History
Bronze Man Books Mission
Bronze Man Books is a student owned and operated press located in Decatur, Illinois. We are committed to publishing books that integrate high-quality design and meaningful content.
Company History
Spawned from the Art of Publishing class, Bronze Man Books began in the spring semester of 2006 at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. The class is under the direction of Dr. Randy Brooks, Professor of English and Acting Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and publisher of Brooks Books and Ed Walker, Director of the Commercial Art & Computer Graphics majors and Chair of the Art Department at Millikin.
The original intention of the class was to found an undergradute student-run publishing company in which students become an integral part of the publishing process.
As
the semester progressed, the press was dubbed Bronze Man
Books --named so for the bronze, student statue at the center
of the Millikin University campus. Identity was further established
with the creation of the Bronze Man logo and later the mission
statement.
As the title of the course implies, the class originally sought out English and Art majors. Therefore, as the press began to grow, an extreme emphasis was put on the quality integration of design and content – a desire to create a product unlike any other on the market.
As a small business, Bronze Man Books has a distinct advantage to take on more personalized projects, enhancing the quality of both content and design aesthetics.
The company is entirely student-owned and operated with the assistance of faculty and community advisors. Though the press maintains loyalty to Millikin University, Bronze Man Books is always in search of new, interesting, and challenging material, publishing both new and established authors dealing with the arts and education.
Art of Publishing Course
Faculty
Advisors Dr. Randy Brooks and Dr. Ed Walker established a
course, The Art of Publishing. The goal of the course was
to capitalize on the strong relationship between the English
and Art departments programs, combining faculty resources and student
ambition, in order to create a sustainable student-operated
publishing company. The two professors, who possessed several
decades of publishing experience, hoped to gather
interested students into a course where innovation, creativity,
teamwork, and communication
were of equal necessity.
First cross-listed between the English and Art departments in the Spring semester 2006, The Art of Publishing took off from the very beginning. The founding students established Bronze Man Books as an official business during this first semester: creating a mission statement, establishing a legal status, inventing a flexible corporate infrastructure, and planning for an inaugural project.
Bronze Man Books is comprised of three teams: Editorial, Production, and Marketing. Each team consists of four-to-six individuals whose personal skills and collective abilities qualify them for their position. The leader of each team holds a seat on the Managerial Board, who oversee the general direction and performance of the company.
Bronze Man Books upholds a high standard of professionalism and quality. Interviews for acceptance into the course are held biannually for the upcoming semesters; students entering the program understand the privilege and level of commitment that is expected of them. With more and more students from all areas of the university contributing to our Editorial, Production, Marketing staffs, the press draws from several varying areas of study in order to bring to life the chapbooks, children’s books, poetry collections, photo histories, and all the quality products of Bronze Man Books.
Tax-deductible Donations
Bronze Man Books is a student run company, under Millikin University faculty guidance. Your donation is a donation to Millikin University with the designation that it be used to help support the Bronze Man Books company and related Art of Publishing class. To make a donation online by credit card through Paypal, please click the donate link on our donations page.
Business Partners & Affiliated Organizations
See our page of links and contact information about our business partners, supporters and affiliated organizations. We appreciate working our associates in the Central Illinois community.
