Interview with Veronica Kane

Well today’s Wednesday . . . that means it’s time for another Savas Beatie staff spotlight:

PG: What exactly is your position at Savas Beatie?

VK: I consider myself a marketing assistant. I answer the phone, fill orders, calculate authors’ royalty at the end of the year, keep track of book inventory and unpaid invoices. I also help Sarah set up radio/tv interviews for our authors, and sometimes I create flyers. Basically I do whatever needs to be done. And I update the website. That’s what I was doing just now (laughing).

PG: How long have you worked here and what did you do before this?

VK: I’ve worked here a little over a year. I started in May 2008, and the year before I was a part-time aide at my kids’ school. The previous seven years I took off to take care of my kids, but before that I lived in Virginia and was a production manager for a publications department.

PG: Why did you decide to work for a company like Savas Beatie?

VK: I wanted to get back into publishing. I like to edit, and I wanted to do something I was familiar with. Before I came here, I didn’t know that there was a publishing company in Sacramento, let alone one in my back-yard.

PG: Who do you think is the most interesting historical figure?

VK: After reading the first couple of chapters of our new book Sickles at Gettysburg, I know that I want to learn a lot more about Dan Sickles.

PG: Do you plan on publishing a book, and if so, on what subject?

VK: No, I don’t plan on it. My husband’s talked about it, so I might help him with it. A teacher at the school I worked at started a blog about the 500 things she wants her daughter to know. It became really popular and a publishing company asked her to write a book about it. So I joke with my husband that he can start a blog about manners, and someone will approach him and ask him to publish it.

PG: And then you can do marketing for that book too! (Laughing.) What is your favorite book?

VK: Lord of the Rings.

PG: What do you do in your free time?

VK: I don’t have much free time. I’ve recently taken up the guitar, but once school for my kids starts, their after-school activities start to take over and it’s 8 p.m. before I know it.

PG: How old are your kids?

VK: 10, 9, 7, and 5.

PG: You said you’re learning to play guitar. Is this your first instrument, or have you played any others in the past?

VK: I played piano when I was younger, and now I wish I hadn’t stopped. I also played flute for two years.

PG: What is your favorite food?

VK: Filet Mignon with Bernaise sauce.

PG: Mmm, sounds good. We’ll have to have a Savas Beatie meal with everyone’s favorite foods after the interviews are done!

VK: Sounds good!