A key component of the company is the close collaborative connection between the editorial, design and production departments, which senior editor Chris Prince likens to "a holy trinity."
Executive editor Vanessa Lopez concurs, calling her colleagues "an unstoppable force. These are people who are relentless in making something better and pushing the envelope. On every project, there's always a point where we stop and take inventory on where a book is in the process. We ask, 'Have we explored all we can explore? Is it as good as it can be?' Or simply, 'Is it cool enough?' "
|
|
| Inside Insight Editions | |
For her part, art director Chrissy Kwasnik says, "We work well together collaboratively and creatively. There's no one person behind everything. Each book is a team effort."
The staff's organic connection with the material Insight Editions publishes is also a crucial element in the company's success. Raoul Goff is especially proud that "everyone who works at Insight is a super fan of the subjects we publish. It helps us understand our consumers, because we strive to make the books that we have always wanted to own ourselves." Kwasnik agrees, saying, "We're extremely passionate about what we publish. It's hard work, but it’s also fun work."
Lopez adds, "We like to joke that we have a book for every fandom. In a way, it's true--everyone is a fan of something, whether it's a film or a video game, a photographer or a sports franchise. Our readers are fans looking to connect further with the subjects they're passionate about. Our ultimate goal is to create something that will endure and that they will treasure."
A good example of this kind of approach to publishing is the company's line of "in-world fiction," which Lopez emphasizes, "attempts to create a book that feel like found objects from a specific fictional world." Lopez adds, "It's important that when the reader picks these books up they think, 'This is how I always imagined it would be.' "
Senior editor Chris Prince points to the work Insight Editions has done for Ghostbusters as an excellent example of how so many of the publisher's book ideas come from the passionate staff, who are passionate fans of films, comics and other properties. Early on, he recalls, "I created a list of books that, as a huge fan of the franchise, I'd always wanted to do. Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Visual History was on there, as was Tobin's Spirit Guide," a fictional reference guide that is briefly mentioned in the first Ghostbusters movie. "For fans, it's always been one of those fun mysteries--what is Tobin's Spirit Guide and what does it contain? We really wanted to answer that question." This led the company to create Tobin's Spirit Guide written by Erik Burnham and illustrated by Kyle Hotz, which Insight Editions published in June.
"It's designed to be like an encyclopedia of all the ghosts with classifications, illustrations and commentary by Egon Spengler and Ray Stantz [two of the main characters in the movie]," Prince says. "We really liked the idea of the original Ghostbusters 'revising' Tobin's Spirit Guide and adding notes from their experiences. Now it's part of Ghostbusters mythology."
Art director Chrissy Kwasnik worked closely with the book's author and illustrator to help make the book stand out with "the aged, stained look of the pages and the cover design echoing the classic Ghostbusters 'no ghost' symbol."
This kind of close collaboration with partners and authors is typical of Insight Editions' approach. Michael Madden calls this engagement one of his favorite things about his job. He remembers working with James Cameron on Exploring the Deep: The Titanic Expeditions. "He is probably the smartest person I have ever worked with," he says. "It was such a joy and opportunity to spend time with him and experience his tireless creativity and determination firsthand." Likewise he says that the six weeks he spent with Quincy Jones working on The Complete Quincy Jones: My Journey and Passions was "an inspiration. We felt incredibly lucky to be presenting his entire life in a visual history."
In the same vein, for its book on Johnny Cash, Insight Editions worked closely with the singer's son on House of Cash: The Legacies of My Father, Johnny Cash by John Carter Cash. They went through Johnny Cash's personal effects and included in the book, among many other things, his high school diploma, a driver's license and love notes to June Carter. "It feels like his personal scrapbook, not just a book about his life," Madden says. "We tried to make a book he would give his own child."