Denver, CO: Days 11 & 12

March 29, 2020

Denver, CO: Days 11 & 12

Hey guys!

I’m back with another update from this trip! (Photos from the Botanic Garden contain a good portion at the bottom if you miss going outside as much as I do and are just looking for pictures).

Day 11: July 22nd, 2019. Monday

This was Independent Publisher Day: 5 independent publisher presses came in and we all split up into 5 groups to partner up with either Chronicle Books, Arte Publico Press, Beacon Press, Hub City Press, and Andrews McMeel Publishing.

I was with Beacon Press: a non-fiction publisher in Massachusetts. This independent press has been around since the 1600s. Their books cover fundamental issues and promote diversity, freedom of speech & thought, anti-racism, and religious pluralism. Each group had to create a book proposal for their specific press. We presented them on this day.

I don’t remember what mine was exactly about, or who I even partnered with, but I do remember that it was something regarding women’s rights.

I also remember that everyone wanted to be with Chronicle Books. They pride themselves on making best sellers instead of acquiring them with a checkbook and their mission statement is “inspired by the enduring MAGIC of books, we cultivate and distribute exceptional publishing that is instantly recognizable for its SPIRIT and clarity.”

Arte Publico Press’s mission “is the publication, promotion and dissemination of Latino history and culture for a variety of national and regional audiences, from early childhood to adult, through the complete gamut of delivery systems, including personal performance as well as print and electronic media.”

A lot of people wanted to be with Hub City Press as well. They’re located in South Carolina – the South’s premier independent literary press. They focus on finding and spotlighting new and extraordinary voices from the American South.

Andrews McMeel Publishing is the world’s largest independent syndicate, distributing exceptional, entertaining, and informational content. They also have a partnership with Simon & Schuster (one of the big 5).

I also learned that independent publishing houses have more paid internships than bigger publishing houses – so if you’re interested… I would start a career with independent publishers if you can.

Editing Workshop Day 5: We talked about genre.

It’s a “type or group of books that have the same general focus of content and style,” and if someone has to struggle to figure out what genre it is, then they probably don’t like the book very much.

You want the genre to be clear when creating a book. We, as a species, like to categorize things – it gives us a way to think about them.

We also discussed mainstream commercial fiction vs. literary fiction. Category fiction is a specific type of fiction – the readers have clear expectations of what they’re going to be reading.

Literary fiction does not have any constraints on its content and form – it could be really long or really short.

An editor’s job is to tell the author his/her writing is better than it is. Not a LOT better, but a little better.

After classes were over this day, we didn’t do anything. We were exhausted from our hiking weekend.

Day 12: July 23rd, 2019. Tuesday

Editor’s Workshop: Day 6: Spend the first 15-30 of your day reading book reviews, news, and publisher’s marketplace. Look at MFA websites – you need to put yourself out there. Read EVERYTHING.

We also learned about Book Packagers: Packagers conceive of, create, produce, and manufacture innovative books for adults as well as engaging books and book-plus products for kids. They originate and develop books in a variety of formats, from regular books to those that integrate paper components, digital content, electronics, audio, and other specialty features for publishers worldwide. Publishers prefer that Book Packagers have to secure rights from licensor.

We had a lot of homework this night: an editing challenge and a grammar quiz. I didn’t do well on either one, which was really discouraging, but not uncommon.

After classes today, we went to the Botanic Gardens in Denver: