About
A publishing services company with an imprint of its own.
Painter Works LLC writes, edits, designs, and produces books and content for publishers and businesses, and publishes its own books under its imprint.
Founder
Benjamin Painter
Benjamin Painter has spent 17 years making reference and educational books, first as an editor and eventually as the executive running operations. He joined Schlager Group in 2009 as an associate editor and rose through managing editor and creative director to vice president of strategy and operations and partner, overseeing white-label publishing for major reference publishers, the company's own Milestone Documents brand, and the Schlager Anthologies series.
For Gale, he edited and managed white-label production for Contemporary Authors, the Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, Contemporary Authors Online, and Something About the Author: more than 500 volumes and online updates, and more than 46,000 articles. He built and led a bench of more than 30 independent researchers, writers, copy editors, and proofreaders, and in 17 years has never missed a deadline. He also writes for the International Directory of Company Histories.
Freelancers interested in joining the bench can tell us about their work.
On the creative side, he brought design and typesetting in-house, creating the covers, catalogs, websites, and campaigns behind Milestone Documents and the Schlager Anthologies, titles praised by Library Journal, Booklist, Midwest Book Review, and ARBA. He also built the content systems that ran it all, including a content management system that cut annual operating costs.
He is also a songwriter and musician, an ASCAP member signed to Idol Records. With Red Like Heat and Paper Airline, he released five studio albums, toured the United States, and opened for notable headliners. His music was featured on MTV shows from 2015 to 2019. He writes fiction and makes art.
He graduated cum laude from Southern Methodist University, where he studied English and political science with a specialization in creative writing. He also completed coursework in literature and international politics at University College, Oxford University, has a happenstance associate degree from Collin College, and has completed graphic design coursework at the Art Institute.
- Based in
- Portland, Oregon
- Experience
- 17 years in reference and educational publishing
- Teams
- 30+ independent researchers, writers, editors, and proofreaders
- Education
- Southern Methodist University (B.A., cum laude); University College, Oxford University; Collin College (A.A.); Art Institute (graphic design)
- Member
- ASCAP, NAACP, and ACLU
How we work
Senior attention, with a bench behind it.
One point of contact
Every project is run by someone who has written, edited, designed, and managed this kind of work before.
The right specialists
Independent writers, editors, proofreaders, and researchers join as each project requires.
Standards that hold at volume
House style, sourcing, and quality checks built in from the first pass, whether it's one title or a whole series.
How production runs
- Your rules, encoded once. House style, templates, and specifications are set up at the start of the project.
- Automated first pass. Repetitive production work, such as composition and consistency checks, runs automatically.
- Editorial review. An editor reads and corrects every page. Nothing goes out unchecked.
- Proofs. You review proofs and approve final files.