We’re offering readers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the bookmaking process—the people behind the books and the products we create! Through our “Behind the Book” blog series, discover who plays a role in creating a book, what daily life looks like at Norton, and what being part of an independent and employee-owned company means.
In June 2023, Benjamin Reynolds celebrated twenty-five years at W. W. Norton. He started as an editorial assistant to Carol Bemis and Peter Simon. Roy Tedoff invited him to join the production department in 1999, and since then Ben has worked on hundreds of Norton College titles ranging across all disciplines. This year, he is overseeing the new editions of The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Microbiology: The Human Experience, and the America: A Narrative History family, among many others.
How did you end up at Norton, or what enticed you to apply?
In May 1998, Michael Ochs, Norton’s music editor, kindly agreed to see me for an informational interview. He and the College business manager at the time kept me in mind when a position opened. When this happened a few weeks later, I could not believe my good fortune: my first publishing opportunity would let me work on the Norton Critical Editions and several Anthologies!
What is your current role and what part do you play in the book publishing process?
I am associate director of College Production, working with my fellow associate director, Stephen Sajdak, and reporting to Jane Searle, director of College Production. Our department shepherds books from manuscript through composition and manufacturing. We work closely with our colleagues in Manuscript Editing and several other departments to keep our books on schedule, within budget, and manufactured to Norton’s high standards.
For your current role, what does an average day look like?
A typical day for me includes several project meetings with internal teams. I interact daily with our compositors and art studios, trafficking proof passes between them and our Norton teams. On the manufacturing side of my job, I plan projects at printers, negotiate their pricing, and ensure the plants stay on schedule.
What skills do you need to succeed in your job? Did any previous work or life experience help you in your role?
Organizational skills are foremost, since so much of Production’s work concentrates on generating and monitoring book schedules. A sense of collegiality helps, but that is easy to have at Norton. Production managers must be detail-oriented and able to triage and pivot on an ongoing basis. We have daily contact with outside vendors, such as the abovementioned compositors and art studios, as well as paper vendors and manufacturing plants. We bid out composition, artwork, and manufacturing, so the ability to negotiate with outside vendors is important. To do this, we must be intimately familiar with our books, weighing the proposed costs against each project’s individual needs. We also must know each vendor’s particular strengths, such as which compositors provide the most elegant page layout, which printers produce the best halftones, and which presses excel at color printing. We strive for the highest quality at the best price and to always represent the company with professionalism and courtesy.
What have been some of your favorite projects? Are there any projects or initiatives you introduced to your department or Norton?
I am proudest of working on Looking at Movies, our beautifully designed film studies textbook. The First Edition was the first project I worked on with Pete Simon, using what was at the time cutting-edge software to take screengrabs from DVDs and convert them to JPEGs. As production manager, I saw this book through five editions before handing off my baby to Stephen Sajdak for the Sixth. Regarding initiatives, my longevity at the company has presented me with several novel job skills. I was the first production manager to handle physical software replication (back when that was still a thing), manufacturing CDs, DVDs, and even VHS tapes (gasp!). Starting in 2001, I was also the first to handle custom projects, repurposing existing content for use in new books, an initiative that has since developed into a fundamental part of the College list.
What has kept you at Norton? What excites you about the future?
My colleagues in Production are, as Jim Mairs famously put it, “the best people to breathe air.” This is one of the few things that has not changed in my quarter century at the company. Our department dealt with unprecedented, industry-wide supply and scheduling difficulties over the past four years, but we have met all challenges with inventiveness and optimism.
What advice would you give someone just starting out in publishing?
Explore the wide variety of career opportunities that book publishing offers. Often, people who start in one department find a true home in another. Also, find a mentor. Nortonians are approachable and love to tell people about what we do, and many of us treasure the chance to share our knowledge.
Lastly, what do you like to do outside of work? Any fun hobbies or recent reads you would recommend?
My wife, Stephanie, and I love travel, live music, hiking, movies, the New York Times Spelling Bee, and spending time with our enormous cat, Liam. My most recent read is Michiko Aoyama’s charming What You Are Looking For Is in the Library, highly recommended for any bibliophile.
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