We love this shot from the release party celebrating Jordan Matter’s new book, Dancers Among Us (right). It turns out that we are not only blessed to have dancers among us — we have editors, designers, salespeople, marketing directors (Workmanites!) among us, too. Oh, and is that an author/photographer I spy in the middle?

Thanks to the Paul Taylor Dance Company for hosting the event and for providing a stunning performance for the guests in attendance. And thanks to Ryan Carville for capturing this joyful shot! (Click through for more stunning shots from the photo booth.)

If you’re not sure what the fuss is about, I strongly urge you to check out this video. If it doesn’t get you dancing in the street, you’ll at least be tapping your toes (or peeling your jaw from your desk, right where you dropped it) by its end!

“I took the liberty of redecorating your office! -JM”

Congratulations to Jordan Matter, whose beautiful book Dancers Among Us comes out next week!

In the New York area? Join us to celebrate the book’s release next Tuesday October 23 at the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Click to learn more and purchase tickets, which includes a signed copy and drink tickets.

I should warn: This is a bit of a selfish blog post. Seeing as I will be starting college this fall, I have been gathering as much information as I can about classes, activities, social life, etc. Unfortunately, this means that I spend an unhealthy amount of time on College Confidential and Rate My Professor. This obsession is also why a book entitled College in a Nutskull caught my eye while I was perusing the book room a few days ago. If you’re not familiar with this book, it is essentially a compilation of hilarious factual errors and is quite simply, sublime.

As funny as this book is, I had expected a how-to book and was surprised when it turned out not to be. So I figured, why not seek how-to advice about college from Workman people? The following is a short list of great advice. You may not be in college anymore but hopefully you find this pertinent to some aspect of your life (for example, knowing how to do laundry is very important).

Some wise nuggets:

I think anyone would agree—this is sound advice. Workman people must be pretty smart!

Also recommended to me for my college transition were The College Cookbook  and The Girl’s Guide to Absolutely Everything, which may conveniently go missing right around the time I leave Workman for school this fall…

 -Zatio (Rising Frosh)

When an editor and her assistant are on the same wavelength–working together as one well-oiled, fine-tuned machine–it’s a beautiful thing. When they arrive at the office dressed almost identically, it’s just freaky! Or maybe it just means they shop at the same stores. Below, witness the coincidental (it WAS a coincidence, we swear!) matching outfits of editor Suzanne and her assistant Erin.

Proof that great minds pink…er, THINK alike!

P.S. Note coincidental placement of the pink feather boa in the background…

Okay, we mean run for the poolside cabana, don’t jump in with your precious pages, or, even worse, that expensive e-reader! (Cannonball!) From the freezing air-conditioned Workman offices, we will now bring to you a short update to our last #FridayReads: Heat Wave Edition, with this late-breaking news: It’s still hot!*

Let us know what you’re reading in the comments!

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (someone confessed!)

Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford

The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter by Dr. Meg Jay

To add to that, we’re happy to divulge that some non-Workman employees have our books on their reading lists! Linkage below:

• Whitney Port shares her love of Arlo Needs Glasses. (<3)**

• Kristen Kemp reports that Steal Like an Artist is on the Facebook/Goodreads list of best books for summer.

And, speaking of heat waves, I’m headed to Florida this weekend for a wedding, and plan to make a dent in my summer read, A Game of Thrones (I know, people, I’m late to the party! But best get started before WINTER COMES, right? Eh?).

———————————————————————————————-

*It honestly is not that bad in New York, as compared to other places… though I’m sure others everyone else will disagree with me; I was raised in the desert, after all.

**Alert! Alert! PUT GLASSES ON YOUR DOG!

Hi There,

I’m Zatio. I’ve been interning at Workman for a few weeks, spending time in various departments, and helping out with different tasks. I’ve worked in special sales, gift sales, and now, editorial. This has been a wonderful experience that has given me a glimpse of what real, adult life is like. I just graduated from high school and am heading off to college (already!) in August.

I have lived in New York for my whole life. It would be fair to call me a true New Yorker. As a result of this, I know how to get around the city. I am accustomed to crowds, small spaces, smog, and traffic. And there is nowhere else I would rather live. This also means that I am often impatient, easily incensed, and quick to complain—especially about New York City. These characteristics are why I found this particular project so interesting. As you’ll see from the following survey, everyone has different feelings about this city. But, I think, even through our gripes and frustrations, we love this place for all its quirks.

In the spirit of a pair of Workman books: Don’t You Just Hate That? and 14,000 Things to Be Happy About, we’ve decided to make a special Workman collection of loves and hates related to New York City. The following is a list of some funny, some serious, and some curious pet peeves and best things about the Big Apple.

—Zatio (a proud New Yorker)

Can you believe it’s already less than 365 days until BEA ’13!?! Okay, okay — I know we’re all still recovering from the festival of fun that was #BEA12, so we thought we’d take a moment to share some BEA bites from this year. Why don’t you just sit back, relax, and enjoy the forklift ride….

Setting up a booth for a giant convention show is never a walk in the park — lifting and moving heavy boxes (oh, but they’re filled with books!), laying carpet, constructing shelves, all under those fluorescent lights…but this year — oh, this year, it was leaps and bounds and even arabesques better, with photographer Jordan Matter and some amazingly talented Alvin Ailey dancers on the scene (see Dylis Croman, above!). Besides the forklift, dancers (like Aisha Mitchell, below) took to the air and the rafters of the Javits Center to promote Jordan’s forthcoming book, Dancers Among Us.

I do think that hanging from the Workman clock tower is perhaps the best way to experience  Book Expo America. (Though Sarah Daley makes it look easy, the rest of us might need to invest in some crampons.)

For the record, I will from now on be transporting and unpacking boxes exclusively using the technique below as demonstrated by Cirque de Soleil dancer Luke McCollum. Because it does seem to be the best way.

Once the Great Wall of Workman was built (that’s a nearly 20-foot high fortress of books), and the first ARCs (Advance Reading Copies, for you non-book industry folks) were unpacked, it was time to pound the pavement carpeting to celebrate that other great tradition (besides the books) in publishing…the TOTE BAG.

Here are a few of the totally notable totes that we came home with — thanks to Chronicle Books (“See Things Differently” illustrated by Mike Perry), Quirk Books (celebrating their 10th Anniversary!), and Little, Brown (looking quite fetching for 175 years old)….and the Workman tote (of course), celebrating The Art of Procrastination.

And take a gander at the Quirk Books poster that inspired their tote –  a wonderful ode, and a sweet stack of books!

And while we’re showing off loot, here’s the ARC bounty that we are so excited to dig into:

Justice at Caldwell Ranch by B.J. Daniels (Harlequin), Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat by Bee Wilson (Basic Books), Return to Me by Justina Chen Headley (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), All the Right Stuff by Walter Dean Myers (Amistad), The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers (Little, Brown), The Round House by Louise Erdrich (Harper), Zom-B by Darren Shan (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), Does This Church Make Me Look Fat? by Rhoda Janzen (Grand Central Publishing), So Close to You by Rachel Carter (HarperTeen), White Truffles in Winter by N.M. Kelby (W. W. Norton & Company), Next Time You See Me by Katia Leif (Avon), and The Other by Thomas Tryon (NYRB Classics). And a couple we missed, but are looking forward to reading when the books come out: Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian (Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers) and Princess Elizabeth’s Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam) — who happens to be the wife of Workman author, Noel MacNeal!)

And because BEA was the real party (like we need to point out our party favors again), we’ll call the Workman Open House the after party — where everyone got to take a photo booth SAFARI. From book editors, to sellers, to publishers, to readers — the savanna was crawling with bookish types!

And at the end of the day, author/photographer Jordan Matter crept out from behind his camera and traded those graceful dancers for his charming editors!

Till BEA ’13…(Seriously, though, our studio is already at work designing the model for the Workman booth for next year!).

(Anatomy of a book publishing ninja move, in two parts.)

Part 1. Imprint States Problem. 

Algonquin publishes important, conversation-altering AND policy-changing book about the effects of “nature-deficit disorder” on our children.

Part 2. Imprint Responds with Solutions.*

Workman publishes bible of good-old-fashioned play; sweet, gorgeous book full of outdoor activities for grannies and their green-thumbed visitors; creepily (Bugs) and gorgeously (Butterflies) visual field guides for twee explorers.

*These events are not actually connected and the timeline makes positively no sense. We’re just naturally wholesome.

And we like calling ourselves ninjas.

Today is Star Wars Day—May the fourth be with you!

If you couldn’t guess, I’ll tell you that we here at Workman are HUGE Star Wars fans. Exhibit A: Fandex. Exhibit B: Scanimation. (Don’t those sound like words from the Lucasverse?)

That’s why we’re extremely excited to offer you a tiny sneak peek at the next Star Wars project we have lined up, to be released this fall! No details yet, but here’s a behind-the-scenes shot to pique your curiosity.

Designer Phil takes a break to pose for the blog.

Watch this space for more details about our latest project to come out of the Star Wars universe!

In honor of the 2012 South by Southwest festival, which starts today, we’re celebrating with a visit to the Austin, Texas studio of Austin Kleon,  frequent SXSW panelist and attendee, and author of  the new book Steal Like an Artist. Here, we ask him a few questions, speed round style.

Recent book you loved/learned from: 

Jonathan Lethem’s The Ecstasy of Influence. The original piece that book is centered around had a huge influence on Steal Like An Artist, but the book is even richer.

Favorite bookstore:

It’s hard to pick just one! BookPeople and Domy Books are two amazing stores in Austin, Texas.

Hidden talent:

If it’s hidden, it’s hidden for a reason. (Wink.)

Bookmark or dog-ear?:

Dog-eared. And underlined. And scribbled in the margins… 

Book you are most ashamed never to have read:

I have a book out on creativity and I’ve never read Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit or Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way. (Whoops!)

Most frequent form of writerly procrastination:

Twitter!

Favorite childhood book:

Ernie’s Big Mess. (A Sesame Street Start-to-Read Book)

Alternate ambition:

Beach bum.

Your perfect meal:

My mom’s fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, a slice of cherry pie, and a glass of milk.

Big dream:

To be unemployed and independently wealthy.

Super power of choice:

Flying. I’d be having some Grimaldi’s pizza for dinner. (Like my dachshund, I’m food motivated.)

In Steal, you recommend reaching out to creative heroes who inspire you by writing blog posts, dedicating your work to them, and writing fan letters. What was the last fan letter you wrote?

The last fan letter I wrote was Steal! It’s a public fan letter to all the artists who’ve taught me so much.

What Workman book would you like to receive as compensation for your participation?

I Will Teach You To Be Rich

If you’re in Austin, Texas come by the Austin Convention Center this Saturday from 12:30 – 1:30 to hear Austin Kleon and filmmaker Kirby Ferguson discuss creativity in the digital age, followed by a book signing.