Between the first spark of an idea to the moment the book arrives into the hands of an eager reader, there are a myriad of processes facilitated by a publishing team behind the scenes.
Benjamin "Buddy" Bess & Dr. Ann Rayson
Co-Founders
David DeLuca
Director of Publishing + COO
Manages the creative, financial, legal, and operational functions across all divisions of Bess Press, Inc.
Kristen Namba Reed
Assistant Director of Publishing
Supports DoP with new title development. Oversees and implements company-wide marketing strategy.
Jen Yoneshige
Operations & Retail Accounts Manager
Manages trade accounts, customer service support, warehouse & shipping functions. Supports COO with business operations, including inventory, billing, and bookkeeping.
Dimpna Figuracion
Education Accounts Executive
Oversees all promotion, sales, and representation for and within the educational and non-profit organizations. Liaises between Bess Press and the educational community.
Joe Edmon
Graphic Designer
Executes design and layout of print books and digital assets on Moana Ākea. Executes new concept design and production management.
What does a day in the life of a family-owned, local, independent publishing team look like?
Depends on the day.
Our team acquires, develops, researches, edits, and designs new titles with the collaboration of creatives, cultural practitioners, language experts who work with us in-person and virtually across a spectrum of timezones. We pour over drafts and proofs and layouts trying to make sure that the books you see are the best they can be. Then we make posts, we create ads, we organize events to spread the word about our books.
But that's not all.
We field customer inquiries from all over the globe. We attend publishing industry conferences and fairs to learn, to grow, to share the stories, cultures, languages and histories of Hawai'i and Oceania with the publishing world. We exhibit and vend at local conferences and cultural festivals. We pick, pack, and ship orders. We receive shipments big and small into our warehouse. We visit schools across the islands, meet with school administrators, librarians, specialiasts, and educators of students of all ages, to learn about their resource needs.
And we go to as many bookish events in the community as we can, because at the end of the day, we really love our local literary community. If you see us around, come say hi and talk story.
Oh, and we have a bookstore too!
