Your Memoir, the Way You Want It | |
Helping Clients Sell Their Books
Earlier this month, Genealogist Liz Sonnenberg and I attended the book launch for client Ellen Kanner’s beautiful new book, I, Teresa de Lucena: Reflections on the Trial of a Conversa. Designed and illustrated by book artist Annie Zeybekoglu, it is a gorgeous tribute to a 15th-century woman who faced the Spanish Inquisition—twice. Ellen began her research in 1988, and the book includes her original transcription and translation of archival materials, as well as her contextual annotations, and Annie’s evocative illustrations. It’s a remarkable feat of what Ellen calls “microhistory,” which shines a light on a resilient woman who secretly maintained her Jewish identity during a time of terrible persecution and oppression.
On a personal level, this was a humbling and inspiring project to work on—both because of Teresa de Lucena’s story itself, and because of the great heart, expertise, and talent that Ellen and Annie brought to the collaboration. On a practical level, working on this book made me think carefully about how to best support clients who wish to sell their books.
Most of our clients want only small print runs of their books to give to family, friends, and associates. Ellen and Annie, however, are selling copies of I, Teresa de Lucena, and so our services included establishing them with a printer affiliate who can handle Print-On-Demand (POD) services and order fulfillment. We work with several such partners, and in this case we chose a local printer who could produce an exquisite exterior design with French flaps, custom paper, and matte lamination, giving the book a polished, beautiful presentation not found in many POD publications.
Modern Memoirs, Inc. is not a commercial publisher, meaning we do not market books or profit from their sales. But like Ellen and Annie, about a quarter of our clients also want to sell their books, and we are always happy to help them achieve that goal. In addition to setting up POD services, we can help clients establish global distribution through online retailers. I am also in the very beginning stages of thinking about expanding our business model to include retail opportunities. (Stay tuned for more news on that front in the coming months.) In the meantime, you can read more about I, Teresa de Lucena in this newsletter, where you’ll also find a purchase link so that you can own a copy of this special book.
Megan St. Marie
President
|  | Left to right: Megan St. Marie, Annie Zeybekoglu, Ellen Kanner, and Liz Sonnenberg at the book launch for I, Teresa de Lucena: Reflections on the Trial of a Conversa, hosted by Lexington Community Education, October 17, 2022 | |
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Copies of I, Teresa de Lucena: Reflections on the Trial of a Conversa, text translated and written by Ellen Kanner, book design and illustration by Annie Zeybekoglu
Book summary from the author:
I, Teresa de Lucena tells the story of a complex chapter of Spanish history through an intimate lens: the testimony of a woman who faced the Spanish Inquisition twice. In 1391, decades before Teresa de Lucena (1467-1545) was born in Toledo, Spain, waves of anti-Semitic riots swept across the Iberian peninsula forcing thousands of Jews, including members of her distinguished family, to convert to Christianity.
Years of civil unrest followed between those who converted, known as conversos or New Christians, and Old Christians. In 1478, Ferdinand and Isabel established the Spanish Inquisition to eliminate what they saw as the root of the conflict: New Christians who were suspected of observing Jewish practices in secret.
Teresa was seventeen in 1485 when she and other conversos in Toledo faced the Inquisition for the first time; she was sixty-two in 1530 when she was arrested and held for eighteen months in an Inquisition jail. After a lengthy trial, meticulously recorded by the official scribes, she was found guilty of heresy for practicing Judaism in secret. Saved by her wits, she survived.
How do you make this complex story accessible and beautiful? Here, the translator and the illustrator join forces with the protagonist: Teresa de Lucena’s trial testimony is translated in her own voice and accompanied by original drawings and the translator’s reflections. The result is an intimate portrait of one woman’s life in tumultuous times.
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Revamping White Poppy Press:
An Update on the Modern Memoirs Imprint
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Modern Memoirs launched the White Poppy Press (WPP) imprint in 2010 because a) there was a recession, and b) advances in digital print technology brought us clients with more modest but still high standards. Ever since, we’ve used the imprint to allow us to help writers and artists self-publish efficiently, affordably, and attractively.
At this point in our company’s history, we are revamping how we use the imprint to best attract and support the wide range of projects that our clients (whatever their means) bring to us. Moving forward, we plan to use the WPP imprint to publish books that fall outside the categories of memoir and family history/genealogy. These might include, fiction, poetry, essays, history books, art books, etc. Of course, if an author of such a book prefers to publish under our main Modern Memoirs name, we will consider that option, and vice versa.
You might want to know the derivation of the WPP name. Company founder, Kitty Axelson-Berry, notes, “Fact-checking the blood-red poppies of Flanders Fields (World War I) for a client’s book, we came upon an organization called ‘White Poppies for Peace,’ which resonated deeply with us. By helping you with the final stages of your opus, by honoring your experiences and reflections, we feel we are contributing in a small way to you, to your family, and to healing the world.”
Do you have a manuscript you'd like to publish that isn't a memoir or a family history? Drop us a line, and maybe White Poppy Press will be just the right fit for you and your text.
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Featured Blog Posts by Our Staff | |
The Messenger: On Inscribing a Book
By Director of Publishing Ali de Groot
But wait. Before you free me… take your hand and your pen, give me one more long, deep gaze. Write your heart one more time, there on my opening pages, inscribe your soul…
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Reflections from Client
Marian Leibold
Interview by Genealogist Liz Sonnenberg
I have been writing all of my life, and something deep inside said it was time to offer some of my work to the world. I listened to this inner prompting. With the help of Modern Memoirs, I was able to bring together a collection of poems that speaks from my heart and my experiences…
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Behind our Bookplate
by Book Designer Nicole Miller
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Introducing our newest product: Bookplates. If you remember from days of yore, these little gems are stickers, typically affixed to the first page of a book, with an inscription to the recipient. We now have a new line of Modern Memoirs bookplates (shown above). For a limited time, we are pleased to send up to 24 of these bookplates to former clients who have published books with us in years past. Simply contact Megan St. Marie to make a request. (For a fee, we are also offering custom bookplates for clients’ books if they would like us to design them as a part of their publication services. Contact Megan for pricing details.)
A bit about our distinctive design: This artwork is adapted from an intricate wood engraving by Mary Jane Newill entitled A Study of Trees, with gnarled tree trunks, oak leaves, and bushes on a hillside. Stars and crescent moon peep through the background. Newill’s illustration appeared in The Yellow Book, Volume IX (Elkin Matthews & John Lane, 1896), an arts magazine published between 1894 and 1897. The art in the April 1896 volume featured a notable array of works by women, all Birmingham School artists.
Mary Jane Newill (1860–1947) was an English painter, embroiderer, teacher, book illustrator, and stained glass designer associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement. As a stained glass artist, she was a disciple of stained glass designer Selwyn Image. Newill was educated at the Birmingham School of Art and is known for her imaginative representations of natural scenes, as seen below.
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A Study of Trees, woodcut from The Yellow Book IX, April 1896
| Babes in the Woods, stained glass design for Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, London, 1893 |
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October Question: What is a favorite autumn pastime of yours or your family’s? | |
Staff responses
Megan St. Marie: Apple picking and all of the associated cooking and baking projects that follow: pressing cider, making applesauce, baking apple crisp, pies, and galettes...delicious!
Sean St. Marie: Leaf peeping right in our own backyard, or anytime we take a drive.
Ali de Groot: Once upon a time, watching my young kids play in the giant leaf piles in the back yard.
Liz Sonnenberg: Buying books while eating our way through the Ashfield (Massachusetts) Fall Festival, with its pumpkin donuts, hot cider, and apple pies.
Nicole Miller: Pumpkin carving and cooking on the fire.
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Memory Lane Stroll
We’d love to hear your brief personal reflections on the question of the month. Write your response for a chance to be featured in the next edition of our e-newsletter!
Response to our September question: What is a favorite classic book of yours?
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
—Kate Thibodeau
In return, we can’t resist sharing a favorite, timely quotation from this selected book: “I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
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Stop by to see us in person or online:
495 West Street, Suite 1C
Amherst, MA 01002
www.modernmemoirs.com
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