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Cover to Cover: Art, Design, and Layout Services

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by Mark DaGrossa, Director of Creative Services

Hello, I’m Mark DaGrossa, Director of Creative Services for Westchester Publishing Services. To give you some background about myself, I am a Founder/Partner of Folio Designhaus, an award-winning design firm based in Dayton, Ohio, that has been in business for the past 10 years. Prior to opening my business, I worked in various positions within Mazer Corporation’s design department for 20 years. I welcomed the opportunity to join Westchester because the ability to lead a design team that is part of a true full-service solution for publishers was an exciting prospect to me.

I find that the beginning of the year is a great time to recharge your batteries, both mentally and physically, while also planning upcoming projects. To make book production an even more efficient process for you, I’m pleased to share that we’ve further expanded our service offerings. We now offer art, design, and layout for books and related ancillary publications, giving you access to Westchester’s extensive design resources along with the editorial and production services publishers have relied on for 50 years.

What makes Westchester’s Art & Design team different?

Our art and design team has deep experience within the education field as well as the retail/marketing realm. So, what does this mean for your company? It means that we can design your product from cover to cover, utilizing any or all of the following services:

  • Cover Design – We create design concepts that convey the message and feeling of the final product, whether you need a look which is very traditional, cutting-edge, whimsical or anything in between.
  • Interior Page Design – Whether a textbook, Teachers Guide, or workbook, we know how to design your pages from initial concept or from supplied templates.
  • Illustrations – Our illustration resources can provide a large variety of styles for your custom art. We can create line art, realistic art, cartoon styles, or fully commissioned artwork—whatever specific style your project requires.
  • Photography – We are able to supply product shots, setup shots, or location shots to achieve the perfect image to accompany your written content.
  • Photo Research – We have a highly experienced team of photo researchers who can track down the exact image needed from any stock house, as well as handle rights and permissions. For projects requiring more extensive research or a geography-based image, we can work with historical societies or museums to obtain the required images.

To see examples of the art, design and layout concepts our team is capable of executing on your projects, click the image below:

I will cover topics including design principles, illustrations, stock photography, fonts, and printing in upcoming blog posts. I will also share with you the thought process that shapes how my team creates amazing designs for your products, and point out things which may help make your job just a tad easier.

I welcome the opportunity to communicate with you, so feel free to reach out and ask me any questions you have about art, design, and layout. We look forward to learning about your design requirements and helping you create a finished product that not only excites your customers but is something you and your company can be extremely proud of. I hope that you will keep Westchester Publishing Services in mind when considering design-related aspects for your new projects.

Have a great day!

Mark DaGrossa

 

 

By Tyler M. Carey, Chief Revenue Officer

Westchester returned to the UK a few weeks ago for meetings with customers, partners, and potential customers, this time with three tentpole events across our trip.

Friend and colleague Lorraine Shanley of Market Partners International was granted her Freedom of the City of London on 30 November, and I was fortunate enough to attend as one of her witnesses at London’s famous Guildhall. The ceremony, which essentially grants honorary citizenship to the City of London to members of guilds and dignitaries, was administered by Laura Miller, a Deputy Clerk of the Chamberlain’s Court City of London. In addition to her role at Guildhall, Miller is also a member of London’s publishing and communications guild, the Stationers’ Company. (More on them in a bit!)  Here’s a photo of Laura Miller, Lorraine Shanley, and the Beedle / Clerk of the Chamberlain’s Court from the ceremony.

On 01 December, I represented Westchester at The Bookseller’s annual FutureBook conference, where we sponsored and exhibited. The conference itself was phenomenal, covering many aspects of innovation and technology in communications and publishing, with tracks for audiobooks, educational content, and the trade industry. The session that stood out the most for me was the ‘What can we learn from the video on demand business?’ panel, which included Molly Barton from Serial Box, Jeff Norton from Awesome Media & Entertainment, and speakers from Yodomo, The Artists Partnership, and Mammoth Screen. I found Serial Box’s model for distribution of serialized titles to be very compelling, and Norton’s comments about how not just younger generations – but our society in general – are once again rapidly embracing digital ingestion of content to be thought-provoking.

The attendees at FutureBook confirmed much of what I’ve been hearing on my last few trips to the UK on behalf of Westchester, as well as in sales meetings I had in the days leading up to FutureBook. There is a keen interest in Westchester’s expanding US employee-owned operation in Connecticut, and the work that we do to support publishers from both our world headquarters in the US, as well as our offices in India. Some UK publishers have readily embraced the Domestic Full Service model used by Harvard University Press and others, through which US Production Editors, and US or UK-based copyeditors, take a developed manuscript and bring it through to final printer and ebook files with our composition operation in Chennai, India. Additionally, other publishers in the UK have expressed an interest in liaising directly with our editorial office in Noida, India, or solely with our composition operation in Chennai, India – as Bloomsbury currently does.

Louise Cameron, who is Bloomsbury’s Group Production Director very generously shared this testimonial with me, regarding the work we’ve done for Bloomsbury over the years:

“Bloomsbury has been using Westchester Publishing Services for Trade typesetting for over a decade – not just because the service is excellent but also because the company has been willing to invest and flex to support Bloomsbury’s evolving XML-based workflows.”

With a spring in my step from the above feedback, and positive decisions from three publishers I met with on this and a previous trip to proceed with working with Westchester, I continued on to my final – and most inspiring – of the industry events which brought me to London for this trip.

The Stationers’ Company is a more than 600-year-old London Guild that helps advance the publishing, media, and communications industries. It is perhaps best known as the organization that tracked copyright on British literary works as far back as Shakespeare’s folios and continued to do so in one form or another until 2000. You can learn more about their work here. There are not many Americans who are selected to be members of the Stationers’ Company; Lorraine Shanley, referenced above, is one of my fellow US residents who has been invited over the years. Very graciously, Oliver Gadsby (CEO, Rowman & Littlefield International) and Tej Sood (Managing Director, Anthem Press) sponsored me for membership, and on 05 December I was accepted in as a Freeman, or member, of the Company. It was truly an honor to join the ranks of publishing and media luminaries who have been members over the centuries, and to attend my Freeman ceremony at Stationers’ Hall, which is located in the shadow of St. Paul’s Cathedral.  My wife came across the pond to join me for the ceremony (and yes, waiting for her at Heathrow Airport was like the opening scene of Love Actually), and it was a great memory that we will share for years to come.  Our marketing manager decided my ceremony was worthy of a press release, and below is a picture from the ceremony. I am looking forward to participating in many other Stationers’ events and supporting this amazing organization which does so much to help our industry.

Westchester is proud of the growth we are continuing to experience within the UK publishing industry. We already have a number of trips planned for our Staff in the next few months, including:

If you are interested in meeting with us at the above shows – or speaking by phone or Skype in the interim – please Contact Us to arrange a conversation about your publishing program and the many ways that we can help you.

This is my final blog post of 2017, so I will close by wishing you the happiest of holidays, and to be on the look-out for more Travels with Tyler posts in the coming year.

Conference Observations and Highlights

By David Bailis, STEM Content Director, Westchester K-12 Publishing Services

SIIA 2017 Education Business Forum
PHOTO BY Jym Wilson

Kevin Gray and I recently attended the SIIA conference in Washington, D.C. It was my first time attending the conference, so I did not know what to expect. I was pleased to find the SIIA community is very tight-knit but also quite welcoming. The focus of the SIIA conference is to bring people in the Ed Tech industry together to learn more about what others in the industry are doing, and we were able to meet a lot of important players at this conference.

Fostering the idea of collaboration and building the industry as a whole, we participated in two engaging networking activities. The first was a Speed Networking session (sponsored by Westchester K-12), which was an excellent opportunity to break the ice with other conference attendees. Though the interactions were brief, we were paired with potential clients, partners, and resources, enriching our network and providing an expanded view of the ed tech publishing world. The second session was a curated networking opportunity hosted by Educational Systemics in which we were paired with like-minded companies, either in consulting or client-vendor roles. This session was helpful in facilitating conversations and finding intersection points that we might not have otherwise uncovered.

I thought many of the sessions we attended were both interesting and thought-provoking. There was such a wide variety of topics, including artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, the intricate process of founding an Ed Tech startup company, as well as many others.

One of the sessions we attended was led by Phaedra Boinodiris, the Senior Strategy Lead Ed Tech for IBM and the Watson system. The main topic of conversation was about how artificial intelligence is being implemented in many different ways in education technology projects. One use case Phaedra gave was about how a small school in Texas is using a Minecraft mod to teach the students about epidemiology and the human immune system. Using the game, the students were able to go inside the human body and fight diseases which the software spawned using AI. This amazing use of gaming education was just one of the ways that teachers across the country are using similar applications to teach content in more interesting ways for their students.

Another session on how augmented and virtual reality are being used in education was led by Lisa Casteneda, the co-founder and CEO of foundry10, and Jussi Kajala, the chairman and COO of 3DBear. They shared that many studies have been done which seem to indicate that AR and VR have a positive effect on student performance, as well as student engagement. While the cost of VR equipment is currently high, more and more teachers are using it in their classrooms. Lisa and Jussi also shared some of the many ways teachers are using AR to explore virtually, such as creating a more welcoming school environment or “visiting” a location that would be impossible to experience otherwise, such as the South Pole or Mars!

A third session covered the process through which a startup edtech company could be established. Santeri Koivisto founded MinecraftEdu, a system that helps teachers use Minecraft to teach students a variety of content in classrooms all over the world. He spoke about his experiences coming up with an idea, finding funding, and eventually selling his company to Microsoft. Most of my personal experience is based in creating or teaching content, so it was both interesting and exciting for me to learn how Santeri was able to take the steps needed to make his business dreams a reality.

Additionally, Kevin participated in a break-out session on investing in Content vs. Platform. He shared the stage with Blackboard, myON, and a teacher representative. Each shared their unique vantage points about the buy/build/partner decisions that major players in the market have to make with regards to content creation and online delivery. Having a teacher on the panel also helped ground the discussion in the end users in the classrooms.

Kevin and I found the tenor of the conference was rather collaborative, with the attendees seeking each other out to discover ways to work together to meet their business goals. We came away from the conference with many new connections and potential opportunities to work with companies we hadn’t previously known about, and are looking forward to attending next year!

If you attended the conference, what sessions did you find to be the most informative? Share your thoughts in the comment section below, or email me at David.Bailis@westchesterk12pubsvcs.com.

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.