SUCCESS STORIES
Success Story: Loudoun County High School
Friday, April 30, 2010
Today renowned poet Kwame Alexander came back to LCHS for his "Book in a Day" workshop. With his team of three, the goal was to have a manuscript of poems by Loudoun County High School students ready to be sent to a publisher. There were a total of 30 students that were allowed to work on the book and we were all divided into five groups. Each group received a badge and a list of jobs that needed to be completed by the end of the workshop. The groups assigned to us were: Marketing, Editorial, Copy Editing, Cover Design, and there were two Production Managers to make sure all the tasks were completed.
Marketing (Joe Bocher): The "Book in a Day" program was absolutely incredible. I didn't realize how rigorous it would be to publish a book in a year, let alone one day. A lot of hard work has gone into this book and I hope it will be successful. Everyone has been really into it and everyone has contributed greatly to this book. I was fortunate enough to work in the marketing department.
Marketing turned out to be a little more difficult than I originally thought because our progress was pretty dependent on the progress of other groups. For example, before we could advertise and make posters we had to wait for the cover designers to finish their prototypes. Then of course, we had to vote on which cover we liked the best. We also organized and gathered information from all sorts of local newspapers and radio stations to advertise for the book signing party. We also contacted local musicians about performing live music. Overall it was a great experience and I'd recommend it to any aspiring writers.
Cover Design (Paige Harrison): This has been an awesome experience. I still can't believe I get to be a part of it. For so many years I wanted to be a graphic designer. Photoshop is a great program. I love being able to alter pictures and make them look like something completely different. A few years ago I became very interested in writing poetry. Once my attention became focused on that, my attention for the graphic design wasn't as strong. This program, "Book-in-a-day," was a great way for me to mesh those two talents. I was able to submit poems that meant a lot to me, while being able to help create and design ideas for the cover! What else could I even ask for?
Copy Editing (Bronwen Hale): Wow…so "Book in a Day," what a crazy idea, right? But after just a few hours working with fellow students (many of whom I hadn't really met before), I was amazed by what a group of teenagers can do when they're involved and excited about something. Though publishing a book in a day seems like an insurmountable task, with a task force of 30 dedicated students who CHOSE to be here (yes, missing class, hanging with a really cool professional poet, pizza and cookies were all great perks as well), the process became incredibly easy and smooth. I got to sit down and edit all day (which I love to a ridiculous degree), all while meeting new people and eating good food…and missing a Calculus test (Score). It's been a really fun day, and I'm proud to have been part of it.
Editorial (Max Shipman): The Book in a Day program is a great experience. When I first heard about the project, I was not looking forward to all of the work that I expected would come with publishing a book, but after we started working on it I was surprised by how simple the process is. I am in the Editorial group, whose job it is to write some of the major components of a book such as the introduction, dedication, etc. We all have been working hard on what was assigned to us and should be finished with our jobs soon. I can't wait until the book gets published so I can see all of our hard work in its finished form. Book in a Day has definitely helped me understand the process behind writing, editing, and publishing a book.
Production Manager (Emily Gribbin): This day was crazy, I found out very quickly that every part of publishing is key and you have to get it all done and FAST! The publication of a book normally takes about a year, yet we did it in a day. Everyone that was a part of this production was key to the process. All in all missing classes for this wasn't a bad idea at all.
