of Spades
    Elite and Ace of Spades both follow the story of minority characters as they attempt to fit in at an elite private school. Elite centers around three working-class teens who face conflict with the wealthy students after their enrollment at a private school. The main characters of Ace of Spades, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, face similar conflicts when they are selected as class Prefects and begin to receive anonymous messages threatening to expose their secrets. Elite and Ace of Spades have many similar themes in the main conflict and are both full of suspense and mystery.
  3. Young Royals / Red, White & Royal Blue
    If you loved Young Royals, the next book for you is Red, White & Royal Blue. Both feature a young royal coming to terms with his sexuality while falling for a boy they can’t be with. Red, White & Royal Blue follows the perspective of Alex, the First Son of the United States, as he falls for Prince Henry of England. This book is the perfect rom-com to fill a Young Royals shaped void.
  4. Pose / We Are Lost and Found
    Pose and We Are Lost and Found both show a glimpse into the vibrant queer community and culture of New York City in the ’80s, amongst the rising crisis of AIDS. We Are Lost and Found follows Michael, a closeted teen who finds escape from his father, school, and the increasing threat of AIDS, at The Echo. Here he meets Gabriel and begins to find himself. While both Pose and We Are Lost and Found are highly entertaining, they also highlight the realities of being queer in the ’80s and celebrate the people who lived it.
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The Dos and Don’ts of Proofreading

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The topic of copyediting is talked about at length within the publishing industry, but there is little discussion about another aspect of the editorial process that is equally as important: proofreading. Here is a quick guide to everything you need to know about proofreading your next project.

Proofreading is one of the last steps in the editorial process. The manuscript has completed all rounds of copyediting, has been XML typecoded, and has been sent to the designer to complete the interior. The book is nearly complete and just needs a final check to ensure that errors weren’t introduced during the design process and that there are no lingering grammatical errors. Proofreading is the final step before the book is sent to the printer, but there is much confusion about what is and is not covered during this stage of editing.

Here are some things to look for as you complete your next proofread:

Weird Spacing:

Be on the lookout for missing spaces between words or punctuation and places where there are additional spaces where there shouldn’t be.

Leftover XML Coding:

At Ooligan, our books are XML typecoded so that the designer knows what special treatment different words and sections should have. Sometimes parts of this code accidentally make its way into the final manuscript, so be on the lookout for erroneous code.

Discrepancies:

Double-check that everything from the final version of the manuscript has been included in the designed version. Check for missing paragraphs or words, missing images or graphics, or missing punctuation marks.

Punctuation:

As you are proofreading, check the punctuation surrounding words that are in bold or italics—do they follow the guidelines outlined in your style guide? Also be on the lookout for placement of punctuation within quotations—do they follow the guidelines outlined in your style guide?

Closed vs. Open Compounds:

Make sure that compounds are following the Hyphenation Guide for Chicago.

Consistent Spelling:

Be on the lookout for names, places, and other words that may be spelled inconsistently throughout the manuscript. We recommend keeping the style sheet for the book nearby as you proofread.

Ellipses:

Double-check that all ellipses are formatted according to the style guide. For Chicago, it is three periods with spaces: . . .

Windows, Runts, and Orphans:

Be mindful of the way paragraphs start and end. Widows happen when the last line of a paragraph starts at the top of the next page. Runts occur when the last line of a paragraph ends with a single word. Orphans happen when the first line of a paragraph is on the bottom of a page.

Here are some things to keep in mind when completing a proofread. The time for any substantial editing is over. Now is the time to look for any glaring errors that are remaining after the copyedits are completed. We don’t want to be rewriting any of the text or posing queries to the author—there shouldn’t be any substantial changes to the manuscript at this stage.

I hope this guide helped shed some light on what is expected—and what to avoid—for your next proofread.

Happy proofreading!