Ooligan Press is a student-run trade press that operates in conjunction with the book publishing master’s program at Portland State University. Within the program, we students operate and manage the publishing process for our books. Those of us inclined to bite off a bit more work operate as project managers (those who manage the publication of a book project) and department managers (those who run the various departments within the press). As copy chief it is my responsibility to oversee and edit all the copy that goes through the press. This ranges from any marketing, publicity, or social media copy to inquiries with outside institutions. At the same time, I also manage the editorial timeline of the Multnomah County Library Writers Project title.
Overall, the main aspect of my role is copyediting. I comb through the aforementioned material to edit for clarity and readability. I’m also doing the nitpicky work of making sure all titles are italicized, no suffixes are used in ordinal numbers (July 2 not July 2nd per The Chicago Manual of Style), the serial comma is in place, and every comma has its purpose. That’s just to name a few. Per book publishing standards, we utilize The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) as our style guide. For anyone not familiar with CMOS, it began with the University of Chicago Press in 1891 and built with the press to become the industry standard style guide for publishing, writing, and editing. Anytime I sit down to work on a project for Ooligan Press, I make sure to have CMOS and Merriam-Webster Dictionary open for quick reference (and often a steady lo-fi beat in the background).
The other major project that I am in charge of is the Multnomah County Library Writers Project. In conjunction with the project manager, I am the managing editor for this title. The 2024 Library Writers Project title is The Blue Line Letters set to publish in April 2025. We are actively working through the rounds of copyediting for this manuscript. Where the documents that we push out through the press should follow a more strict adherence to CMOS, a manuscript is more flexible. Author style and voice play a large role in the decisions I make when crafting my edits. The piece should reflect their ideas far more than those of a style guide. After all, it is each author’s unique storytelling and ability to craft a narrative that keeps readers coming back for more.
The greatest challenge I have faced since stepping into this role is managing my schedule. Say one book needs the template for their upcoming blurb requests to be edited. It’s a fairly short document that does not require weeks of time. But if I am also getting the entire marketing plan for a different title, getting a request to review the filled out review request templates for another (average twenty per book), and this all needs to be done at the same time, I am going to run into trouble. Google Calendar has become the ultimate tool in my arsenal. When I can visualize the timeline of a project and see the overlap with all the others, I can much better analyze how much is already on my plate before I pick up another project. A few wise words from my predecessor Jordan; learn to set boundaries. Being able to advocate for yourself and your capabilities is crucial in a position where you are juggling multiple projects all at once.
I absolutely enjoy my role at Ooligan. I get to copyedit all day long; I am never doing the exact same thing each day; and I get to be a part of so many different projects. I have learned a lot since I took over this position and I know I still have a lot to learn. That is the beauty of being a part of Ooligan Press. We do the work and learn along the way.
Blog written by Marissa Muraoka.