How I Got Into Publishing – Part 3: To infinity!

This is part three of the story of how I got into publishing - a rocky road, for sure, but in this final episode it all comes to a happy conclusion. Click here to read part one or here for part two, if you're not up to date.

Welcome to August 2018 - the final push with which I finally managed to break through the iron door that guards the world of publishing.

Week after week after week, I’d been pouring my heart into cover letters to amazing publishers – the big ones, the small ones, the obscure ones… Each cover letter took up a few hours, and I tried everything, from talking about all the great things I’d achieved at work to how big a Christmas cake I could bake. (I’m not kidding. I genuinely wrote that into a cover letter.) Have I gone a little insane? Maybe, reader. Maybe.

But finally, in early August, I got invited to interview for a role in marketing, and this sounded just great. So I did what I’d become an expert at at this point:

• I followed the company on all social media accounts, and I Googled all the people in the marketing team. I followed them on Twitter too, I looked them up on LinkedIn, I checked the company website for bios. (Top tip: my now-manager mentioned how I had been the only applicant to have followed them on Twitter, and this definitely won me some brownie points.)
• I learned the company history inside out. Their mission, their development, the main topics they publish on; I collated definitions of even the most basic things. I searched through countless articles on The Bookseller website and was totally up to date.
• I read through the job description about a hundred times, underlining key things to mention in the interview – and lined up specific examples to demonstrate how I met those requirements.
• I collated at least four questions to have on hand because everyone knows you simply must ask questions in an interview – and not lame ones, but actual, factual questions. Use this to demonstrate all the research you’ve done. But also, think of it this way: they’re interviewing you as much as you’re interviewing them.
• I identified and researched their main competitors.

On this occasion, I got my interview mojo back, fortunately; and the interviewers were very friendly and accommodating too. We had a great talk, and I was soon invited back for a second round. This involved collating a full-blown marketing plan for a specific book on a topic I knew absolutely nothing about.

Note that I arrived to this round with four copies of the marketing plan printed out – one for each interviewer, one for me and an emergency copy, should one of them rip on the way there. Over the top? You may think so, but guess who got the job? Me. I did.

So now that you know all the pains of my publishing journey, here is a summary of resources, tips and links that I found particularly useful in my search.

If you're still at uni, get yourself a part-time job at a book shop, because publishers will absolutely take note. You'll be learning about books all the time, you'll know all the new releases and be up to date with the industry.

Buy the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. It is a fantastic resource and will get all the relevant publishers on your radar. And by all means, send unsolicited emails to publishers that you like - just make sure that, unlike me, you tailor them to each company. Yes, it's a b*tch - but it might just get you a response. Have a look at their catalogue and name-drop a few authors and titles. Mention some factoid you found on The Bookseller.

Subscribe to The Bookseller. This ad is not sponsored by The Bookseller. Also, you'll only need to pay for it until you get a job; most publishers have a corporate subscription so you'll get it for free. Win.

Go to all the publishing events. London is constantly buzzing with great opportunities, so get out there, talk to people – without intimidating them – and connect. I once simply walked up to a speaker following a panel discussion at an event, introduced myself, asked them about their company/job/thing they just mentioned (having done my research of who would be on the panel!) and obtained a business card. Bosh.

My best sources for finding relevant events were and are:

• Waterstones events

• Eventbrite - search for 'publishing' or 'book' or 'book launch'

• BookMachine

• Social media

When applying for jobs, don’t be picky. Don’t go in with an ‘editor or nothing else’ mindset. That’s what I wanted originally, but then I learnt more, I got into marketing, and now I actually prefer it to editorial.

Here are some of the sites I used to search for jobs:

• IPG

• The Bookseller

• Hachette Careers

• Penguin Careers

Besides these, it's worth checking individual publisher websites; some of them might post jobs on there before sending them anywhere else. I regularly checked Pan Macmillan, Profile, Unbound and Egmont as their job pages seemed to update regularly.

Get yourself on Twitter. The publishing community lives and breathes Twitter - not only will you be able to connect, self-promote and get free advice, but you can also find smaller events directly recommended by marketers, publishers, editors and more. 

A note on recruitment agencies

There are two major recruitment agencies that specialise in publishing in the UK: Inspired Selection and Atwood Tate. They didn’t really know what to do with my overly colourful CV, but they’re free to register with and you’ve got nothing to lose, so do it.

Their criteria for forwarding CVs to employers is very strict and unless you meet the job description to the letter, you probably won’t get shortlisted. But, sadly, as everyone and their mums is constantly emailing them to see if there are any jobs going, it’s no wonder they can’t always help. If you’re the right person for the job though, they’ll find you and put you forward for sure.

Cover letters

Research is key. Here's the opening paragraph of my cover letter:

"Ever since I read about the piece of recent news late last year, I have been closely following the company’s activities. Company’s impressive 30 years of consecutive growth and its target to publish over 260 new titles in 2017 alone showed a robust and successful business. I am especially interested in the variety of company’s lists and the uniqueness of certain imprint. I am an avid reader of the company blog as well."

Remember: specific. Examples. Always. Use case studies. Demonstrate what you can do. Example:

"Having completed an introductory certificate in marketing at the Cambridge School of Marketing on my own initiative, I was able to rely on my knowledge to build our reputation, and within a year I succeeded in raising our readership from this number to this number, collaborating closely with our sales and marketing teams."

Money makes the world go around. Publishing is a business. Its ultimate aim is not necessarily to change the world with great books (although that too, hopefully) but to make money. In your cover letter, think about how YOU can help the company make money. Such as:

"What especially draws me to marketing is the widening range of channels marketers can use today to manage campaigns, and the challenge of making the most of a set budget in the smartest ways possible. I was especially keen on reading about company’s cool initiative in 2016 – it seemed to me a completely unique and engaging idea. I believe further cool idea would be an excellent initiative going into the Christmas peak period, for example."

For interviews

The job description is an actual goldmine. That's the stuff they want to hear, so focus on that. Learn the key things by heart. Genuinely.

At interview stage, arrive to the location 20 minutes early - no more, no less. But don't go bothering your interviewer yet. It honestly shocks me that some people think it's okay to arrive to an interview an hour early. It's so incredibly rude.

20 minutes gives you enough time for a security pee, to fix your hair and to read through your notes one last time. Hide out on the street and only enter the premises/ring the doorbell three to four minutes before the scheduled interview time. This shows that you're early, but not too early. Trust me. 

Remember to have questions at hand to show interest and demonstrate your research.

Finally…

If you have any questions – I mean it, any at all – ask away. Ask me, ask the person you meet at the next event, ask on Twitter. There’s a whole, friendly publishing world out there ready to help.

Good luck, you guys.