Rita Mills rita@bookconnectiononline.com

ORGANIZATIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Texas Authors Group — Small Publishers retail merchandising association

Better Business Bureau — member

Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators — member & former editor of newsletter

Publishers Marketing Association — member

Writers League of Texas — member

American Book Cooperative — founding board member and executive director for 3 years

Houston Festival of Books — Chair Emeritus & founding nonprofit board member

Authors & Publishers Association — past president

StoryBook — served on start-up board, a project of the Houston Museum of Printing History

 

WORK HISTORY

1996 Present — The Book Connection

• Owner — Book Packager / Shepherd, Print Project Coordinator — Services include TurnKey BookPlus Projects from editorial creation through marketing plan and book sales — Projects range from web press tabloid newspapers to 4-color coffeetable books which print in Hong Kong

1993-1997 — University of Houston — Arte Público Press

• Managing Editor — Responsible for annual print budget — Designed & implemented policies & procedures for entire production department — Liaison between authors, editors, proofreaders & graphics personnel in-house & freelancers — Managed internal IBM system using QuarkExpress, Photoshop, Illustrator — Duties included but not limited to ...
• Art Director — Responsible for all graphics & color quality control of book cover designs & 4-color children’s picture books — Designed book text, newsletters, & marketing projects
• Prepress/Production Coordinator — Approximately 45-50 new, and 30-35 reprinted books annually — Scheduled & coordinated all in-house & jobbed-out prepress graphics
• Print Buyer — Shopped printers, submitted bid specifications & evaluated bids for cost effectiveness within budget constraints — Responsible for all purchasing paperwork for state/non-profit entity
• Freelance Job Coordinator — Managed 3-4 in-house employees & 25-30 freelance editors, proofreaders, artists & graphics personnel

1991-1992 — Value Clipper Magazine

• Production Administrator — Responsible for graphics traffic, log books & pagination of 24-48 page, 4-color direct mail magazine — Shopped prepress services — Budget reconciliation

1971 to 1990 — The Houston Post

• Prepress Resource Coordinator — Liaison for editorial, retail & classified advertising, pressroom & prepress production departments — Designed & implemented color-costing and built & coordinated log-in system for ads production
• Composing Room Foreman — Supervised 30-60 people on 5 deadlines shift — Maintained page flow to accommodate deadlines — IBM PC proficiency —Trained new people on in-house system — Mediated personnel problems — Edited copy for space & content — In charge of extras hired on a daily basis
• Journeyman Printer — Typesetter (120 wpm) — Proofreader — Routing — Scheduling — Layout — Ad Markup — Page & ad paste-up

OTHER WORK AFFILIATIONS

2002 to Present — ABC’s Children’s Picture Book Competition — Director

• Internet Based Vote for Winner
• Winner gets a publishing contract
• In Third Year of Competition
• New Book Out September 2006

2004 to Present — Bluebonnets, Boots & Book Press — Publisher and Editor

• Independent Press Specializing in Texana and Children’s Picture Books
• ABC’s — Children’s Picture Book Imprint

 

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