A new crew member
and, to mix metaphors, taking GP to the streets!
We’ve added a member to our crew! Brooke Schaffer, our new Business Development and Partnerships Manager. She will be working with us to forge partnerships with hotels, cafés, art spaces, community centers, and other like-minded venues with literary leanings to host our combined marketing and book distribution system.
Brooke has a background in advertising and business which she’s mostly put to use in the software and tech industries (as well as in film), but she has artistic leanings of her own. She has the right combination of persistence and charm, and is confident while also open to learning. And let’s just say she lowers the average age of our staff, and it’s great to have a different perspective on board.
Thanks to Brooke’s efforts, Galiot Press will be bridging analog and digital worlds, and meeting readers right where they are. Remember that typewriter we showed you in our post about the Brooklyn Book Festival last Fall? That’s one example of this “bridge.” A low-maintenance, intriguing (yes, many people are intrigued by typewriters!) physical object which, when tapped with a phone, brings you, the reader, straight to our books. Our mentors at MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service and our partners at Midas PR are very excited about this approach. And so are we, of course!
Where you come in
We need your input! Ours is a grassroots approach that builds, and relies on, community.
First, is there a venue where you live that you think would be a great potential partner? Maybe a teahouse that hosts bookish events, or a hotel with a literary theme, or another space that invites community and engagement and the arts? Where do YOU like to go spend your time for these activities? Local, independent venues that prioritize integrity, equity, and sustainability are what we are looking for. Please send in your ideas! You can email them to info@galiotpress.com.
Second, will you join our Street Team? We’ve written before about how we are looking for on-the-ground crew members who would help us get out distribution system to our partners, scope out event opportunities on an ongoing basis, and serve as Galiot Ambassadors.
We’re pulling together the details of the Street Team program, and would love to have you join us. We already have a list of a number of energetic souls—thank you!—and we’re looking to add to their number. Email us, also at info@galiotpress.com, if you’re interested, and we’ll send you all the details (and perks). To those of you who have already raised your hand: we’ll be in touch soon.
Upcoming classes
A reminder: we have some great online classes this month. Sign up now!
Kickstart Your Writing Habit, with Robyn Ryle: NEXT WEEK! Feb 13 at 7:00 pm ET
How to Know if Your Manuscript is Submission-Ready, with Lynne Griffin, Feb 25 at noon ET
Building Author Platform: An Organic Approach, with Namrata Poddar, Feb 21 at 8:00 pm ET
Brand Yourself as a Writer and Build Your Audience (workshop series) with Lorena Hernández Leonard, beginning Feb 25 at 7:00 pm ET.
And the March 1st application deadline for our Wellfleet, MA 4-day workshop is fast approaching.
In book production news
We are chugging along with our two signed books, and almost ready to announce our third. There’s a lot going on for all of them: the creation of Gantt charts to manage the overall process; spreadsheets to track ideas for blurbs, reviews, events, and more; lining up copyeditors and proofreaders; setting up a time for a kickoff meeting with our cover designers and PR firm; and of course editing.
We’ve written before about some examples of the editing process with our two books. But a question that has come up several times in our interactions with writers who submit to us is: how much editing will you do?