The space

The Candlewick offices are not the sterile glass-and-chrome office maze I imagined: they’re much better! The outside stucco is a cheery yellow and the front office has bright walls, books on display, and big stuffed versions of some of Candlewick’s most beloved characters.

The inside of the building is all open. Nearly everyone sits at a cubicle with low walls and a sturdy desk. Low walls so you can see your neighbors; a sturdy desk so you can support mounds of paper. My desk, for example, is currently piled with towering stacks of old “foul matter”—the various marked drafts a manuscript has gone through before publication.

Whereas some of the presses I’ve visited have each department sequestered away behind muffling office doors, giving you the impression that Great Work is happening inside, the openness of Candlewick’s building makes the whole place feel bustling with creativity. It’s collaborative and busy, much like our grad school carrels (but without all the gossip and nervous freshmen).

And, of all peculiar coincidences, the other half of the building is being used by the local Spanish and Portugese branches. I can tell you it was quite a shock this summer when I looked up the address on Google Maps (see image) and the first thing I saw was the classic bronze plaque: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.