A Wrinkle in Time
Image courtesy of imdb.com
In 2018, Walt Disney Pictures released the film adaptation of beloved children’s book A Wrinkle in Time, directed by Ava DuVernay and starring Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling. As an editorial assistant with FSG Young Readers, the original publishers of A Wrinkle in Time back in 1962, I spearheaded the publication process for eight updated titles releasing in conjunction with the film—from completely new creations, to various new editions of the original novel, complete with images from the movie and a foreword from DuVernay. I worked in close collaboration with Disney, as well as internal teams and executives across Macmillan, to make it happen on time, with all necessary assets, with a high quality of content.
Date: Fall of 2017 || Role: Editor and Project Manager || Performed for: Macmillan Publishers
Business Goal: Publish multiple high-profile titles simultaneously on a major, time-sensitive contract; fill a market gap in advance of movie release, and lead readers and moviegoers alike to our products
Results: Where the typical book publication process takes 18-24 months from acquisition to publication for original content and 8-12 months for reissues, the majority of titles in this tie-in publishing program were developed and published within 6 months. In addition to managing internal scheduling, ensuring all necessary deadlines were met across internal teams (editorial, copyediting/proofreading, graphic design, legal, and production/layout), and maintaining positive relationships between Disney and Macmillan, the program sold more than one million copies over eight titles, and the profits positively impacted FSG Young Readers’ bottom line for the entire following year.
Project Tasks and Scope:
Schedule and deadline management—with the movie release date set for spring of 2018, all books needed to be on shelves months earlier for marketing and publicity purposes; fitting so many processes into the timeline set by an immutable deadline took careful organization and hypervigilance
Editorial guidance—for the 4 original-content titles in the program, I co-edited the writing and art for flow, wrote photo captions, and communicated with the authors to develop clear storylines
Project management—I was responsible for knowing where each title was in its production process at any given time, and conveying that information to any necessary parties
Handling of delicate materials—information or visual assets from the movie were often embargoed, confidential, or earmarked for particular use; I made sure they were used and distributed responsibly
Crisis management—I communicated with all partners in the rare instance when process went awry
Executive communications—I attended frequent meetings with senior executives to ensure timeline alignment, clear expectations, and unfiltered communication between multiple parties
Relationship management—as the middleman between Disney (who held all assets) and Macmillan (who held all production resources), I worked to maintain positive relationships so all involved could complete tasks on extremely tight, often same-day deadlines
