Meet the Editors: An Interview with Julia Soplop

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hello, I’m Julia Soplop. I’m the founder of Hill Press and the author of three books: Untangling the Self-Publishing Process, Equus Rising: How the Horse Shaped U.S. History, and Documenting Your World Through Photography.

I joke that I’m a branding expert’s worst nightmare, because I’ve never been able to box myself into just one field or subject. Curiosity has been the primary driver of my academic and professional life. Along the way, I’ve collected a bachelor’s in French, a master’s in medical journalism, and a plethora of coursework in documentary and fine arts photography as well as biology and public health. Whether working for a nonprofit, a publication, or as a freelancer, I’ve always loved delving into just about any subject and figuring out how to bring it to life through writing or photography. (You can read a few of my favorite pieces here.)

I grew up in Minneapolis, which I still consider home. But over the years, I’ve set up shop in a lot of places, including a tiny apartment in NYC, a little place with a big mountain view in the Colorado Rockies, and a tent in a nature reserve on the other side of the world. It occurred to me recently, though, that I’ve now spent about half my life in North Carolina, where my husband and I decided to raise our three daughters. It’s a good life here.

What interests you in working with self-publishing authors?

In recent years, I’ve become a vocal advocate for self-publishing. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned as a documentarian is that everyone has an interesting story to tell and deserves to tell it. But the reality is that traditional publishers will never publish most of our stories. I no longer see that fact as an obstacle, because the advantages of traditional publishing are waning.

My own publishing journey taught me that authors don’t have to wait around for gatekeepers to determine the inherent value of their work; technological innovations and new distribution platforms allow us to create professional-quality books and publish them without the approval of traditional publishers. I want to scream this from the rooftops! There is no need to wait around for traditional publishers to seek more diverse voices or books based solely on quality rather than commercial viability or stories that should be told. We can tell our stories ourselves, and we can do it quite well.

That said, there is a lot that goes into creating a high-quality book product aside from writing a solid manuscript. I get so much joy from helping authors learn how to transform their stories into finished books. There’s a steep learning curve in self-publishing, and I launched Hill Press and wrote Untangling the Self-Publishing Process to help empower independent authors to overcome the challenges of publishing, so they can put their work into the world on their own terms.

Tell us what you’re like as an editor.

I never want clients to be surprised, so I tell them up front: I’m vicious with a red pen! They always thank me later, though. Writing and editing go hand-in-hand, and I’ve been an editor as long as I’ve been a writer. Some of the most helpful editorial insights I’ve accumulated over the years grew out of the most annoying experiences of my career: writing print newspaper and magazine articles and proposals with length requirements down to the exact word count. When you’re forced to present the same information in many fewer words, you realize quickly how much of your language is extraneous. My journalism background also instilled in me the concept that the best way to explain something is always simplest way. I’m a stickler for clear, concise language. Strong verbs, people! Strong verbs.

When I edit someone’s work, I don’t try to make their writing sound like mine; my goal is to make it sound consistently like theirs—to help them identify and strengthen their own voice. I want a client to look at their finished book and think, “This is my story. This is my voice. And it is good.” (And yes, we now use “theirs” and “them” in the singular form, and I’m here for it.)

Describe your perfect day.

I’m an active and outdoorsy person through and through, so my perfect day would be a sunny one spent outside. It would start quietly, with my kids still asleep (this is too much of a stretch, I know), sitting on my back porch with coffee and a book, watching the sun rise and listening to the woods awaken. Once my family emerged, we’d pack up and head out for a hike that culminated in a fantastic view. Or perhaps a kayaking session on the river down the road. Or maybe some mountain biking on a nearby trail. We’d come home, take a swim, and read the afternoon away on the porch. Then a babysitter would arrive, and my husband and I would dress up and go out on an actual date to an actual restaurant. A girl can dream!

What projects are you working on right now?

One of my main interests in writing is translating scientific research into digestible language for a lay audience. Before the pandemic hit, I started researching and outlining a book to help non-scientists make better sense of health and science news. The book will generally be about what science is and is not, which is a way more complex discussion than you’d think. It will also discuss how messaging about science can become distorted—both innocently and nefariously. I had no idea at the time that the subject would become so personal and emotional.

Needless to say, the last year has laid bare how crucial it is for non-scientists to understand how the process of science works and what it offers us. It’s also shown us that we have a problem in this country with scientific illiteracy, even among otherwise educated people, which has deeply impacted our pandemic response. Even though the pandemic will only be one section of the book, I spend a lot of time each day reading and collecting scientific literature about different aspects of the pandemic and keeping tabs on messaging and misinformation. It’s exhausting. I think I need to stop waiting around to find out how this story will end before I start writing!

I hear you have some interesting pets at home.

We do! We have a hedgehog named Thistle, who has become my kids’ muse. They’re constantly drawing pictures of her, writing elaborate books about her imagined adventures, and setting up little obstacle courses for her to explore for mental stimulation. And they even perform little behavioral observation studies on her for science class. Do you know how many inches a hedgehog will push an empty paper towel roll across a driveway before stopping? They sure do.

We had a few dogless months early last year, and they were not a good look for our family. So we adopted an 8-week-old rescue pup, knowing nothing about him except that he was pudgy and adorable. It turns out Simon is a mix of many breeds, but mostly shepherd. He’s whip-smart, and the girls have spent the pandemic teaching him tricks. They accidentally taught him to jump so high through a hoop that we had to upgrade the backyard fence we were installing from four feet to five feet.

You can read Julia’s official bio here.