Meet an Employee Owner: Lucien Schraeder
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“I’ve always loved the saying, write the book you want to read. If you do, then maybe someday you’ll be the author inspiring another person to put pen to paper.”
In our Meet an Employee Owner series, we’re getting to know some of the amazing individuals who help our authors publish their incredible books.
In this month’s edition, we’re pleased to introduce you to Publishing Specialist Lucien Schraeder! Despite being with us for less than a year, Lucien has brought his lifelong passions for reading, writing, and all things book to every facet of his role as a FriesenPress employee owner.
What drew you toward applying to join the FriesenPress team?
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had a deep love for reading. I did my undergraduate degree in English (as well as Greek and Roman studies), because I knew my goal was a career in publishing. After several years in office administration, I transitioned my skills into the publishing industry, where I’ve been working with independent authors for the past few years. FriesenPress was always on my radar, so when I saw the open job listing for my position, it felt like the stars had aligned and everything fell into place.
What do you find most rewarding about your role?
I think storytelling is a core part of what it means to be human. I love getting to work with authors who have stories to tell, because as a writer myself, I understand how daunting it can be to share your soul with the world! There’s nothing better than helping them build the confidence to put their book out there, and making sure our authors feel heard and understood as we bring their book to life.
Tell us a bit about your life outside of work – what are some activities and/or interests that fill your cup?
It will come as no surprise that I love to read, and I also write stories of my own – mainly historical fiction. I always have several writing projects on the go, from a retelling of Arthurian myth, to ancient Greek warriors, to secret college societies.
I’m also an avid gamer – the Final Fantasy series, Stardew Valley, and Elden Ring are some of my favourites.
I live in Calgary, with my partner and our two orange cats, Achilles and Patroclus. You’ll often find me exploring bookstores, learning calligraphy, or trying to teach myself lightsaber tricks (I’m a huge nerd, I know).
What are some of your favourite books or authors? Or what are some of the best reading experiences you’ve ever had? Why are they so remarkable to you?
Literary fiction, historical fiction, horror, Own Voices, and LGBTQIA+ novels are my top genres. I recommend The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault to everyone who will listen, because it’s an incredible lyrical take on the Peloponnesian wars, and it changed me as a person the first time I read it. I annotate all my books, and this one is filled with underlines of all the best quotes.
I’m also a huge fan of T. Kingfisher and Andrew Joseph White, two modern horror authors whose works already feel like they’ll become classics.
What does being an employee owner of Friesens and FriesenPress mean to you?
I see it firstly as a responsibility, to make sure that the role we play in shaping the publishing industry is one we can be proud of. As well, I see it as a way to create change – we’ve seen a huge shift towards self-publishing in the past 20 years, and things will continue to shift. As an employee owner, I’m focused on revolutionizing the reputation of self-publishing, which starts by providing excellence in my support of each and every author.
Looking back across all the conversations you’ve had and books you’ve worked on, what projects jump out as being particularly noteworthy or special to you?
Truong Ly’s Carry Forward is an account of the harrowing escape that the author and his mother faced during their escape from Communist Vietnam in the 1980s, when Truong was just three years old. Carry Forward is a testament to resilience, and the sacrifices parents make to give their children a better life.
When I began working with Truong, he explained to me that he wanted his daughter to have a sense of where she came from, and the struggles her grandmother had to traverse to give them a future in Canada. This project was deeply impactful because the experiences of Truong and his mother are shared by so many, and so many stories like theirs go untold, lost to time. It’s been a privilege to be entrusted to work alongside Truong on such an important part of his family’s story.
Charles Johnston’s Sleep Walk is a psychological thriller set in Pincher Creek, Alberta (my home province!). It follows Jamie, a mechanic suffering from sleepwalking – but sleepwalking turns into something more sinister when people start disappearing from the small town, and Jamie seems at the centre of it all. Charles let me know he loved the books of Stephen King, so we worked to create a cover that would have the same retro horror pocketbook feel. Charles actually held his own photoshoot for the cover, and dressed in costume as his main character Jamie! It was super inspiring to see Charles’ creative process and be a part of bringing his Stephen King-esque vision to life.
What’s a piece of writing and/or publishing advice that you wish more writers knew (and why)?
Every author that you admire was scared to start once, too. So many authors have a book they’ve poured their heart into, but they wonder if anyone will care to read it.
I’ve always loved the saying, write the book you want to read. If you do, then maybe someday you’ll be the author inspiring another person to put pen to paper.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your role helping authors at FriesenPress?
A lot of authors feel like they alone have questions about publishing, or that they should automatically just ‘know’ how things work. But in my experience, if you have a question, countless authors before you have wondered the same thing! That’s why we’re here and happy to help.
Another lesson I’ve learned is that it’s never too late to decide you are a writer. Even if you don’t think you have the skill to write, or you think you missed your chance decades ago, or you worry that the story you want to tell might not be what the world wants – if you have the desire to write, you can be a writer. And someone out there needs the story you will write.
Asked by our previous respondent, Jamie: What does success mean to you at work and with your authors?
Success, to me, means not just ticking off boxes and completing my work, but learning every day. Each author brings a new learning opportunity, and a chance to treat each book with the respect and care it deserves.
The days I feel most successful are the days I hear from my authors that I’ve made a difference for them – and the days I get to call my author to congratulate them on being published!
