Blogs, Ooligan Press

University Presses: Innovating in the Digital Age

University presses have tended to be slow to change, mirroring the incremental pace of change of their host institutions. However, as their traditional revenue streams have dried up, and as digitization has upended the publishing industry, university presses have been under pressure to innovate to keep up with changing times.
Alt-text: Interior of the Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington. The library is lined with bookshelves, has students studying, and features gothic architecture.

From PDF to Print: A Guide to Ooligan Book Production

Books at Ooligan take a wonderful journey as an author writes, editors edit, and publishers publish. Throughout it all, there is a design lead (that’s me!) who is making sure that the Word document turns into a tangible book that you get to hold. This is the process of turning that digital file into a ready-for-print file here at Ooligan.

It’s a Love Story, Baby: Five Book Recommendations Based on Taylor Swift Songs

Taylor Swift is one of the few artists that can be played at any time during the Valentine’s Day season. She writes about falling in love, loneliness, heartbreak, friendships, and […]

Burning Pages: California Booksellers Respond to Wildfires

Since January 7, wildfires have devastated communities throughout southern California. In response, local organizations, businesses, and individuals have rallied to provide relief, offering everything from shelter to food and monetary donations to help restore the vitality of these communities. Amid this devastation, I’ve been particularly moved by the inspiring efforts of local libraries and booksellers to support their neighbors in need.

The Importance of Documentation

Good documentation takes its audience into consideration, is clear, organized, and kept up to date. Whatever information you use in your professional career, taking the time to curate concise, clear documentation and practice good naming and organizational principles will give you a stronger foundation for future projects and help you easily explain what you do and how you do it.

The Handoff Process

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.

Raising a Bilingual Reader in Portland

Often, books in the children’s Spanish section are bilingual, and the translations leave much to be desired and not just due to errors. Despite living in the United States, where the majority of Spanish speakers are Mexican and from other Latin American countries, bilingual books and translations often use Castellano Spanish … from Spain! No one from Latin America speaks Spanish the way the Spanish speak Spanish.

Tips to Avoid Overediting

It all comes down to readability and ensuring the author’s message is being told in the best possible way for the readers while remaining true to the author’s voice.

A Look Into Ebooks and Audiobooks

It’s easy to get swept up in the stories we experience via ebooks and audiobooks, but it adds another layer of appreciation when we can better understand how they make it into our digital libraries.
SEO Description:. A look into audiobook productions and the reasoning behind limited ebook rentals.

Unpacking KDP: Revolutionizing Self-Publishing or Sparking Controversy?

At Ooligan Press, we use KDP to upload our upcoming titles and our ebooks. It is a fast and easy way to publish a title that seemingly doesn’t have much screening process. After creating a couple of KDP pages for our upcoming titles, I thought to myself, “That’s it? I just have to click a box that says ‘this was not written by a computer’ and I’ll be able to sell it?”

Ampersand Versus And: When are They Appropriate?

The ampersand (&) is sometimes used in place of the word and in informal writing, like in lists and brand or company names (Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, Barnes & Noble, etc.). Where you don’t generally see ampersands in the place of the word and is in formal writing, like books. So when is it appropriate to use an ampersand, and when should you spell out and?

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