Penguin Imprint Focus: Day Three, by Nichole Morford

As we round down the final few posts for our Penguin Imprint Feature, we're going to step aside and allow Nichole Morford to post about life at DK. She's going to be guest blogging for the next few entries, and will reveal what being a DK Editor actually entails.

About a month ago, we held a very unconventional editorial meeting. At our publisher's invitation, we headed to "that most traditional of publishing environments"-the pub-and sat down to talk about a rather non-traditional publishing topic-the Kama Sutra. It was a cozy gathering at the Pitcher and Piano. There's something about stepping outside the office that always gets the inspirational juices flowing.

Mostly we were there to discuss new ways of presenting this classic love manual. A challenge of writing or editing sex books is that there are only so many positions that are, well, plausible. A rework of the Kama Sutra doesn't provide brand new information, so needs a clever package and spin on content to add to our already impressive sex and relationships library. We came up with several inspired possible KS routes-and then started drinking.

Yesterday, back in 7C for our typical monthly meeting, we saw the first fruits of our labor. Our art director had mocked up covers for all our best brainstorms, and as we passed them around the table, the concepts really began to take root. This is a unique attribute of a DK book: it often starts with the design. Seeing a well-designed jacket is sometimes just the trigger you need to create a well-thought-out book. In the end, this results in the best of both worlds: pictures and words that together make up a beautifully complete reference.

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