One woman in the media
Bringing new writers to the publishing table.
One woman's philosophy
Publishing is about more than the publisher. A publisher--and an editor--should see a manuscript's potential, and work to make the writing great. What was holding back the story's power to begin with? How can you convey your suggestions to the author in a way that is affirming, rather than condescending?
The excerpts below represent the calm assurance that a woman in the media must possess.
Why should this feminist publisher choose John Updike's writing, whose depictions of women are often outright misogynist, for her portfolio?
I selected this passage because this story is about unknowns: A young man leaves home in Pennsylvania to drive to Chicago to visit a young woman he’d fallen in love with in college. The story has a restrained exultation to it that I admire. The main character knows that he will drive the car safely while his friend sleeps next to him, and this knowledge fulfills him.
The last paragraphs of the Lauren Groff story, “Above and Below,” also exhibit this strong assurance coming from one of the most brilliant writers of literary fiction today.
These characters are in unfamiliar settings, but they’ve got it. Someone trusts them. And at the end of my time at Ooligan Press, I feel the same way. The confidence of others (classmates, instructors, employers, and clients) in my abilities makes me the happiest I’ve been.
But these stories are from The New Yorker, the most prestigious literary journal in the United States (I think so, anyway). And how does my admiration for the writers who ascend to inclusion in these pages play a role in my publishing goals?
Before I landed in the Ooligan pond, I had worked in very not-glamorous jobs in printing and in newspaper production. Before my production job, I’d worked for about a year as an editorial assistant. For pleasure, I read, and did a bit of my own writing. I read a great deal of literary fiction (the absurdists, the Brooklyners, the feminists) and classical fiction (the Russians, the Edwardians). I wanted to publish something sort-of like that. Ooligan has given me a jumping-off point to pursue this kind of writing.
Next, you'll read about how my philosophy applies itself to a career in publishing, especially through the vehicle of digital publishing.
"The Happiest I've Been," John Updike.
First published in The New Yorker on January 3, 1959
"Above and Below." Lauren Groff.
First published in The New Yorker on June 13, 2011
2011-2012
My first term in the Acquisitions Department, we read and adored a book that I was less-than-thrilled about. We accepted it and, now, the book is almost at its launch date. These things happen. I wiped the dew from my spectacles and learned about editing, copyediting, marketing, and book design. I loved my first year at Ooligan, and, in the spring of 2012, I got a little idea from my marketing class about funny women.
2012-2013
In this school year, I did a huge developmental edit of The Pale King for my Advanced Editing class, while starting up and managing a literary feminism website which I began for an independent study. This past year has been a big side projects year for me, but my work as a project manager for The Wax Bullet War has kept my feet in press-work and taught me more about navigating a book through its editing and design stages in a diplomatic manner.
Timeline in the program