American Ingenuity

The theme for this year’s National Book Festival is American Ingenuity. Sponsored by the Library of Congress and held in Washington, DC, the Festival was originally held outdoors on the National Mall. In 2014 it moved to the Washington Convention Center. Among the reasons for that move was protection from both heat and rain for festival goers. Barbara and I can relate to that reason. One year, we stood in line on an oppressively hot, humid day to meet David McCullough. Despite the weather, the experience was superb. 

It should be no surprise that the 2020 Festival will make another move to a virtual format necessitated by the COVID-19 crisis. Ironically, the theme of American Ingenuity now takes on a whole new meaning. As reported by the Washington Post on May 28, 2020, American Ingenuity is “a quality that will be required to effectively reimagine the event in a new virtual format.” A silver lining growing out of this pandemic is that the Festival can now reach a wider, global audience and “demonstrate how authors and their stories help to connect and illuminate the world.” Mark the dates—this year’s Festival will be held the weekend of September 25-27.

Ingenuity and creativity can grow out of crisis. The world of books and book publishing, where Barbara and I spend a great deal of time, is no exception.

BookBaby is a firm that helps authors partner with professionals to ease the process of self-publishing. We met their president, Steven Spatz, at a Writer’s Digest Conference and have been following the company ever since. They offer a wide array of services to authors and turn out quality products, all the things we were looking for in a publishing partner. Now, as we get closer to self-publishing our next book, we are more excited about working with them. Here’s why.

BookBaby and its sister company, Disc Makers, which serves independent musicians much the same way BookBaby serves independent authors, joined the battle against the COVID-19 virus.  Recognizing the urgent need for protective face shields, manufacturing engineers and operations pros came up with a prototype within two days. Supplies were ordered, specs were finalized, and workstations were set up on a Monday. Manufacturing started the next day. Employees from both companies—folks who work behind the scenes in production, packaging, and administration roles—became part of the effort and joined the production process. Instead of worrying about surviving and saving jobs, at the height of production, the companies began to worry if they had enough staff to fill the demand for the face shields. As Tony van Veen, CEO of Disc Makers said in a video, “it’s the first time in our 74-year history that we are literally saving lives with the products we make.” Talk about American Ingenuity.  

Speaking of BookBaby, Barbara and I will be working with them to get our next book, They Did What? Unbelievable Tales from the Workplace, self-published. We’ve introduced you to Maryanne, the main character, with some stories over the past months. The book is coming out later this year. We’ll keep you updated on our progress.