Defying the Odds
Book
Year
2022
Client
The Hamilton and Alexandra College
Services
Editing, design, typesetting, proofreading, project management and production.
Short Description
When The Hamilton and Alexandra College in Victoria’s Western District turned 150, it wanted to mark the occasion with a comprehensive history of the school. Retired Head of English Neil Maclean took on the mammoth job of researching and writing, trawling through all the material in the school archives and beyond, and unearthing many historical gems along the way. His collaboration with our graphic designer and editor resulted in a beautifully bound celebration of this very important milestone, and a fascinating account of its history to be enjoyed for posterity – an archival gem itself.
The book’s author, a retired teacher at the school, used meticulously kept school archives, which included school council minutes from the late 1800s, as well as a trove of historical articles from the Argus newspaper, to paint a rich portrait of life at the school.
We are absolutely thrilled with the final version and have it firmly under wraps until we can launch it with the celebration and excitement that it deserves. How lucky we are that you contacted us and led us through this process. I will be forever grateful!
Occasionally we work with a first-time or non-professional writer from within an organisation. This was the case here. The book’s manuscript was the passion project of retired Head of English Neil MacLean, whose formidable research yielded so many gems (like train timetabling for a picnic in Bendigo and board meeting minutes from 1906), that it was hard to decide which darlings to keep and which to jettison. I edited the manuscript as rigorously as I would’ve with any professional writer, and Neil took it like a champ.