E-mailing Galore and First Staff Spotlight

The concept of e-mail was not developed until around the time filming for Grease began, and it did not become part of daily life until the dot com boom in the 1990s.

So how exactly did people communicate before that? I don’t think I’ll ever understand. Here I am sitting not even fifteen feet from Sarah’s office, and I can hear her typing as clear as if she were sitting right next to me. Rather than asking her a question (she would easily be able to hear me), I usually e-mail her everything I have to say.

Yes, sometimes I get up and walk over to her office to ask her a question that’s easier to do so in person, but usually my computer talks for me. And this is at a small company. (I’m trying to envision the halls and rows of cubicles in Intel at their
campus a few exits down the freeway from us, and how exactly people within that behemoth operate.)

And why am I talking about e-mail? Well, today I e-mailed customers who reserved copies of The US Army’s First, Last, and Only All Black Rangers to inform them it is available to order. Then, I e-mailed reviewers to whom we sent copies of The Complete Gettysburg Guide in order to confirm that they had received their copies.
I also created Word documents with information on three of our Fall 2009 books (these will be posted on our website soon) and edited another interview transcript.

But, I digress. Today’s blog is not supposed to be a description of my day. Remember the other day I promised to post weekly interviews with Savas Beatie employees? Well, I decided to speak with Sarah first, so she is this week’s “staff spotlight.”
Interview with Sarah Keeney:


PG:What exactly is your position at Savas Beatie and what does it entail?

SK: I am the Marketing Director. When I first started working here, Ted told me that at small companies, you have to wear lots of hats, and I have and I do. Mostly, though, it’s a lot of working with authors and event planning.

PG: What have you been up to today?

SK: Today I’ve been proofreading a section of one of our fall titles, The Maps of Chickamauga—on occasion I even proof something!—preparing for the Flying Drunk release, and coordinating authors’ schedules for book signing events in August. I’ve also been working on promoting our titles to both people and companies familiar with our books, and also to new customers.

PG: When did you start working here?

SK: I started working for Savas Beatie in 2004 (around the time Ted was starting and developing the company), and it was my first job out of college. While in college, I was doing some work for Savas Beatie on the side, so it dovetailed well.

PG: How did you find out about Savas Beatie?

SK: I knew Ted Savas and his family when they lived in San Jose, CA in the 1990s. We were family friends and I would babysit for his two kids.

PG: Does what you’re doing here relate to what you studied in college?

SK: I studied journalism and public relations, but I didn’t like the “news room atmosphere.” My concentration was on public relations, and that matches up with many aspects of what I’m doing now.

PG: Do you have a role to play when someone submits a book for Savas Beatie to publish?

SK: I do. If Ted likes it, we discuss the whole process, from the book in manuscript stage all the way to how we can market the final product, how active the author will be, will he or she be a good fit for our company, that sort of thing. Almost every book submission we receive would be a good book somewhere, but we have to be able to sell it and work well with the author.

PG: Could you give an example of one of your books and why you published it?

SK: Sure. A couple of our Gettysburg titles were written by Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guides. They had to pass a very difficult test to get a license that allowed them to become battlefield tour guides. There are only about 150 of them out there. We knew that these authors were already leading tours, and that they would be out there promoting, marketing, and selling their book upon publication. That kind of partnership is key to the success of any publisher today.

PG: Have you considered writing a book yourself?

SK: (Laughing) No. I think I like the behind-the-scenes work more. But if I were to write one, it would either be historical fiction, or it would be a non-fiction guide on how authors and publishing companies can work together to promote their books. Ted Savas and our Playing with the Enemy author Gary Moore have some great ideas in that vein.

PG: Really? I have to ask him about that. Speaking of books, what is your favorite novel?

SK: I can think of two right now: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Harry Potter.

PG: What do you like to do in your free time?

SK: I like to cook, read, and spend time with my family (my husband Nate, my mom, my dad, and my dog Pal). I also like putting together photo albums and scrapbooks, but I’m always behind on those projects . . .

PG: You said you like to cook. What is your favorite dish?

SK: Macaroni and cheese with cauliflower. It’s really good. I also like baking cakes, cookies, etc.

PG: Ok, thanks Sarah!

SK: My pleasure. It wasn’t too bad going first! (laughing)