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What We’re Reading at Westchester – Holiday 2020 Edition

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Compiled by Nicole Tomassi, Marketing & Conference Manager

As a year truly unlike any other winds down, I was curious about the books that my colleagues have read or would like to read during the next few months. Once again, they have shared interesting titles across multiple genres and topics. For the first time, we are also telling you about some of the independent bookstores we purchase our books from.

By clicking on the cover image, you’ll be directed to the Indiebound website to purchase from a bookstore near you. You can also check out the Bookshop.org site, where purchases can be made from a specific independent bookstore, or proceeds from your purchase are placed into a general fund that is distributed to all independent bookstores, including those not currently using the Bookshop platform.

Below the selections of my colleagues, I’ve shared several “Best of”  lists where you can find additional noteworthy titles that were released this year. Season’s readings, and wishes for continued safety, health, and well-being.

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

Publisher: Penguin Classics, Annotated

Why I Wanted to Read This Book: This comedy was performed around Christmas in 1602, and the title itself is a reference to the Twelfth Night after Christmas. With all of the revelry in the play, I think it makes for a good holiday read.

 

Tim YetzinaSelected by: Tim Yetzina, Senior Supervising Editor, STEM, Westchester Education Services

My Bookstore: Powell’s Books Chicago

 

Invisible life of Addie LarueThe Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

Publisher: Tor Books (an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, a Westchester client)

Why I wanted to read this book: I’ve enjoyed books by this author in the past, and when I read the premise—a woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets—I had to know what happens. It did not disappoint!

Kim GSelected by: Kimberly Giambattisto, Senior Production Editor

My Bookstore:  Powell’s City of Books, Portland, OR

 

Beer and RacisimBeer and Racism: How Beer Became White, Why It Matters, and the Movements to Change It by Nathaniel Chapman and David Brunsma

Publisher: Bristol University Press

Why I wanted to read this book: I am a former craft beer writer and a beer festival organizer. I loved the diversity of styles of craft beer, but was always bothered by how homogenous the industry is: lots of bearded white dudes. An English professor friend who specializes in critical race theory and examining structural racism and is an avowed craft beer geek organized a reading group for this book that is made up of academics and beer industry vets. As Westchester works to change the diversity in the educational publishing industry, it’s been interesting to see the parallel challenges in the craft beer industry.

KevinSelected by: Kevin J. Gray, President and Chief Content Officer, Westchester Education Services

My Bookstore: Bookshop.org

A Promised LandA Promised Land by Barack Obama

Publisher: Crown Publishing

Why I wanted to read this book: A Promised Land is an introspective tale of the 44th President of the United States. We get an insight into US partisan politics as well as international diplomacy. It is a very inspiring story and written so well that it is very pleasurable to read, with elegant prose and vivid details. He is poetic at times and super smart at others (even choice of words). And then there is a lot of introspection throughout the book, multiple angles are presented. He questions at one point whether his is a “blind ambition wrapped in the gauzy language of service.” Perhaps it is just “a deep self-consciousness. A sensitivity to rejection or looking stupid.” But this does give you a peek into his thinking process. It is not very personal and is a very sanitized account of events in his life, but if you like reading about politics and international diplomacy, this is a great pick.

MonaSelected by: Mona Tiwary, Director of Publishing Services, Westchester Publishing Services India

 

The SelloutThe Sellout by Paul Beatty

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, a Westchester client)

Why I wanted to read this book: Paul Beatty is the first American to win the Man Booker prize for humor (British award), in 2016. Brits and critics—primarily white—wrote many reviews praising the satirical nature of the novel. Beatty, who is Black, often responded to these reviews with confusion because he does not categorize the book as satire. I was curious to understand the certainly racialized disconnect. This book critiques the bizarre, enduring violence of American white supremacy and somehow presents all with obvious, shocking humor; satire it most definitely is not. I adore Beatty’s brain. This book knocked me out.

Selected by: Samantha Tucker, Cultural Responsiveness Education Lead, Westchester Education Services

My Bookstore: The Book Loft, Columbus, OH

Moby DickMoby Dick by Herman Melville

Publisher: West Margin Press, Mint Editions (a Westchester client)

Why I wanted to read this book: This was one of my favorite books in high school, and I fondly remember reading it during an especially snowy December for English class. With winter coming and all of us doing our best to stay home and socially distant, it feels fitting to revisit this book in the new Mint Editions release from our client West Margin Press.

Information about their edition of this classic (in both print and ebook) is available here, and this post from their blog about reading classic literature is a must-read.

Selected by: Tyler M. Carey, Chief Revenue Officer

 

Still LifeStill Life by Louise Penny

Published by: Minotaur (an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, a Westchester client)

Why I wanted to read this book: I read this first installment in Louise Penny’s mystery series in 2017 and immediately fell in love (even in spite of the editing job, which was not handled by Westchester —that just shows you how much I liked it!). I have steadily been reading through her series ever since, and I just finished the eighth book, The Beautiful Mystery. Her mysteries are complex and personal, and her characters have so much depth that I feel I know them all as good friends by now. I escape to Penny’s rich rendition of Quebec whenever I need a book that I know will be both engaging and comforting!

Selected by: Ashley Moore, Copyeditor

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Published by: Penguin Modern Classics

Why I wanted to read this book: As featured on BBC TV’s Between the Covers book club show and recommended by British comedian, Bill Bailey, as his favourite book. Bailey is currently competing on Strictly Come Dancing, the UK’s version of the US’ Dancing with the Stars! Apparently, it’s Billy Connolly’s favourite book too; clearly, it strikes a chord with comedians!

Tim DSelected by: Tim Davies, Managing Director, Westchester Publishing Services and Westchester Education Services, UK

 

Demystifying ShariahDemystifying Shariah: What it is, How it Works, and Why it’s Not Taking Over Our Country by Sumbul Ali-Karamali

Publisher: Beacon Press

Why I wanted to read this book: The author’s tone is conversational, which makes this an easy read. She dives into a topic that is often used to demonize Muslims, and breaks it down into concepts that are understandable by the layperson. I have a lot of people in my circles who still have questions and concerns about Shariah, and I’d like to be able to have clear, simple language to draw upon when discussing their concerns, as well as offer them an accessible book to read.

NiloferSelected by: Nilofer Ali, Resources Manager and DEI Committee Lead, Westchester Education Services

Watership DownWatership Down by Richard Adams

Publisher: Scribner

Why I wanted to read this book: I am rereading this inventive work because of its great storyline and characters dealing with society from a rabbit’s perspective.

Selected by: Stephanie Nelson, Proofreader

 

On Writing: A MemoirOn Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

Publisher: Scribner

Why I wanted to read this book: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft has been on my wish list for years. Due to Stephen King’s ability to imagine so many mystifying concepts, I wanted to discover his method for creating such intricate stories and to learn how his writing skills were developed. King’s novels possess constant upward momentum, regardless of the length of the story. The last title I read by King, Doctor Sleep, inspired me to finally pick up this memoir.

 

Selected by: Darryl Keck, Layout Specialist

Birth of LoudThe Birth of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry that Shaped Rock ‘N’ Roll by Ian S. Port

Publisher: Scribner

Why I wanted to read this book:  I wanted to know more about how the solid-body electric guitar came into existence. This book has a fairly narrow focus on Fender and Gibson guitars that provides a portrait of the two personalities (Leo Fender and Les Paul) responsible for major early developments and commercial success. The text follows the arc of their careers and contributions to the electric guitar’s evolution, and how their instruments have influenced the culture at large. A very enjoyable read with lots of song titles and artists to illustrate the sonic evolution of the guitars and amplifiers.

Selected by: JodieAnne Sclafani, Production Supervisor—Design, Graphics, and Proof

My Bookstore: Oblong Books

 

Hidden Valley roadHidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

Publisher: Doubleday

Why I want to read this book:  I want to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts both the person directly suffering from the disease and the repercussions on those who are closest to them. The author shares the harrowing story of Don and Mimi Galvin and their family of two girls and ten boys, as ultimately six of the sons would be diagnosed with schizophrenia. In addition to interviewing some of the researchers who studied the family for decades looking for clues genetic and otherwise to the causes of this disease, he also speaks with Mimi and her daughters, who endured collateral physical and emotional traumas as a result.

Selected by: Nicole Tomassi, Marketing & Conference Manager

For more book selections and reviews, check out the resources below:

by Nicole Tomassi, Marketing & Conference Manager

Westchester and the publishing industry overall have continued to change how we work on publication projects this year. Being able to successfully pivot and adapt to a different norm is a central theme running through our highlights from the summer of 2020. Read on to learn some of the ways we continued to maintain vital connections with our clients and within the larger publishing community:

Working Better Together

Publishing Now webinar whitepaperIn early July Publishers Weekly and Westchester co-hosted the Publishing Now webinar where attendees across all areas of publishing had the opportunity to hear from stakeholders at BISG, HMH, Ingram, and Princeton University Press about how each company was addressing challenges within their companies and beyond that were impacting producing, shipping, and selling publications to consumers, identifying potential issues to be aware of heading into the highly important fall and holiday seasons, and ideas for how publishers could prepare to navigate effectively through these situations. In addition to the webinar video, Publishers Weekly produced a summary article, and the panelists contributed content related to the discussion that is available to read and download from our website.

Welcome to Carol Wilson

In September, Carol Wilson joined Westchester Education Services in the newly created position of Director of Client Solutions. Carol has extensive experience within education publishing including her work at Pearson, Edmentum, and Renaissance Learning. This recent blog post outlines more about Carol’s credentials and how she will work with Westchester’s clients.

 

Westchester becomes a member of BISG

BISG logoPublishing is an industry where each sector is highly reliant on other companies within the supply chain that transforms author’s creations and delivers the finished product to consumers in the formats they desire. In these complex times, participating in a forum where data informs effective strategies for stepping through each stage of the publication lifecycle can be extremely beneficial. That is why we chose to become a member of the Book Industry Study Group this August. In this blog post, Chief Revenue Officer, Tyler M. Carey explains why the time was right to take this step and how other companies in the publishing industry can do so.

 

IPG Independent Publishing Awards sponsorship

As a member of the Independent Publishers Guild, Westchester UK had the pleasure to sponsor the Education Publishing Award category during the Independent Publishing Awards ceremony, which took place virtually on September 22. Kudos to the independent publishers who were nominated in the various categories, and congratulations to all of the winning publishers. You can view the awards show here.

 

Westchester Publishing Services featured in PW Digital in India article

Being able to conduct operations digitally has been mission-critical during the past seven months, and the right tools are crucial to ensuring processes run as seamlessly as possible. Westchester’s adoption of the Dropbox platform a few years ago both within our internal teams as well as serving as the foundation for our Client Portal are detailed in this article which was part of the coverage in Publishers Weekly’s annual Digital in India section.

 

Keeping focused on the needs of individual publishers

Westchester has weathered many different business cycles during our more than 50 years of operation. At a challenging time for many in the industry, this summer we surpassed the milestone of having more than 250 active clients, publishers who rely on us for editorial, production, content creation, and project management services while workforces are remote and the ways readers purchase and consume content has dramatically changed. We have achieved this by consulting with each publisher to identify the best solution for their specific workflow issues, and providing them with finished projects they and their customers can be proud of.
Would you like to experience how a collaborative partnership can help your publishing program? I invite you to contact us to learn more.

by Tyler M. Carey, Chief Revenue Officer

Regular readers of this blog may be aware of my participation in The Stationers’ Company, the City of London’s livery company – or guild – for the publishing and media industries.  For myself and the other US-based members of The Stationers’ Company, the inability for us to travel to London for Company events has been disappointing.  Nonetheless, the Company has invested a great deal of energy and no shortage of resources in keeping programming viable via Zoom.  Frequent webinars and presentations about the state of the industry, new projects that members are working on, as well as the odd night or two of virtual pub trivia have kept us connected with our friends and colleagues in the UK.

Recently, I had the great privilege of participating in an interview hosted by the Master of the Company, the Right Reverend Stephen Platten. Platten was educated at The Stationers’ Company School, a since-closed school that had been run by The Stationers’ Company. He went on to serve in the clergy, including a role as the last Bishop of Wakefield for the Anglican Church. In his retirement, he has been increasingly active in the Company, leading the Company through the expansion and upgrade of the historic Stationers’ Hall in Central London. You can see our discussion in the YouTube link below.

If you have an interest in The Stationers’ Company and want to learn more about its efforts in the UK, US, and the rest of the world to connect publishing professionals, please use the Contact Us form, and I will get back to you promptly.

by Tyler M. Carey, Chief Revenue Officer
I hope the Summer is going well for you and your team, all things considered. Things have been very busy at US employee-owned Westchester Publishing Services despite the headwinds caused by the pandemic within our industry.  We are editing and typesetting more projects for our clients this year than in any past year.
Related to the challenges in our industry, though, I wanted to make sure you received the outcomes from the “Publishing Now” webinar that we co-hosted with Publishers Weekly last month. We were fortunate enough to have stellar speakers from Princeton University Press, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Ingram, and the Book Industry Study Group on our panel, and the feedback to their insights about the supply chain and state of the industry was very favorable.
In case you missed the link to watch the webinar or read the post-webinar assets, you can access that info here.
One outcome for Westchester coming on the heels of the webinar is that many of our clients are engaging with us about different ways of working together. From an increased interest in using our Client Portal to having us handle different types of editorial or production tasks besides those we have handled for them before, we are finding our clients leaning on Westchester more and more for support in the current climate. 
Let me know if a quick call about any new ways we can help you would be helpful.  Be well.

by Tyler M. Carey, Chief Revenue Officer

BISG logoWestchester Publishing Services is proud to share that we recently became a member of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG). BISG works to provide solutions that will positively impact on two or more parts of the publishing supply chain, which in addition to publishers, includes packagers like Westchester, printers, distributors, and companies that collect, use, and analyze the data and metadata that are critical to the success of the entire supply chain.

Tyler M. Carey, Chief Revenue Officer for Westchester said, “Joining BISG is a long overdue commitment from Westchester Publishing Services to the publishing industry.  The work that Brian O’Leary and the BISG board and committees have done to advance the business of making books is critical to the stability and growth of the publishing industry.  Westchester has participated in discussions around workflow and industry trends in an unofficial capacity with BISG for some time, but with the pandemic’s impact on publishing, we see the importance of playing a more active role in one of the industry’s most critical organizations.  We encourage all publishers to explore the BISG.org website, the white papers on different aspects of our industry, the research produced by BISG’s member committees, and join the discussion.”

Brian O’Leary, Executive Director of BISG shared this regarding Westchester Publishing Services becoming a member, “We’re happy to welcome Westchester Publishing Services to BISG. Our members work collaboratively to solve problems that affect two or more parts of book publishing, improving revenues, and reducing friction between trading partners. At a time when we’re challenged to find new ways of working together, BISG provides an important way to identify and address industry issues through standards, best practices, and new approaches.”

The work of BISG is advanced through the work group committees staffed by volunteers from member organizations who strategize solutions that will benefit the larger publishing ecosphere, helping the industry to remain strong and grow more adept to handle the challenges of publishing and disseminating printed content in ever more myriad formats and distribution channels. To learn more about the work BISG does and to find out how your company can become a BISG member, please visit their website.