Summer term at Ooligan Press is different from the rest of the year. While some of us have graduated, and others go their separate ways over the break, work at the press continues. Things are still relatively relaxed with the production schedule for The Wax Bullet War, but that will change rapidly the closer we approach autumn.

Even though the final cover has been chosen, recent Ooligan graduate Gina Fox has been tweaking some minor elements of the design over the last month in an effort to make it as praiseworthy as possible. Once this is completed and signed off on by all appropriate parties, we will be able to post the finished image and finalize our marketing tipsheets in preparation for publishing the book. Sean will be meeting up with Riley, one of our design specialists and incoming department managers, for a photo shoot sometime in the upcoming summer months, giving us a snazzy new author photo to go on the back of the book. Having a cover image has done wonderful things for the publishing team’s morale, as it helps bring the book to life in a new way: The Wax Bullet War has suddenly become a tangible object for our shelves.

Editing has been working their magic on The Wax Bullet War for the final time this summer as they tackle the Herculean task of fact checking, with a goal of completing this final round of revision by the end of July. Simultaneously, The Wax Bullet War is being submitted for vetting: since Sean’s book is a memoir and therefore discusses actual events tied to the military, we must submit a request for permission to publish certain materials.

Finally, I’m happy to introduce my co-manager, Laurel Boruck, who will be stepping fully into my shoes at the end of August. Ooligan is in the middle of a press-wide restructuring; one of the major changes included in this reorganization is that project managers will be leading the production schedule of a book for a full year, as opposed to six months. This will increase continuity with the projects, as well as help with the long-term memory of the press. Laurel is more than qualified, having been manager of the Marketing department last term. She worked closely with alumna Mary Breaden and myself during the development of the marketing plan for The Wax Bullet War, which she will be implementing in September. While Sean and I are sad to see Mary go—with Mary having been such an integral part of this project since its early stages—we are happy to welcome Laurel to the team!

The next Start-to-Finish update for The Wax Bullet War will be August 19th. See you then!

-Whitney Smyth