Part of the business plan here at Ooligan Press is that, for all of the challenges we face in securing funds for decent PPB or creative book launches, there’s one thing we’re supposed to get for free: Labor. From acquisition to copyediting, from cover design to marketing, all of us busy little bees are, at least in theory, pouring our hearts and souls and tuition money into the press, receiving in exchange a comprehensive, hands-on publishing education. It’s a simple, elegant solution, so long as everybody holds up their end of the bargain.
Unfortunately, the problem with not paying your staff is that it’s easy to lose track of them. At a recent FOOP (Friends of Ooligan Press) meeting, it was brought to my attention that we actually don’t know how many students we have at Ooligan. This information came up in light of an oft-heard observation that labor keeps coming up short next to the official number of enrolled students. It may well be that some percentage of these officially enrolled students left the program without graduating, and were therefore never removed from the list. It also may well be that there are students who are actively enrolled but simply choose not to work.
If the discrepancy is caused by the latter, our business model is in trouble, and so are our students. Taken for all it has to offer, the program functions both as an internship and a formal education, but if a student doesn’t actually participate in the work groups, he’s getting the degree without the experience. This not only jeopardizes his chance at getting a rad job, but Ooligan’s reputation as a teaching press.
So what do you all think? My impression is that working for Ooligan is not formally “required.”
So, should it be?
