Over the spring and summer semester of 2024, The Teaching Press has been hard at work on our latest project, Home Again and Again, written by Dr. Ann Gentry Recine and Louis Recine. This book is a self-help memoir highlighting the importance of finding and fostering the idea of “home” to lead a happy and fulfilled life.
With this project, The Teaching Press has employed two designers: longtime book designer Emily Heling, and newcomer Caleigh Cleary. What was the experience like for a first-time Teaching Press designer? Project Manager Allie Wendricks asked Caleigh all about it! Continue reading
The Teaching Press had 21 students working as interns and staff in Fall 2023. We’re featuring their work in small batches—the same way we print books at the Press!
The Teaching Press had 21 students working as interns and staff in Fall 2023. We’re featuring their work in small batches—the same way we print books at the Press!
Olivia Meyer became the Project Manager on A Portrait of Grief and Courage: Hmong Oral Histories and Folktales, in early 2023, when the manuscript was still part of a collection Sandra Shackelford was arranging to donating to the UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library Archives. She met with the author, guided the project through its full year of workflow, collaborated on the book’s “Introduction,” and wrote the biographies of translator May Lee Lor and transcriber Ma Lee Lor.
Kat Halfman has been the Chief Copyeditor of this title since early 2023. She created the most ambitious style guide The Teaching Press has encountered, standardizing spelling of numerous individuals’ names and dozens of place names from multiple spellings from multiple translations; researching the use editorial conventions in oral histories; and leading two semesters’ staffs through multiple rounds of copyediting.
The Teaching Press had 21 students working as interns and staff in Fall 2023. We’re featuring their work in small batches—the same way we print books at the Press!
The Teaching Press had 21 students working as interns and staff in Fall 2023. We’re featuring their work in small batches—the same way we print books at the Press!
The Teaching Press had 21 students working as interns and staff in Fall 2023. We’re featuring their work in small batches—the same way we print books at the Press!
This group of interns operated our machines and print our books—and Fall 2023 was challenging! Managers Jair Zeuske and Ethan Craft taught our team how to print, bind, and trim two of our titles this semester. Their favorite book to print is Wandering Toft Point: A Nature Journal. See how our team crafted our Lower Fox River PCB Clean Up book with its fold-in, fold-out timeline and QR codes on every page, in a behind-the-scenes report from our team. They also engaged in community outreach with Sullivan Elementary School’s YMCA Afterschool program, and copyedited A Portrait of Grief and Courage: Hmong Oral Histories and Folktales.
How does our Press hand-craft an ambitious book of fold-out —or foldie-outtie—pages? Learn more from Production Team insider Brady Hurst!
There is nothing that our team fears more than failing to deliver. So, once our Lower Fox River PCB Clean Up Timeline book hit our production line, we all knew that we would have our work cut out for us. Thankfully, with the bright minds at our printing press, our staff quickly formed a method to create what we now deem as “Foldie-Outtie” books. Here, we share our secrets.
The newest descendants of the Mimi and Rupert dynasty would like to return to the nest, please. (Photo: UWGB News and Marketing)
The signs of spring have arrived at UWGB. On our Green Bay campus, Peregrine falcons nest atop the David A Cofrin Library. One pair of falcons began nesting there in 2017 to lay eggs and teach their fledglings to fly. This first falcon couple was named “Mimi” and “Rupert,” and their descendants have now brought three new fledglings into the world.
Through the falcon cam , UW-Green Bay students, staff, and nature lovers all over the planet can enjoy and encourage the growth of this delicate species. (You can even help name the new chicks each year.)
Mimi & Rupert Books, an imprint of the Teaching Press at UW-Green Bay. Logo designed by Samantha Vondrum.
Mimi and Rupert’s annual return inspired the name of our first imprint at The Teaching Press, Mimi & Rupert Books. What is an imprint? you may ask. An imprint is a division of publishing dedicated to specific projects. Mimi & Rupert Books interlace art and words, voice and image, into finely crafted, collaborative and inspiring stories. Continue reading
June 19, 2021 / Kimberly Davis / Comments Off on STOP THE PRESSES! Wait, which ones?: A brief look into trade book publishers (& a bit about The Teaching Press!)
By: Kimberly Davis, Blog/Web Editor & Copywriter for The Teaching Press during Spring 2021
In the big wide world of publishing presses, it can be overwhelming for the most savvy of clients (and the most eager of interns) to not only narrow down their options from a professional perspective, but to pinpoint what exactly each and every press does from an organizational one. Although publishing presses can certainly offer their clients and staff with an extremely individualized experience—due to their wide range of services/capabilities, community/literary focus, and even the unique personalities they have on staff—there are undoubtedly similarities that can be detected across the board. So, let’s go on and ahead and get down to business. (The publishing business, that is!)
THE TRADE BOOK PUBLISHERS (THE BIGWIGS!):
Trade book publishers are most likely the type of publishing press that most of us are familiar with. These presses follow the publishing process from start to finish—from the selection process all the way to retail/bookstore/library distribution. In a way, these large scale publishing presses are most known to focus on the consumer appeal of their projects. These books can come in all forms (such as paperback, hard cover, and e-book) and concern a wide, if not all inclusive, range of topics. Publishing through a trade book publisher is considered to be the most ‘conventional‘ or ‘traditional‘ method for clients when it comes to editing, publishing, and distributing their work. Sometimes, independent publishers outsource to these bigger trade book publishers.
The Big Five!
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EXAMPLES OF TRADE BOOK PUBLISHERS (‘THE BIG FIVE’):
To gain the best understanding of what The Teaching Press is considered to be, it may be best to hear straight from our director, Dr. Rebecca Meacham, herself.
As Meacham states, “The Teaching Press is most like a ’boutique/hybrid’ press. We offer clients our services to layout, edit, and design work; offer feedback and beta readings; and make books. Sometimes, we can print those books in limited editions (ex. 100 copies); sometimes, we create a file for the client to take elsewhere to print. We do not do marketing for all of our books; we do not hold copyright; we do not keep inventory; we do not sell books directly unless they are part of a launch event. We charge clients fees for our services. Our clients’ books, currently, would be termed ‘self-published.'”
However, she adds: “[The Teaching Press is] also like an ‘undergrad/university-affiliated’ press. Core to our identity is the ability for students to learn from, and assume leadership roles in, making books. Our projects and all steps of client engagement, and Teaching Press media and management, are meant to teach both ‘soft’ skills and technical skills. Our mottos, thus, are: ‘Failure is baked in to what our learners do;’ and ‘our clients should not expect competence.'”
Hard at work with The Teaching Press!
Now, although The Teaching Press may align more so with these two categories of publishing presses, there truly is no doubt that we are just as dedicated and eager to offer the best experience we are capable of just like all the rest!
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BIBLIOGRAPHY (& ALSO RESOURCES FOR FURTHER READING!):
There is nothing that our team fears more than failing to deliver. So, once our Lower Fox River PCB Clean Up Timeline book hit our production line, we all knew that we would have our work cut out for us. Thankfully, with the bright minds at our printing press, our staff quickly formed a method to create what we now deem as “Foldie-Outtie” books. Here, we share our secrets.
