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When our books are ready to print, I sometimes visit our printers for press checks. Coming from a writer’s background, I’m always amazed when talking to the people working for our printers. They view books as more than words and pictures. To them, books are physical things made of paper, cardboard, and ink. Instead of worrying about the correct usage of “to”, “two”, and “too”, the people who work for printers concern themselves with paper weight and ink coverage. It’s completely different from what we do every day in our offices at Stone Arch Books, and has given me new insight into the effort that goes into making a printed book.

I recently visited Worzalla Publishing Company, who was printing our new Graphic Spin titles. Here’s how a typical press check there goes: Every hour or so I’m shown a large sheet of paper with several pages of the book printed on it. I either approve the pages or reject them, depending on how closely they match proofs of the book. As I do this, I usually have the pressroom superintendent or the pressroom supervisor standing next to me. We’ll discuss any issues I see, such as if the page looks too yellow or the black is too heavy, making the page look dark. Then they’ll come up with possible solutions. Afterward, another set of pages, with the new specifications, will be printed. We’ll keep working on it until everything looks satisfactory—this can go on for hours.

From concept to the final book, it always amazes me how many people, and how many hours of hard work, are necessary for the creation of a single book. When it’s all finished, it doesn’t feel like work at all, since we were able to create something that we – and our readers – can enjoy.

--Blake A. Hoena
Production Manager, Stone Arch Books

For the past several years, I’ve presented at the Young Authors, Young Artists Conference in Rochester, MN. The event, sponsored by the Southeast Service Cooperative, is a gathering of 800 talented, energetic, and artistic fourth through sixth graders from schools in southeastern Minnesota. My presentation, “Creating Graphic Novels,” discusses the steps involved in creating graphic stories.

Initially, when the event was called the Southeast Young Writers Conference, my presentation was about poetry. After I wrote my first graphic novel, Matthew Henson: Arctic Explorer, on the cusp of the recent graphic novel boom, I switched to my current presentation. After all, these students are the same age as I was when I first delved into comics. I brought in samples of each step involved in the creation of a graphic novel, from my outline and script to the storyboards, inks, and final colors, and discussed the reasons and importance of each of these steps. And I always ended the presentation with an activity where we’d create and share
a one-page comic. At first, few students really understood what a graphic novel was, and usually only a handful hands would raise when asked if they read graphic novels, but the final activity was always a hit.

A lot has changed, visually, over the years. I now show art from my Eek and Ack books. The name of the conference has evolved to include “Young Artists”, and there are nearly as many art sessions as there are writing ones. In each of my eight presentations, nearly all the students raised theirs hands when asked if they read graphic novels. Young readers get the idea of telling a story through pictures, and understand the concept of sequential art. And they can’t get enough. They’re also excited to create their own comic stories and learn the art of storytelling through illustrations. During my most recent presentations, I was continually asked, “Is it time to draw yet?” “Can we start drawing now?”

It thrills me, as an author of graphic novels, knowing that they are not only getting kids more excited about reading, but they are also animating their creative talents. Graphic novels can cultivate reading skills as well as energize artistic ones.

--Blake A. Hoena
Production Manager, Stone Arch Books
and author of the Eek and Ack series

My weekend was full of gushy pumpkin guts, fresh-baked bread, ripe red apples, and yellow river leaves.  For this, I am thankful...



Montreal's Atwater Market -- always a feast for the senses!





This bakery (above & below) was the model for the patisserie  in my MG Contemporary novel that's making the rounds right now.  Needless to say, my research was extensive!





On Saturday, we took advantage of the warm temperatures to hike Mount Baker in Saranac Lake.










On one bright fall hike each year, we always collect a few leaves to press.  These are sleeping between the pages of my phone book now.  On Thanksgiving, we'll shake them out to decorate the table and remember the smells of late October...