Our Team

Karla Oceanak  
Karla is the author of the Aldo Zelnick comic novel series and Bailiwick's team leader. An advocate for children's literacy, she has worked as a writer and editor for more than twenty years and has ghostwritten dozens of books. Karla and her husband, Scott, live here in Fort Collins with their three tween and teenage boys in a house strewn with Legos, hockey gear, Pokemon cards, video games, books, and dirty socks.

Kendra Spanjer
Kendra illustrates the Aldo Zelnick series and is Bailiwick's lead artist. When she invents spare time for herself to fill, Kendra enjoys skiing, cycling, exploring, discovering new music, watching trains go by, decorating cakes with her sister and making faces in the mirror.

Launie Parry
With years of experience in the printing industry, a fondness for all things paper, and a love of reading, designing books and sundries for Bailiwick is a perfect fit for Launie, our design director. She and her husband, George, have two daughters, one cat, and a golden retriever named Maisie who is known around the office for her sweet disposition and very bad manners.

Renée Becher
Renée is a nerd about books, writing, music, Harry Potter and way more than can be listed here. She began writing after she first saw Balto and has been crafting stories about wolves ever since. Bailiwick's office assistant, Renée coordinates school visits and other events, herds interns, and helps run our summer programs for kids. She will graduate from CSU in May with a degree in English (creative writing concentration) and a minor in zoology.

Justin Goodfellow
Justin is wrapping up a degree in English at CSU. Poetry is his favorite thing to write, but he also enjoys working on short pieces of fiction. Outside of writing, Justin is an avid reader who spends his weekends helping out customers at the Old Firehouse bookshop.  He also plays music with his band, Cotton Keys. Justin loves helping Bailiwick share the Fort Collins scene with all of Aldo’s readers.

Brianna Kerber
Bri is a senior at CSU and is preparing to graduate in May. She is majoring in English with a writing concentration. One of her life goals is to work fulltime in a publishing company post-graduation. In addition to being a Bailiwick Press intern, she is also a student manager at an on-campus convenience store called Lake Street Market. In her spare time, she can be found making jewelry, crocheting, or hanging out with her German Shepherd/Black Lab mix, Ruco.

Joshua Chrysler
Josh is a senior at CSU studying English and Philosophy.  He spends his time reading all kinds of books, listening to Bruce Springsteen, and watching the Denver Broncos, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Rockies. He also enjoys working on his 1966 Oldsmobile and going to classic car shows. Currently, his thoughts are occupied with his impending graduation, and what he will be doing following that, he does not know.

About Us

What do you get when you mix together an author, an illustrator, and a graphic designer, all of whom are: a) experienced in publishing, printing, and marketing; and b) crazy about creating collaborative stories and beautiful work? If you wish upon a star and click your heels three times, you get Bailiwick Press.

Bailiwick was created in 2009 by author Karla Oceanak, illustrator Kendra Spanjer, and designer Launie Parry. We’re the only publishing company in the world to be founded and owned by three women with these particular (and handy) skills.

Bailiwick’s flagship series—the Aldo Zelnick Comic Novels—has garnered awards, critical acclaim, and thousands of young readers. In 2012 and beyond, we will publish books for kids by other authors and illustrators as well as launch new confections of our own making.

We work together in a vibrant old-house-turned-studio in Fort Collins, Colorado. Drop by any day and you’ll find us writing, drawing, designing, cutting, pasting, collaborating, and dreaming. Oh, and laughing.

Booksellers and libraries: Bailiwick Press’ books are distributed to the trade by Independent Publishers Group and can be ordered with ease—directly from IPG or from Ingram, B&T, Follett or any of your normal channels.

Readers: We know there are oodles of great books out there. Thanks for choosing ours. We believe that if you’re going to go through the trouble to make a book, it better be a darned good one. We promise to continue to create books that entertain as well as edify and are exceptional in every way.

Our mission

Bailiwick Press wants kids to love books.

In today’s digital world, the act of reading is increasingly fragmented. While we believe that all forms of literacy are essential, we also believe that books provide children the cognitive challenge they need to construct meaning from fully developed stories. Books lay out extended narratives that enhance brain development. Books build vocabulary and thus understanding. Books introduce characters who become educational docents. Books connect kids to history and other disciplines better than anything else. And best of all, books delight! They alone among literacy channels have the power to make learning at once cognitively immersive and enchanting.

Bailiwick’s books for kids teach, inspire and delight. As we develop our children’s books, we work with teachers and other educators to make sure they will be equally at home in the classroom as they are on kids’ nightstands.

Still, while our motivations are complex, our purpose is simple: to produce books kids love to read. And from what our young readers are telling us, we’re doing just that.

Internship program

Bailiwick's internship program exposes interns to all facets of publishing. At Bailiwick, we believe it's important to help educate the next generation of publishers, editors, writers, and illustrators, especially during this rollercoaster ride of industry change. We're proud to count 12 current and former interns among our friends and colleagues.

Interns at Bailiwick Press have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with the entire cycle of book publishing, from concept to draft, editing, layout, printing and marketing. Our interns attend editorial meetings, give input on the current book-in-progress, help review submissions, and proofread. They also roll up their sleeves on marketing projects of all kinds, from list-building and mailings to website updates, videos and event support.

If you are interested in applying for an unpaid Bailiwick internship through CSU or another university, we would be happy to provide you with more information. Please send inquiries to info@bailiwickpress.com.

Summer programs for kids

Bailiwick Press loves creating for kids. But our books are not the only place kids can get a healthy dose of creativity. Bailiwick's first summer of fun in 2011 included an All-Boys Book Club as well as an Artobiography class, both held right here in Fort Collins at Aldo Zelnick World Headquarters and personally led by Karla and Kendra. 

The book club kept the kids reading over the summer while also exposing them to new and exciting literature. The Artobiography class combined writing and drawing as the kids got to create their own Aldo-esque sketchbooks.

For more information on Bailiwick's programs for kids, please contact us at info@bailiwickpress.com.