The Production Point of View

By Shirley Chan

My job as Production Coordinator for Penguin reprints is both rewarding and challenging. The reward comes from working with books that I (and the public) love to read, and the challenge is in keeping up with demand for these beloved books.

At no other time is the duality of my job more apparent than when an author wins a prestigious award! This past November, William T. Vollmann won the National Book Award for Fiction for Europe Central. The next morning, both my Outlook inbox and my voicemail were full of frantic messages before I’d even gotten to the office.

Problem #1: We needed to produce tens of thousands of books to meet the new demand for Europe Central, and we needed to do it quickly. All other reprints had to be prioritized to make room, which was no easy feat considering I handle over 100 reprints per month. Imagine setting up a row of Dominoes when you suddenly need to insert an extra Domino without knocking all the pieces down. (And there are 20 people calling while you’re doing it to ask if you are in fact doing it.)

Problem #2: We needed to change the cover to proclaim Vollmann’s status as a National Book Award winner, and we needed to do it before producing those tens of thousands of books. Cover changes are not as easy as pressing a button on a computer. The changes go through stages of approval with the Editorial and Art departments before being sent out to a cover printer. The printer produces a proof that must again go through all the stages of approval before the covers can finally be printed. Imagine a game of Telephone where you run from person to person trying to get everyone to agree on one thing. (And everyone speaks a different language.)

Problem #3: We needed to meet increased demand for Vollmann’s backlist titles, but had to avoid printing too many. We needed to keep books in stock, while still updating covers and author biographies. Reprint quantities kept fluctuating, and changes kept coming in until the moment when everything had to be finalized or else we wouldn't get books. Imagine a juggling act run amok. (And people keep tossing in more things to juggle.)

Production is a tough place. Everyone, from the Sales department to the Publisher, looks to us to make the books happen. That’s the challenge. For me, the reward lies not only in the exceptional titles that I work on, but also in the extraordinary effort that other people, either within my company or at an outside vendor, make to facilitate this whole crazy process.

So consider joining the circus, and apply for a Production position today!