Tuesday, November 14, 2017

The Publishing Industry as Media; Maus & Art Spiegelman

COMMENT: please watch the following videos and post a comment in the comment section below about what struck you as interesting or new information for you from watching these videos about the publishing industry. What shocked you or informed you about the kinds of jobs writers, artists, and people can find in the publishing industry? Are you interested in the publishing industry? Why or why not?

Working in Publishing: What is it?
Room Tour: See Inside a Publishing House
Inside Random House: Bringing Authors Books to Life

YOUR BLOG: (write about any of the following today in class)
  • What is your favorite book of all time? Since that's a difficult question, consider breaking this down to these categories: 
    • What was your favorite picture book when you were a child?
    • What was your favorite juvenile or young adult novel?
    • What was your favorite genre specific (fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, romance, horror, western, etc.) novel? 
    • What was your favorite school reading book (required reading)?
    • What was your favorite graphic novel, comic strip anthology, comic book series, etc.?
    • What was your favorite book that was turned into a movie or tv series?
  • Which do you prefer: a print or digital reading experience (and why?)
CLASSROOM: (please complete the following tasks today):

Answer the bulleted questions below and turn in by end of class as participation.

1. Please watch the following TedTalk by Andy Weir: TedTalkX: author of The Martian
  • What did you learn about how the publishing industry works?
2. Read the article bio on Art Spiegelman
3. Read the article from the Harvard Gazette on Art Spiegelman
  • What did you learn about Spiegelman's artistic journey writing Maus? What strikes you as interesting?
4. Read the 2 reviews of Maus (handout) & answer (separate sheet of paper to turn in by end of class):
  • Why is Maus important as a book? (consider its influence)
  • What is the article "The Making of Maus" selling? (ie., why is the article being written?) Why?
5. Continue working on your homework (see below) or reading Maus (see below) or working on Ms. Gamzon's Lit Mag project.

Also, if you didn't get a chance to: Play Student Interactive Fiction Games Here (open folder & download, then open the download...)

HOMEWORK: Please continue reading Maus by Art Spiegelman (see information above); Read, annotate, and answer the 15 questions on the Publishing Industry handout. Article questions are due Thursday, Nov. 16. Maus deadline is Monday, Nov. 20.

Coffeehouse is 7:00, Nov. 15. Please join us!

15 comments:

  1. I think publishing books and publishing houses are really cool. The job and the artists have to be flexible and adaptable to any situation as the career can be varied. No book is really the same. One has to learn quickly and be able to work around certain presets in order to produce the most successful book. I find it interesting that there are certain jobs within these houses such as editing and sales marketing because once a book is published, that is the final product of all these people put together. What initially surprised me was the entire process of publishing. It's very complicated and there are a lot of factors. Up to one hundred people and more can work on just a single book! The idea of marketing and publicizing the book is also shocking. I knew the book industry has been falling ever since the digital age but I never took time to consider how difficult it is advertising against competition and how many people are actually interested. I am interested in the publishing industry because the process seems really cool. Working with a whole bunch of people makes me feel productive, especially if the group can come to a mutual agreement and start producing together. The industry has a lot of room for exceptions and publishing isn't limited to books. It can be anything going out to the public.

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  3. From watching the 2nd video i learned making books isn't as easy as i thought. its really interesting that there different floors for different sections. they basically change there life style and become flexible so they can adapt to there new life is cool. one thing that shocked me is that i didn't quite get why most of the writers were British. it looks like they really have fun connecting, giving good vibes and i like it.

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  4. From watching the three videos I found it interesting how many different jobs and different task went into the publication of a book. The jobs range from a writer, to an editor, to a designer, to a marketer, etc. You could say I was a bit shocked at how many people are involved and how much work and energy is put in to the publication of just one book. I think the publishing industry is very interesting and I may consider working in the industry not only because of my love for writing but because of the process, you just have to respect that process and the work that goes into making a book, it's an amazing thing and it would be a pretty dope thing to be a part of.

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  5. The three videos have taught me how much work is done behind the scenes of releasing a book. The videos informed me on how many different people are needed to publish a book, all of the editors and readers and marketing required is a huge number.

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  6. After watching the videos I realized how many different aspects to a publishing house there are. For example they are people devoted to editing, cover design, and marketing the books. I also didn't realize how closely the author, editor, and even cover designer worked together to make the best possible decisions. I don't think I am interested in the publishing industry because being an editor looks like way to much work and the other jobs surrounding publishing don't interest me. I could perhaps see myself as a writer but there are many other careers I am more interested in.

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  7. I think publishing books is a important job. The sales workers and publishers have to go over the book so many times an really make sure the book is something that will sell. They have to build a relationship with the author so the process moves smoothly. The actual process of publishing a book can be a struggle and its not a quick thing it takes time. The main thing people need is to be adaptable and flexible to their work because all books are different and it can result to different steps. To be a designer for publishing you need confidence but i think that can go for all publishing jobs even as an author you need to be confident and creative. Break out of your shell to new ideas and experiences. Depending on your job it can be different reasons why it is good. The team work you do and how well you need to work with others. I don't really know if i will be interested in the publishing industry but if i thought it was what i wanted than it will be an amazing job to work with authors and help bring their story to life.

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  8. I find it intriguing that there's a lot more jobs in the publishing industry than one might expect. Normally you'd think mostly of editors and that's about it and you'd kind of just look over cover design and other things like that (or maybe that's just me, I don't know--). However, there are many more jobs than just editor (cover design, children's books, communications, etc). This is rather informative because it shows that you don't have to be an amazing editor or writer to work in the publishing industry-- If you excel in art/design (cover design) or sales (communications/sales), then you can easily find a job in this particular industry. Personally, I'm not very interested in the publishing industry in terms of a future career. I've got my heart set on being an attorney, so I never really gave it much thought. I could see myself working in the publishing industry as a backup plan though if a career in law doesn't really work out for me.

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  9. The different jobs that everyone has all comes together as one which is great. They all pretty much work together for one main goal. Most of the people in the videos seemed really happy about their jobs. You could tell that they cared about what they're doing which is really great. There's a lot more work that goes on behind the scenes that I never really even knew about because personally I thought the author did it all alone besides illustration of course.

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  10. okay so i didn't really find anything new like im pretty sure i know what a publishing company does they just do things with books
    there's writers/editors and then artists and sales people and communication people so that's pretty expected
    no i dont want to be in the publishing industry they're so boring like all they do is print and read and email like bye i'd rather be the one who is writing the books they're reading

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  11. I don't see myself working in the publishing world unless to publish my own work. I highly appreciate the work being done by these men and women but I couldn't see myself doing it. I do enjoy media but that not the way I want to interact with it in my career.

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  12. I didn't learn anything knew because I knew there were many types of jobs in the publishing industry, such as making the covers, editing, printing, revising. I wouldn't really want to work in the publishing industry unless I got to design the covers because I like designing things although I'd probably mess it up and get sued so nevermind

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  13. I don't see myself in the publishing career because most of the time, it seems really mundane and boring and I just can't work in an atmosphere like that. I appreciate the work that these people do, but I just can't see myself in that line of work.

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  14. There are a lot of people involved in the publication industry, more than I had previously anticipated. Everyone involved plays a specific and important role. With that being said I am not interested in the publication industry. It seems interesting, however that career path is something that I don't think would work for me.

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  15. What struck me in particular as interesting in regards to the publishing industry is the process that goes into creating one book. That book has to be first created from the thoughts of an author, revised and edited, an illustration has to be made for the cover, and so on and so forth. I find this very intriguing to know that the books I purchase from my local bookstore took so much effort and time to make, it makes me appreciate it that much more. What shocked me in terms of occupational positions in the publishing industry is that it's not just simply revision and editing, creating text, etc. There is literally a job for every single portion that goes into creating a novel; from the text and its multiple designs, to the cover, there is so many opportunities for people in the industry. I am extremely interested in the publishing industry, and I hope to pursue it in the future. I love to read and write, and I feel at home when I do, so making a career out of it would be pretty interesting.

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