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Book Recommendations from the Westchester Publishing Services staff – by Nicole Tomassi

We’ve arrived in December, the time of year where – if we’re lucky to have a moment to think – we reflect on events of the previous months which left a memory with us. Given the nature of the industry we work in, those thoughts invariably turn to books. While there’s no shortage of best-of lists compiled by numerous newspapers, magazines, and websites (I’ve included links to a few at the bottom of this post), I wanted to take a more local approach. I asked my colleagues here at Westchester to share their recommendations for a book they enjoyed reading this year that they thought others should consider, either as a gift to share with another book lover or to add to their own reading list. They responded enthusiastically, sharing interesting titles covering the spectrum from thought-provoking to serious to whimsical. Many were published some time ago, so you’re bound to (re)discover at least one book that will pique your interest.

To learn more about any title below, or to order from your favorite local bookstore simply click on the cover image. Happy reading, and happy holidays from your friends at Westchester Publishing Services!

The City of Dreaming Books – By Walter Moers

Publisher: Overlook Press (distributed by Westchester client publisher W.W. Norton)

Why I recommend this book: I have never read anything like this book. Bookholm is an intricate and compelling world that feels like home for any book lover, and I was sad when I had to turn the final page and leave it. Don’t be fooled by the seemingly adorable characters—the book is, in fact, a mature and only slightly comedic reflection on the role of books in our lives and what it takes to create a truly compelling story. I cannot recommend it highly enough for bibliophiles of all stripes. It is magical, beautifully written, and endlessly engrossing—with fantastic illustrations to boot!

Recommended by: Ashley Moore, Copyeditor

A Bad Kitty Christmas – By Nick Bruel

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan)

Why I recommend this book: This time of year, I dig out the old chestnuts from my holiday book collection to read to the kids. A Bad Kitty Christmas is a relatively new addition to the pile but has quickly become a favorite for my kids. Published by a client of Westchester’s, the book follows series favorite Bad Kitty as she runs away from home on Christmas Eve and is taken in by an old woman who tells her about the holidays of other religions and the things we all have in common. (Spoilers – there’s a happy ending for all involved – the cat, the old lady, the cat’s family.). The kids love it and somehow I always get something in my eye that makes me sniffle just a little bit, just as I’m finishing reading it to them.

Recommended by: Tyler M. Carey, Chief Revenue Officer

Norse Mythology – by Neil Gaiman

Publisher:  W.W. Norton & Company

Why I recommend this book: In Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman distills the sometimes competing versions of the Norse gods and their adventures into a coherent whole. The book reads as a series of interrelated short stories that range from the creation of all things to the twilight of the gods and beyond. Colloquial and with a polished ease, Gaiman’s voice allows a humor to shine through the stories that not infrequently reaches the point of truly laugh-out-loud funny. Read “The Mead of Poetry” and never experience a bad poem the same way again. Through it all, the gods are mean, cruel, and doltish, boosted and undermined as much by the cunningness of Loki as by their own single-minded wants. An easy metaphor for our times, perhaps, or all times. Although sometimes quite gruesome, the book was also a huge hit with my eleven-year-old son. Besides being thoroughly entertaining, Norse Mythology provided a great background to Thor: Ragnarok, and led naturally to comparing and contrasting the portrayals of Odin, Loki, Hel, and Fenrir.

Recommended by: Scott Keeney, Production Manager, Composition and Digital Conversions

The Night Circus – by Erin Morgenstern

Publisher: Anchor Books

Why I recommend this book: This book does exactly what a book should do; it pulls you into a world so enchantingly and exquisitely realized that you do not want to surface from its pages. With its varied cast of characters and refreshing twist on circus lore and magic, The Night Circus is a book that can appeal to readers of all backgrounds and tastes. It’ll have you wishing you could buy a ticket from the very first page.

Recommended by:  Erin Leo, Journals Production Editor

Cathedral (Short Story Collection) – by Raymond Carver

Publisher: Vintage Books

Why I recommend this book: I’ve had this book since college and revisit it year after year. I have always loved Carver’s writing style. He uses deceptively simple sentence structures and an accessible vocabulary to tackle complex interpersonal relationships.

Recommended by: Kevin Gray, Managing Director, K-12 Publishing Services

Remote Control (Object Lessons) – by Caetlin Benson-Allott

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Why I recommend this book: A wonderful story about how the concept of the remote control persisted for nearly half a decade before it developed into a viable technology. The author covers the remote’s beginnings as a wired technology for radios, the famed “clicker” of the 1970s, the development of standard cable remote layout that we all know and love today, and the handful of failures in between. A good read for anybody interested in American history, culture, and media.

Recommended by: JodieAnne Sclafani, Production Supervisor, Design, Graphics, and Proof

Why We Came to the City – by Kristopher Jansma

Publisher: Viking

Why I recommend this book:  Opening in late 2008 at a holiday party in New York City as the Great Recession is making its presence felt, the book vividly brings to life the five main characters who met in college five years previous and have been inseparable since. The author provides the right amount of backstory to help you understand what brings them together as a group even though their backgrounds, motivations, and passions are quite different from one another. When one of them is faced with a tragic situation, they all try to answer the questions of what is most meaningful, while attempting to navigate through the big city and life itself.

Recommended by: Nicole Tomassi, Sales & Marketing Coordinator

The Shadow of the Wind – by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Publisher: Penguin

Why I recommend this book: Books about books are already pretty magical, but when you set them in 1950s Barcelona and make the narrator an incredibly kind and relatable boy that you follow as he grows, it becomes something else. It’s hard to figure out how Zafón was so successful at constructing such a misty, moody, mysterious setting and such vivid, endearing, and funny characters, but I’m so glad he was. It’s just so engrossing. You won’t be able to stop thinking about it! (Also, if it’s your cup of tea, the audiobook version is incredibly well done.)

Recommended by: Kimberly Giambattisto, Senior Production Editor

The Natural Philosophy of Margaret Cavendish: Reason and Fancy During the Scientific Revolution – by Lisa T. Sarasohn

Publisher:  John Hopkins University Press

Why I recommend this book: I’m in love with this fascinating look at a fascinating woman. The book is full of stunning details on the period (mid-seventeenth-century). The Duchess of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, called ‘the first female scientist’, liked to put her scientific theories into verse and Gulliver-like creative writing, in both prose and plays. The examples given are a total hoot. Learn and laugh at the same time. You likely won’t find Margaret mentioned in a serious history of science. She was an oddball, and a wonderful one.

Recommended by: Mimi Thurston, Production

Here are a few links to articles about noteworthy books which were published in 2017:

Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2017

The Bookseller British Book Awards 2017

New York Times Critics’ Top Books of 2017

Tell us what books you read in 2017 which you would recommend to others. Share your recommendations in the comments below.

Observations from the 2017 National Council of Teachers of English Conference

By Tim Cross, Business Development Manager

Jimmy Santiago Baca giving the keynote address at NCTE 2017 Conference

Tyler Carey and I enjoyed attending the NCTE conference in St. Louis, MO last week. The shuttle buses from the airport were packed with English teachers from around the country, making you feel like the conference had taken over St. Louis. Indeed wherever you went, there were teachers talking about their experiences and pedagogy in the Starbucks and hotel lobbies throughout Downtown. Being in such an active and enthusiastic group of 7,000+ professionals that are all so passionate about their vocation was inspiring. To understand how NCTE works with educators to improve the learning of English language arts at all education levels, here’s a link to their website.

Especially inspiring was the keynote from famous poet and educator Jimmy Santiago Baca. Baca discussed his history as an orphan in New Mexico who was inspired by a teacher who told him he could write poetry, when he was having many challenges in the systems he grew up in. Baca encouraged the teachers to think of ways to better engage their students in ways that mattered to them – teaching them about poetry that bore a cultural relevance rather than sticking to a curriculum that may not be accessible. “You are more than dragon slayers,” he told the teachers, “you are dream makers.” After reading a poem he had written especially for the teachers, he took questions from the audience and in response to some similar questions, he told teachers to make their classrooms reflect their own individuality so that students felt they had someone real they could engage with and learn from. One teacher asked him how he made time to write, what with having five kids, two dogs, and a day-to-day life like we all do.  Baca said, “Take yourself serious but have a lot of fun…Dive into life,” continuing on to say that there will always be the things that happen in our day to day life that are a distraction from our plans and are part of living. While many of us have heard the ‘write when you can’ advice from authors before, Baca made that advice seem more possible and achievable. If you’re interested in learning more about  Baca’s remarkable story, visit his website:

The conference was packed with sessions in many tracks, making the general trend of sessions difficult to pinpoint. The overall energy at the conference reflected educators and publishers who are ready to explore new avenues and already setting the path for all of us. From innovative digital products to print products that reflect refinements and new approaches to teaching literacy, one felt ready to arm the students of today with the ideas of tomorrow.  My colleagues at Westchester K-12 Publishing Services and I are proud to be a part of that effort, supporting our clients through content development, editorial services, production, and more, helping our clients create innovative and effective products for ELA, Math, Social Studies, and Science education.  Contact Us to discuss your program and explore ways we can help you.

Westchester was proud to sponsor The Bookseller’s Children’s Conference which took place at the Barbican Centre in London, on 26 September. CEO Dennis Pistone and I attended and staffed our stand at the conference, which attracted over 350 children’s publishing figures.

The state of the publishing industry itself was a major focus of the opening sessions. Staff from The Bookseller shared stats about the growth of juvenile trade and picture books as compared to the industry as a whole, pointing to the overall health of children’s publishing — and its role as a revenue generator for publishers that release titles in different genres and markets. Much time was spent on the disproportionate percentage of sales that the J.K. Rowlings and David Walliamses of the world generate within this space, influencing numbers in the UK.  Publishing staff from DK, Chicken House, Hachette, Carlton Publishing, Penguin Random House, Lantana Publishing, Little Tiger Group, and other publishers and vendors shared their insights on aspects of the industry from marketing to digital to reaching young readers, and more. More details about the speakers and their backgrounds can be found here.

From a professional standpoint, the sessions on the industry were very helpful for me.  Personally, as a reader and bookstore aficionado, I was fascinated with the presentations by booksellers including Tamara Macfarlane from Tales on Moon Lane, Phil Henderson from supermarket chain ASDA, and Daphne Lao Tonge from book box Illumicrate. Each talked about different approaches for selling books into the children’s markets, from author events to displays to monthly delivery boxes. Many of these speakers also reinforced the need for engaging with children via literacy programs and charities to help ensure educational opportunities for those who may be disadvantaged.

Dennis and I had a busy schedule while in the UK, where we had the opportunity to meet with a long list of publishers who serve many different markets, and talk with them about their needs. Our offerings that include US-based, UK-based, and India-based employee and freelance resources for tasks like pre-edits, project management, copyediting, design, composition, and digital services resonated strongly, with some publishers taking steps to move different types of projects to us. We know many of our clients and prospects in the UK prefer to work directly with our or other vendor’s India-based operations, however we were pleasantly surprised to see the high level of interest expressed in the work we do from the States for project management, customer service, copyediting, design, composition page checks, proofreading, and more.

Westchester will be back in the UK for the FutureBook Conference held on 1 December at 155 Bishopsgate, London.  The conference program is now live, and speakers are continually being added. With a roster which includes people from the worlds of traditional publishing, audiobooks, and EdTech firms among others, it promises to be a very informative day.

I hope you’ll be able to join us at FutureBook to hear the insights of panelists on the future of our industry and technology, as well as meet us at our stand. Not able to attend? No problem, you can Contact Us to schedule a meeting in the days before or after the conference.  We look forward to exploring ways we can help you trim your costs, condense your schedules, and ensure the quality of your print and digital publications.

 

Conference Observations  and Highlights

by Kevin J. Gray, Director, Westchester K-12 Publishing Services

Westchester K-12 Publishing Services EdNET Sponsor Table

 

I’ve recently returned from the EdNET 2017 Conference, held in Scottsdale, Arizona. The weather outside was hot, but the atmosphere on the conference floor was welcoming. We connected with others in the educational publishing sector, engaging in mutually productive conversations that often uncovered unique and interesting opportunities to provide content development and production services to new partners.

For those who haven’t been before, EdNET is a great space for professional development not only because it fosters an environment for networking, but also provides a forum for influential speakers from throughout the education sector. I had the opportunity to sit in on a few of these sessions, and here are some key observations I’d like to share with you:

  • ESSA, the Every Student Succeeds Act which replaced No Child Left Behind in December of 2015, is continuing to radically change the education landscape by giving back to states power to make educational decisions. As the states roll out their plans, expect to see a renewed emphasis on developing materials for science, social studies, and others outside the reading and math core.
  • Student success depends on clean and clear student user experiences, both in print and technology. When defining new products, start with the end user and ask yourself, who are they and how do they need to interact with this product in order to be successful?
  • Adaptive learning continues to push boundaries and provide students with customized learning experiences, but with it comes the challenges of data collection (how much is too much?) and content development (developing multiple channels of content disrupts traditional linear editorial processes).

Just prior to EdNET 2017, we announced our collaboration with FableVision Studios (read about it here). It was gratifying to have our peers at the conference visualize the exciting possibilities that will result from two long-established companies, set in different parts of the publishing universe, working together to deliver the complete spectrum of content needs to the K-12 market.

We have already cultivated a number of new relationships with publishers across the market continuum as a result of being at the conference. While it was Westchester K-12 Publishing Services’ first time at EdNET as both sponsor and participant, I’m confident we will return again next year.

What did you find to be the most interesting takeaways from the EdNET Conference? Drop me an email at: kevin.gray@westchesterk12pubsvcs.com, or share your observations in the comments section below.

Westchester Publishing Services a Gold Sponsor of PW Star Watch 2017

By Guest Blogger – Nicole Tomassi

Three years ago, in an effort to bring well-deserved attention to people on the rise in the publishing industry, Publishers Weekly, working together with the Frankfurt Book Fair, created PW Star Watch.

This event seeks to identify individuals who have brought a fresh, innovative approach to the work they are doing in publishing, whether it’s production, bookselling, or any other non-executive position you can think of within publishing’s vast realm, honor their contributions, and provide them with the mentorship which will help them achieve further success within the industry.

Each year, the PW Star Watch Executive Jury selects forty semi-finalists from all the nominations received. From within this talented group, five finalists are chosen, with the name of the one who is the year’s Superstar being revealed at the PW Star Watch event. The newly named Superstar not only gets to bask in the glow of recognition from among their industry peers but is also awarded an all-expenses-paid trip to the Frankfurt Book Fair, which takes place in October.

Westchester Publishing Services realizes the importance of contributions from people who are newer to the industry. The ideas and concepts these people share are vital for the continued innovation and growth which are integral to the future viability of all aspects of the industry. We are very proud to be a Gold Sponsor of the Third Annual Publishers Weekly Star Watch and hope you can join us on Wednesday, September 6 in New York City when the next Super Star is recognized for their accomplishments.

To see who this year’s honorees are, or to purchase tickets (there are just a few still available!), please click here.