WE KNOW BOOKS.
Philosophy
Racket Publishing is the brainchild of award-winning author and Motion Publishing founder Phil Simon.
Writing Partners, Not Clients
By treating its authors as partners and not clients, Racket provides sage guidance on all aspects of the writing process. From planning to writing to post-production to marketing, It’s accurate to call our approach unreasonably hospitable.
If you want to try your hand at indie or self-publishing, have at it. Snakeoil salesmen abound. Through trial and error, though, you can find decent editors, indexers, e-book specialists, designers, and proofreaders. They can certainly meet your needs.
Buy who’s overseeing the entire project—from idea to launch?
Fast, cheap, and good. Pick any two of the three.
Racket works with its clients on a holistic basis. First-time and experienced authors benefit from a true publishing partner, not just a service provider. That’s our jam. If this doesn’t sound cheap, trust your instincts.
As in life, however, you get what you pay for.
Tools Matter
With rare exception, traditional publishers and the vast majority of publishing professionals are stuck in their ways. They cling to antiquated business processes, technologies, and mindsets. For example, emails and attachments continue to rule the day. There’s just one problem:
It’s no longer 1998.
Simon believes that there’s a vastly better way to write and publish. By embracing new, user-friendly collaboration tools like RacketHub, it’s possible to make publishing a book far more efficient, cost-effective, and even downright fun. Yes, fun.
TEAM
The talented folks who make books happen at Racket. We’ve got all your publishing and related needs covered.
Management & ghostwriting
Phil Simon is probably the world’s leading independent expert on workplace collaboration and technology. He is a frequent keynote speaker and the award-winning author of 14 books, most recently The Nine: The Tectonic Forces Reshaping the Workplace.
He founded Racket Publishing in 2021. Before that, Simon started Motion Publishing in 2010, ultimately selling the company in 2017.
Over the course of his storied writing and publishing career, he’s worked with dozens of authors in different capacities, including ideation, brainstorming, title creation, positioning, and ghostwriting. Don’t get him started on Breaking Bad, Marillion, and Rush.
DESIGN
Jessica Angerstein is an experienced graphic designer who loves to take complex topics and make them easy to understand. She excels at creating stories that inspire people. Her passion is wallpaper removal, but she loves to create book layouts and bring each page to life. She has worked on all four Racket titles.
Luke Fletcher is a professional freelance graphic designer with two decades of related experience. He has designed the covers for dozens of books in his career, including the Racket titles The Nine, Low-Code/No-Code, and Project Management in the Hybrid Workplace. While not designing covers, you may find him spending time with his kids or watching Breaking Bad or The Big Lebowski.
Indexing
Johnna VanHoose Dinse has been creating vibrant indexes for a little more than 20 years. She has created indexes for consumer trade books such as the For Dummies series and Complete Idiot’s Guides, as well as those for academic and healthcare presses. Her philosophy of indexing: “I create a roadmap for the reader to use to navigate the information presented in all the ways they might need to use it.” She has worked on all four Racket titles.
Editing & PROOFREADING
Karen Davis is an experienced and highly skilled editor. She has worked on more than 500 books over the course of her career. Her attention to detail and ability to distill a story are second to none. She enjoys biking and just loves dogs. She has worked on all four Racket titles.
Merlina McGovern has always loved working with the published word and with graphics and design. She finds no greater satisfaction than in taking content and combing over it meticulously to improve it and make it better for readers. She takes this meticulous approach to everything, including improving publishing and design processes.
EBOOK CONVERSION
Vinnie Kinsella is a full-stack designer. Over his career, he’s successfully completed hundreds of ebooks, including all Racket titles.
AUDIOBOOK PRODUCTION
Seattle-based Gary Bennett is an award-winning SAG-AFTRA audiobook narrator and voice actor. His many audiobooks include the Racket titles Reimagining Collaboration and Project Management in the Hybrid Workplace.
Jonathan Yen is a talented voice actor, proud SAG-AFTRA member, audiobook and documentary narrator, and post-production sound engineer. His many works include the Racket title The Nine and Message Not Received.
ADVERTISING
Jeffrey Kimura is an experienced marketer with deep expertise in paid search, ad optimization, and keywords.