All about Awards

Those of you who are especially tuned in to industry news know that this is a big week in a couple corners of the publishing world: yesterday the nominees for the Eisner Awards (the biggest awards in comics), and the winners of the Pulitzer Prize were announced. Book awards are a big deal to publishers and authors alike. These accolades help boost sales, allow for added publicity, and there can be a significant monetary prize for the author of an award winner.

Now that The Wax Bullet War has been released, we are beginning the process of submitting it for literary awards. Most readers see the fancy foil stickers on book covers and don’t give much thought to how it ended up there. So, for those of you who are curious, here’s what the application process looks like for The Wax Bullet War.

Ooligan Press keeps a list of literary awards. Every award has its own eligibility rules, so each time we publish a new book, we filter through that list to see which ones might be appropriate for our new title. We usually do a bit of extra research for each new title to see if there are any awards worth considering that might be missing from the master list. (For example, there are a couple of awards for military-related books that aren’t on our standard list because they’re so specific, but which are absolutely worth considering for The Wax Bullet War.)

We started compiling our master list not long after The Wax Bullet War was acquired. Because we were still a long ways out from publication, we kept it in our back pocket until it got closer to to the time to start applying. Throughout fall and winter, we periodically revisited the list (in the midst of all of the other work we were doing), slowly culling it down from a huge index to the ones we really wanted to focus on.

Eligibility requirements aren’t the only factors we take into consideration as we weed through this list. Many awards (and nearly all of the big ones) have application fees and require several copies as part of the submission; that isn’t a huge deal to big publishers, but for a small press like Ooligan, awards can become costly. We also considered the value of applying for certain awards (for instance, some are so small or niche that they might not be the best fit for our book).

Now that we have our list whittled down for The Wax Bullet War, it’s just a matter of deadlines. Some awards have forms, others require mailing out multiple copies of the book, some have other hoops to jump through—and they all have a final application deadline. Part of our ongoing marketing and sales efforts include applying for awards, so we’re working on all of our submissions now, keeping one eye on the calendar and the other on the prize (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

Until next week,
Laurel

The Time Has Come!

The day has arrived! I know many people have mixed feelings about April Fools’ Day, so if you’re looking for something to distract you from the memory of yesterday’s shenanigans, here’s a reason to get excited: as of April 1, The Wax Bullet War is available wherever books are sold. You can check out the book’s page on our site here (you’ll find a synopsis, author bio, blurbs, and links to online retailers where you can order the book).

It feels nice to have finally arrived at this substantial, exciting date. It’s a day we’ve been building up to for a long time, and it’s a big accomplishment to send a book out into the world—but our work doesn’t stop here. The hope is always to have a book with longevity and a life that extends far beyond its release day, which means that we must continue promoting and, now, selling the book. All of us on the Wax Bullet War team will be hard at work doing just that.

Posts here, of course, will continue, so be sure to check back. In the meantime, I’d like to direct your attention to a couple of important things related to the book:

• There is an interesting, insightful interview with Sean up on our blog, which you can read here.
• Sean has some very special plans for his royalties from the sale of the book. He wrote about it in his own words, and I would encourage you to read his post about it.

Until next week,
Laurel

On Our Toes until the End

This week is spring break at Portland State University and Ooligan Press. Things have been a little bit quiet around the office as everyone is away, but with release day just one week off, those of us on The Wax Bullet War team are as busy as ever it seems. Most of what we are working on now is the same type of work that’s been keeping us busy for the past few weeks. We are still pursuing media and review coverage and trying to help Sean plan for his upcoming book tour.

Throughout it all, we are trying to keep our minds open to flashes of inspiration. While our work now all falls under the marketing umbrella and is easily summed up over and over again in the same ways (reviews! book tour! blog tour! media!), there is still so much room for a nuanced approach to each of those things. Just last week, one member of the team suggested sending a pitch to an art gallery in Eugene. These kinds of ideas—the last-minute, out-of-the-box, ideas—are often worth pursuing, and sometimes they end up being our most fruitful leads. So while it sounds like we are doing the same things over and over, it’s not a mechanized process; instead, it’s one of diligent work punctuated by brainstorms and moments of insight. Good books keep readers on the edges of their seats until the last page, but they also keep publishers on their toes until the the very end of the publishing process (and often well beyond).

Until next week (which promises to be a very exciting one!),
Laurel

In Media Mode

This past week our primary focus was on following up with reviewers, bloggers, and bookstores. Is this sounding repetitive yet? No, we aren’t trapped in a time loop, and I promise this isn’t some publishing-themed version of Groundhog Day. We are in full-blown media mode, trying to get as much coverage and publicity as we can.

Just today Sean was on OPB’s Think Out Loud. The show featured Phil Klay, author of Redeployment, in conversation with local veterans. Klay spoke with Sean and others about serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and about what it was like to readjust to life at home.

While we’ve been doing all of this marketing and publicity work, we have simultaneously been wrapping up work on the ebook. Once the coding process was complete, the ebook was sent to our editing team for proofing. All of the notes from the print proof are now being incorporated into the ebook, and we are also updating miscellaneous elements unique to the ebook, such as the ISBN and swapping in color photos in the interior.

The Wax Bullet War officially has its own book page on the Ooligan website. You’ll find all kinds of great information about the book there, including the back cover copy, advance praise for the book, links to preorder a copy, and information about how you can connect with Sean on social media. Be sure to check it out!

Until next week,
Laurel

Countdown to Publication Day

Things are getting real, folks. We are now only two and a half weeks from our April 1 release day, and rumor has it the finished books arrived at our office yesterday afternoon (right after I left for the day, as my luck would have it). Over the past week or so, there has been an uptick in post-AWP activity. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

We are busy following up with reviewers, planning a blog tour, contacting bookstores to schedule readings, and chasing down as many publicity leads as we can. This kind of work involves a lot of email; it’s not the most glamorous part of publishing, but witnessing how responsive and receptive people are is rewarding.

We offer free digital review copies through Edelweiss, which is an online tool for all kinds of people who work with books. We review each download request, and it’s always exciting to see requests come through from the people we have been pitching to. (On that note: if you are interested in reviewing The Wax Bullet War, or if you are a blogger and are interested in having Sean write a guest post, please email marketing@ooliganpress.pdx.edu; we’d love to hear from you!)

Last week I promised an exciting update, so I’ll share one final bit of news. For those of you in Portland (or for ambitious road-trippers), Sean will be reading at Powell’s City of Books on Burnside on Tuesday, May 27—the day after Memorial Day—at 7:30 p.m. In the preface of The Wax Bullet War, Sean eloquently writes about his friends who were killed during their tour in Iraq, about how exceptional the men of Bravo Company were, and about how he hopes to use his story to honor them. This reading seemed an appropriate way to observe the holiday and pay respect to these men. I hope you’ll mark your calendars early and join us for this event.

Until next week,
Laurel

From Portland to Seattle, Acronyms Abound

This past week has been a real whirlwind, not only for those of us working on The Wax Bullet War, but for the press as a whole. We had two conferences last weekend: the 2014 Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference held in Seattle, and the Northwest Regional National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Conference here in Portland. It was an acronym-laced whirlwind—did I mention that?

So, while we have lots to do before publication day, most of those projects were on hold for the week while we focused our attention on these conferences. It wasn’t time lost, though; I can’t stress enough how valuable making face-to-face connections with people can be in the life of a book. Crafting interesting, exciting copy that conveys passion for a title is a necessary skill in publishing, but in-person conversations are another thing entirely: they allow us to ask and answer questions directly and to talk about the book in more personal terms.

We took postcards and galleys to AWP and handed them out to potential readers and reviewers. Sean had a great reading the first evening of AWP, and people laughed and nodded as he read his piece, a teaser of the book to come. The Ooligan delegation at NCTE came back with reports much like ours from AWP: people were interested and enthusiastic about Sean’s book.

And, of course, Sean did much of the same and more. Publishers do their very best to send new titles out into the world with as much oomph behind them as possible, but the dedication of an author to helping that process can be key to a book’s success. To say Sean has been a great partner in that regard would be an understatement.

We’re back at it, so stay tuned for another update and an exciting announcement next week.

Laurel

Bringing Things Back into Focus

Publishing is a busy industry; perhaps that goes without saying. At any given point in time, there are books at every stage of the publication process, and with each of those books many things happen simultaneously. And another truth about publishing, which may also go without saying, is that the vast majority of people who work in publishing care deeply about the work they do. We find our way into the book-making world not because we want to make gobs of money, but because we love books and the ideas they contain. I confess though: we sometimes find ourselves with noses to the grindstone, working diligently and happily, but lost in the rush of schedules, deadlines, and budgets.

Inevitably (and thankfully) something will come along that forces us to readjust our gaze, something that brings back into focus the beautiful reality of the work being done. On Monday, I attended Portland State’s Classroom to Community Lecture, "A Language Shared: Journalists, Veterans, and PTSD." This was one of those events.

Sean was one of the panelists, so I jumped at the opportunity to sit at the Ooligan table and talk to people about The Wax Bullet War. Each of the panelists said in their own way how important it is for veterans to tell their stories and to connect with other people who have had similar experiences. As a civilian, I know that we so often see the veteran experience only through news headlines, and many of us are eager to understand more deeply and complexly what these veterans’ experiences were like. Listening to the stories told from the stage and talking to attendees afterwards reminded me what an honor it is to be a small part of bringing such an important book into the world.

Until next week,
Laurel

P.S.
For those of you who will be at AWP in Seattle, Sean will be reading there on Thursday evening!

There’s No Such Thing as a Snow Day in Publishing

Publishing is a unique enterprise, as I’m sure you’re well aware if you’ve been following along here. It is a business, but it’s about a lot more than just turning a profit; those of us who are involved in the publishing process really believe in the stories being told, and we believe that stories are an important way to share ideas. That doesn’t mean we’re immune to common work hang-ups though (if only!). Last week we had a snowstorm that kept the Wax Bullet War team scattered from one end of Portland to the other, unable to make it in for our normal weekly meeting. So we did what any other business does when push comes to shove: we sent a lot of emails. The clock counting down to publication day doesn’t stop ticking for a snowstorm, so we kept on working.

Our attention last week was divided two ways. Our first priority was making sure everything is in order for Sean’s events coming up next week. We finished pulling together the design files for some print collateral that we will take to next week’s Classroom to Community Lecture at PSU, as well as to AWP in Seattle (including Sean’s AWP reading). The other big priority last week was beginning to develop some promotional copy for media pitches and for Sean’s book tour. When pitching media stories, every letter or email needs to be unique and personalized (it’s a bit like writing cover letters for job applications in that regard), but it’s nice to have a bit of standardized language to talk about Sean and the book when pitching story ideas. We also created a standardized press release that can be tailored to each event on Sean’s book tour.

Everyone is invited to the Classroom to Community Lecture here in Portland and to Sean’s reading in Seattle for AWP. If you’re there, be sure to stop by and say hello!

Until next week,
Laurel

Milestones and Miles to Go

Well, folks, it’s been another big week in the life of Sean’s book. As print bids were being collected and analyzed last week, final proofing notes were also being incorporated into the designed document. And then, all of a sudden, it was time, and we were sending the files off to the printer.

Milestones such as these often come and go without a lot of fanfare, especially when there’s so much work left to be done. Many of the tasks that we are engaged in at this stage of the process—like trying to get reviews and media coverage, and planning a book tour—involve sending pitches out into the void and hoping one or two will bounce back to us with a positive reply. That kind of work is fluid and ongoing. So when we arrive at a firm deadline—like sending files off to the printer—it feels like a sigh of relief: something we can really, truly check off of the to-do list.

February is a busy month here at Ooligan Press; we’ve got conferences and events nearly the whole month through. We are hoping to use these opportunities to help promote The Wax Bullet War since it will be released so soon. In fact, Sean has two readings over the course of the next few weeks, which I’d highly recommend checking out. Sean has an engaging presence, and you’ll have the chance to hear him read from the book before it’s released. Here’s where you can catch him:

• On February 24, Sean will be presenting alongside several other speakers at Portland State University’s Classroom to Community Lecture, A Language Shared: Journalists, Veterans, and PTSD. This event is free, and we will have a limited number of advance copies of The Wax Bullet War available for sale at this event, so this is your chance to get your hands on a copy before the official publication day. For more information, click here.
• On February 27, Sean will be participating in a Seattle reading that coincides with AWP. For more information, click here.

Until next week,
Laurel

Print Bids and E-Book Coding

This week, we have been carrying on with a lot of the same marketing tasks that I mentioned in my previous post. Meanwhile, other important pieces have been coming together behind the scenes.

We are in the process of applying for cataloging in publication (CIP). A CIP record is bibliographic information that is put together by the Library of Congress. Usually the CIP data is included on the copyright page of the book (pick up any of your own books and take a look at the copyright page—you should find the CIP information there), and it allows librarians and booksellers to better process and categorize the book.

The Wax Bullet War will be made into a trade paperback and an e-book, and we have been working on production-related tasks for each format. Mary, one of the Wax Bullet War team members, has diligently been working on coding the e-book. Sarah, another team member, has been collecting print bids so that we can decide where to have the book printed, as well as how to have the book printed. Part of this process is finding out about any special production elements: will the cover be shiny or matte? Or will it be matte with a spot gloss? (Have you seen covers that have a matte finish but have shiny letters? That’s called spot gloss. It gives the book some added texture and dimensionality.) There are lots of ways books can be produced, so getting print bids lets us know what we can afford and then allows us to make decisions accordingly.

Until next week,
Laurel