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Settlers of Catan: Beginning of 2014 Recap

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Weston Poor is an editorial assistant in EDP and runs marathons but has no idea why.

All right, it has been a few months since we last spoke. This could have been avoided, but, let’s face it, I’m lazy. Since we last left off, a hunt for the most wins in 2013 was at its peak. Of course, Terry “the Bandit” Boldan won the title by a narrow margin but, nonetheless, with all the hardiness of a champion. Boldan wouldn’t improve on his eleven wins, but that wouldn’t matter because Shirley Thornton wouldn’t improve either. With only two games left after the Thanksgiving break, the only settlers to improve their win totals were Nathan Putens and Erica Corwin, leaving the 2013 season win totals at:

Terry “the Bandit” Boldan—11 (Winner winner, chicken dinner!)

Shirley “you must be joking” Thornton—9

Erica Corwin—5

Leif Milliken—5

Nathan Putens—5

And my wins are hardly worth mentioning . . . really.

It was a solid accomplishment for the well decorated veteran settler. The Bandit declined to comment on his season win title. He claimed that he didn’t want to give his opponents ammunition. Always thinking defensively, that Bandit. The only indication he would give was that he’s a snake (in terms of Chinese symbols) and it was the year of the snake.

This year marked my discovery of Settlers of Catan, and thus my introduction to life. I made a good start by winning my first two contests. However, I haven’t done much since those two wins. The main takeaway from my rookie year: ensure significant resource flow with initial settlements on frequently rolled numbers, and always, always keep an eye on the Bandit.

Now that 2013 is over, it’s time to get started on the 2014 season. There is no off season for settlers, not like those overpampered pro athletes in highly televised sports. They can have their off-season; we want to play.

Here are some pictures of all the games for the current season.

Image 1 (Corwin, 1-2)

January 2, 2014: Erica Corwin opened the 2014 season with an impressive win. Her signature blue playing pieces are surrounded by some other settlers’ expansive developments. It might not look like she has much on the board, but trust me she won, note the presence of the proverbial sheep. Corwin utilized the smaller field of play by gaining footholds on some of the more useful resources. The two development cards she purchased (a victory point and a monopoly card) aided her victory. Point totals: Corwin—9(time expired), Milliken—8, Boldan—7, me—6.

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The Director’s Dish: Current Trends in Publishing

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I recently was asked to guest lecture at a publishing class about what I see as major trends in the book industry. You don’t always get to sit down and organize on paper (in this case, on Power Point) the things you know are happening in your industry. I thought I’d share some of the things I think are current trends in book publishing: Consolidation across all the channels. Whether it’s publishers themselves (e.g., the recent Penguin/Random House merger), printing presses (the number of printers has declined 18% in the last seven years), the mergers of significant wholesalers (e.g., Baker … Continue reading The Director’s Dish: Current Trends in Publishing

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People Make Publishing: Press King Cakes

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Alison Rold is Assistant Production Manager in EDP and she is a fearless bread baker.  Many years ago, before the birth of the Internet, a friend of mine told me that he was delivering a lot of king cakes from New Orleans. I had no idea what a king cake was, but I was intrigued, thinking maybe it was some elaborate sheet cake. I went to the library and found a book with a picture of one. Then I hunted down a king cake recipe in another book. It didn’t look like a cake at all. It looked like a … Continue reading People Make Publishing: Press King Cakes

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From the desk of Ravi K. Perry: Black History Month

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Ravi K. Perry (PhD, Brown University, 2009) is an assistant professor of political science and Stennis Scholar for Municipal Governance at Mississippi State University. He is the editor of 21st Century Urban Race Politics: Representing Minorities as Universal Interests (Emerald Group, forthcoming). Building Community in … Continue reading From the desk of Ravi K. Perry: Black History Month

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From the desk of Jeremy Evans: The New Kids of the 2014 Winter Olympics

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Jeremy Evans is the author of In Search of Powder, a book on ski and snowboard culture. He lives in South Lake Tahoe, California. While the first headlines for the 2014 Winter Olympics were focused on security issues—and rightfully so—less has been made about the 12 events making their debut in Sochi, Russia. That’s unfortunate since U.S. athletes are serious gold-medal contenders in the events Olympics organizers added to help capture a younger demographic: ski halfpipe, ski slopestyle, and snowboard slopestyle. In ski halfpipe, David Wise and Maddie Bowman are gold medal favorites in the men’s and women’s competitions, respectively. Wise, … Continue reading From the desk of Jeremy Evans: The New Kids of the 2014 Winter Olympics

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The Marketeers Club: A Multitude of Firsts

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The first time I visited New York, I was a high school freshman traveling with my parents. I had day-dreamed about going to the city, falling in love with the hustle of millions of different people; the visions included me living in the middle of it. Granted, those visions weren't specific to what type of work I would be doing or exactly where I would live, but I can assure you, it was fantastic and high heels were involved. My dad grew up in New Jersey and my mom had lived and breathed musical theater her whole life, so when … Continue reading The Marketeers Club: A Multitude of Firsts

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The Marketeers Club: Pete Seeger

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I’m old. I’ve hit the point in my life that when I hear of someone passing who made an impression on me, I stop and think about the first time I saw or heard them. I know this is a little morbid, but I regularly check the obituaries just to see if someone I know has died.  Pete Seeger passed away on January 27, 2014. I remember seeing him on an American Masters episode on PBS, singing “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” I really like folk music and he was one of the greats. As part of my responsibilities … Continue reading The Marketeers Club: Pete Seeger

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Doc Martyn’s Soul: Teaming Up on Social Media

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Aligning Acquisitions and Marketing to Create a Seamless University Press Presence

A social media presence is, by now, a standard component of most university presses. Almost every press spends time and money on social media efforts, attempting to create a presence that befits the overall mission of the press and conveys it to the wider world. But which part of the press should drive social media? To my knowledge, most presses push social media through their marketing departments. Thus, social media becomes a function of marketing, quickly taking on that department’s characteristics and sensibilities. Running social media through marketing makes the most sense. It would be difficult, after all, to argue that social media is not a marketing tool. But what other roles does or should social media play in a university press world? And who else should be involved in the creation of social media content?

To my mind, the symbiosis between marketing and acquisitions seems most relevant to the overall social media presence of a university press. Acquiring editors have been using the precursors to social media for a long time in order to stay in touch with their authors, be a part of the communities interested in their lists, and even to sign books. These traditional forms of communication include letters, email, phone calls, websites, conference attendance, and so on. Each of these was or is a form—to one degree or another—of social media. As such, contemporary social media constitutes another opportunity to engage with those same authors, communities, and books.

Many acquiring editors are actively engaged in social media. In fact, I think it probable that more acquisitions editors have their own Twitter accounts than do marketers. I applaud acquiring editors for being ahead of the adoption curve, for actively pursuing their own platforms from which to position themselves within their fields. I urge marketers across the UP world to do the same thing. Just because we do not sign books does not mean each of us does not have a thriving community of which to be a part or a thought-provoking message to share with our peers, authors, and beyond.

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