How does ArtScroll take your manuscript and turn it into a bestseller displayed in every Judaica store around the world?

Photos: Yaakov Biderman

I have a challenge for you. Head over to the seforim shranks in your home and start counting all of the ArtScroll seforim you own. It’s hard to miss the distinct gold lettering and regal design that are part of ArtScroll’s signature look. Siddurim, Chumashim, machzorim, Mishnayos, Gemaras, the list goes on and on.

Still counting? Now head over to your other bookcases and count all the other volumes in your home that were produced by ArtScroll: children’s books, cookbooks, biographies of gedolim, inspiring short stories, general reading, all enveloped in shiny book jackets with beautiful illustrations.

Okay, okay, you can stop counting now. I know, it’s hard to keep track of all those ArtScroll titles!

The giant publishing house of ArtScroll Mesorah Publication was founded in the 1970s by Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz ztz”l. It publishes a vast amount of seforim, novels, children’s classics, and all sorts of kosher reading material. Rabbi Zlotowitz began his career with handwritten notes on Megillas Esther and, together with noted editor Rabbi Nosson Scherman, went on to build a powerhouse of Torah publishing.

How is a book produced?  Let’s say you’re an ambitious writer who has just written a page-turning novel. Or you’re a recipe developer with a tantalizing cookbook idea. Or maybe you’re a distinguished scholar who is ready to produce a sefer. How does ArtScroll take your manuscript and turn it into a bestseller that’s prominently displayed in every Judaica store around the world?

Follow us as we tour ArtScroll’s book factory where seforim and kosher books come to life:

Hi! We’re Avromi and Tuvia.

We’re nine-year-old twins who have many differences, except for two things: We both love to read, and we both hope to become published authors one day. So, we’re pretty excited about our trip to the ArtScroll publishing headquarters. Sounds interesting? Come along!

It’s a sunny day when we pull up to ArtScroll’s sprawling headquarters in Rahway, New Jersey. We’re ushered into a beautiful office building where we meet our tour guide, Rabbi Hisiger. He is warm and friendly, and bursting with information.

Rabbi Hisiger leads us down a carpeted hallway, stopping at various doorways to tell us about some of the departments and responsibilities. We pass through offices where editors are hard at work, analyzing and writing for yet-to-be-published seforim. ArtScroll is also home to an in-house shul, as well as a library with access to almost every sefer imaginable, which their researchers can use as references when writing new seforim. The sales and marketing department are handling the phone calls and working on upcoming releases.