So far you’ve researched the publication history of two works that are meaningful to you. It is now time to dream up a publication project for the University of New Haven Press. There isn’t enough time in a single semester for you to actually create this publication, so you will focus on creating a detailed plan, making decisions about every aspect of the project so you can make a proposal to the head of the press, our university librarian Lauren Slingluff.
Your first task is to determine the name of the imprint into which this publication fits. Penguin has more than 300 imprints. Red Hen Press has seven imprints and two publishing series. You will determine the purpose of the imprint you propose and why it is needed. Some of you might decide to work together on a specific imprint, or you all might decide to work individually. Will you publish your own writing, as Virginia Woolf did with Hogarth Press? Or will you publish the work of someone else? Will it be a new writer no one has discovered yet? If so, how will you find them? Will it be a well-established writer whose work needs a new audience? How will you shape the author’s (or authors’) work? How will you invite feedback on the best way of presenting that work?
Financial Plan
Who will invest labor and/or capital to see this publication become a reality and why will they be willing to make this investment?
Editing Plan
How will the text be edited and who will do this work? Will this plan include peer review or some variation on it?
Production Plan
How will the text be produced? Will it be print, digital, or both? Options can range from a limited edition hand-printed on handmade paper (using resources at the makerspace and the department of art and design–similar to what students can do at Skeumorph Press) all the way to a large print run sent out to a press like GHP Media in New Haven. You might also want to propose a digital-only publication, perhaps taking advantage of two platforms for digital publication that are freely available to University of New Haven students (OpenLab and Pressbooks).
Marketing Plan
What is the best way to reach the ideal audience for this publication? Who is that ideal audience? What will be the identity of the imprint you create for it?
