Have you ever been curious about who makes the handbound books BatCat Press produces? This year, we’ll be introducing you to our new staff members that work year-round on creating our beautiful journals and publications! We hope you enjoy!

NAME: Jayden

AGE: 16

FAVORITE AUTHOR: Dylan Thomas

FAVORITE BOOK: Pet Sematary by Stephen King

FAVORITE GENRE TO READ: Creative Nonfiction

FAVORITE GENRE TO WRITE: Poetry

OTHER INTERESTS: Painting with acrylics, acting, and journaling

Jayden, a sophomore, joined the staff of BatCat Press just this year. Though it’s been brief, her time on BatCat has been incredibly successful so far. She has attended several of our events this year, including the 2018 Beaver County BookFest and the Pittsburgh Zine Fair.

Every day, Jayden has many different tasks that she completes on staff, but she feels most confident in the process of making books.  Over the course of the past few weeks, she has made approximately 10 artistically crafted and beautiful books. Her favorite book to make is a traditional bound book because of the “easy stitching pattern and how the end product looks very neat.” She would say that her favorite thing about being a part of the staff is “how it’s very close-knit and how we all work together.”

While on BatCat, Jayden has big plans as to what she wishes to accomplish in future years. She hopes to learn more about marketing our products, setting specific prices for our books, and overall, she wishes to understand the business aspect of being on staff.

One struggle that Jayden has faced while on staff is “logical thinking when making a book.” Though she has had difficulty with measurements and things pertaining to precision, she definitely feels like she’s improving and plans to work on getting better and become more efficient.

Jayden plans on attending college in the future, though she has nothing specific planned out yet. However, she has a strong interest in studying business, medicine, and other related fields. Although this is only Jayden’s first year on BatCat, she’s been a great addition to the group. With her diverse talents and determined attitude, she is sure to make great contributions to the staff, and we are looking forward to seeing her improve through the years.

Written by Julia Aloi