How to Get a Job in Publishing A Guide

to Careers in the Booktrade, Magazines

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HOW TO GET A JOB IN PUBLISHING

So you’ve always dreamed of a career in publishing… but you don’t know where to
start or how? You’re holding the key in your hands!
Using insider information, How to Get A Job in Publishing is the newly revised
edition of the classic text for you if you are keen to work in publishing or associated
industries –​or if you are already in publishing and want to go further.
Packed with real-​life quotes, case studies and practical advice from publishing
veterans, and more recent arrivals, the authors differentiate types of publishing and
explain how roles and departments work together. They discuss the pros and cons
of internships and further study as well as training and lifelong learning, working
internationally, networking and building your personal brand. The book includes
vital guidelines for applying for publishing roles, including sample CVs and cover
letters and a glossary of industry terms, to make sure you stand out from the crowd
when you apply for jobs.
This thoroughly updated edition covers:

• The post-​pandemic publishing world, changes and current controversies, the

rise of e-​books, Amazon, self-​publishing and indie publishing.
• The growth in tertiary courses in Publishing Studies and internships –​are they
really the best way in?
• How to create your CV and a compelling cover letter that gets you noticed.

A new chapter addresses equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging, reflecting on the
current state of the publishing industry, how to evaluate potential employers and
how to look after yourself and others at work.
Whether you are a new or soon-​to-​be graduate of Media and Publishing, or are
just interested in a career in publishing or the creative industries, How to Get A Job
in Publishing is an essential resource.
Alison Baverstock worked in book publishing for many years and then played
a pivotal role in establishing the academic field of Publishing Studies. She is now
Professor of Publishing at Kingston University and the author of both many books
and much significant research. She has founded and led award-​winning initiatives
to widen involvement in higher education and inclusion in reading, including the
Kingston University Big Read and www.readi​ngfo​rce.org.uk. She is a priest in the
Church of England and a keen singer.

Susannah Bowen worked in educational and academic publishing for many years,
including at Cengage Australia and Open University Press, McGraw-​Hill, UK,
and is now with Campion Education, one of Australia’s largest booksellers/​school
suppliers. She’s the Industry Associate, Publishing Program, School of Culture and
Communication at the University of Melbourne, and Joint Principal Researcher
for the Australian Publishing Industry Workforce Survey on Diversity and Inclusion.
She’s a cake baker and rides a blue Vespa.

Steve Carey worked for Future Publishing, UK, launching nine magazines
including Edge and PC Gamer. In Australia he was Publishing Director for Australian
Consolidated Press looking after titles including Wheels and MOTOR. He has a
doctorate on James Joyce from Jesus College, Oxford and has lectured in publishing
for Monash and Melbourne Universities. He recently wrote his first screenplay,
Love’s Bitter Mystery. He is now a clinical hypnotherapist and podcaster.
HOW TO GET A JOB IN
PUBLISHING
A Guide to Careers in the Booktrade,
Magazines and Communications

Second edition
Alison Baverstock, Susannah Bowen
and Steve Carey
Designed cover image: Getty Images
Second edition published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Alison Baverstock, Susannah Bowen and Steve Carey
The right of Alison Baverstock, Susannah Bowen and Steve Carey to be identified as authors
of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by A & C Black Publishers Ltd 2008
British Library Cataloguing-​in-​Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-​in-​Publication Data
Names: Baverstock, Alison, author. | Bowen, Susannah, author. |
Carey, Steve, Dr., author.
Title: How to get a job in publishing : a guide to careers in the
booktrade, magazines and communications / Alison Baverstock,
Susannah Bowen and Steve Carey.
Description: Second edition. | Abingdon, Oxon ;
New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2022045752 (print) | LCCN 2022045753 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032226262 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032226286 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003273424 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Publishers and publishing–Vocational guidance.
Classification: LCC Z278 .B37 2023 (print) |
LCC Z278 (ebook) | DDC 070.5023–dc23/eng/20220927
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022045752
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/20220457
ISBN: 978-​1-​032-​22626-​2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-​1-​032-​22628-​6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-​1-​003-​27342-​4 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/​9781003273424
Typeset in Bembo
by Newgen Publishing UK
CONTENTS

Foreword: On Books  vii

Kate Wilson
Foreword: On Publishing Education  x
Professor Claire Squires
Foreword: On Magazines  xii
Steve Prentice
Acknowledgements  xv

Introduction  1

1 Why Publishing and Why You?  5

2 This Publishing Business  15

3 Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging in Publishing  27

4 About Book Publishing  39

5 About Journal Publishing  51

6 About Magazine Publishing  57

7 About Digital Publishing  67

8 Where Will Your Skill Set Take You?  75

vi Contents

9 What Job Is Right for You?  82

10 Study, Training and Lifelong Learning  98

11 Internships, Placements and Work Experience  109

12 How to Create a Compelling CV  121

13 How to Put Together Your Job Application  137

14 Networking and Your Personal Brand  151

15 Advertised and Non-​advertised Opportunities  163

16 Recruitment Agencies  168

17 How to Give a Great Job Interview  174

18 Referees, Job Offers and Negotiation  189

19 Working Internationally  195

20 Your Future in Publishing  198

Useful Organisations and Websites  208

Bibliography  210
Glossary of Key Publishing Terms  211
Index  216
FOREWORD: ON BOOKS
Kate Wilson, Managing Director, Nosy Crow

I wanted a job in publishing. It was a truth held to be self-​evident that it wasn’t pos-
sible to get a job in publishing. I didn’t know anyone who had anything whatsoever
to do with publishing, but I wanted to work with books. I loved books, always had
done. As a keen childhood member of the Puffin Club, I had noticed that legendary
Puffin editor, Kaye Webb, had the same initials as me, and, frankly, I felt it was a sign
that I too could work in publishing.
After university, jobless, I spent a few months at my local further education
college learning to touch-​type on an unforgiving electric typewriter with the
letters on the keys whited out with Tippex as I had never before used a keyboard
(I know), learning shorthand (never, ever used), learning audio typing (where you
typed letters dictated by someone else from the words on a mini cassette tape played
on a machine operated with foot pedals) and learning basic computing on a com-
puter with green letters and numbers on a black screen.
I spent hours in my local library, researching publishers, by which I mean looking
at the spines of books, and then looking up the publishers in the Writer’s and Artist’s
Yearbook to find their postal address. Now, with this wise and information-​packed
book in your hand, and so much up-​to-​date information available on the Internet,
your job of finding a role in publishing is considerably easier. I wrote letters to
scores of them. Really, scores. Lots of my letters were ignored. I received a lot
of letters of rejection. But I got some interviews, and I would go down on the
overnight coach from Edinburgh to London and wander round London until the
time of the interview, eking out coffees in pre-​coffee-​shop-​chain cafés, eating foil-​
wrapped sandwiches from home, and then rocking up at the interview to mess up
the typing test before getting back on the overnight coach and arriving home at
pretty much the same time as the posted rejection letter from the publisher. My
typing was inadequate –​I was slow and inaccurate. I didn’t get the jobs.
viii Foreword: On Books

Finally, after several months of living with my parents and working café shifts
to fund the coach trips, I was interviewed at Faber, and, after the interview itself,
which went really well, I was asked to do the typing test, but I said (and I can’t quite
believe that I got away with it), that I would come back in a couple of weeks to do
the test. When I got off the coach in Edinburgh the following morning, I began a
14-​day marathon of copy-​typing Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth for ten hours or
more a day. A fortnight later, I was able to give Faber the good news that I’d doubled
my typing speed since I’d last seen them… and the bad news that I’d lied to them
about my typing speed when I’d first met them. They gave me the job.
Yes, I was persistent and, yes, I worked hard to develop the skills that publishers
then required, and, yes, I was honest and I made them laugh… but I am also
aware of my privilege then and now: I am white, and middle-​class and Oxbridge-​
educated and a cis-​gendered woman. I know that I looked like the kind of person
who should get a starter job in publishing in the mid-​eighties.
What, if anything, is to be learned from this ancient history? Maybe that some
things are the same: persistence plus relevant skills –​some of which may need to
be polished –​are key. Standing out, perhaps through honesty and humour but per-
haps in some other way, in an interview is helpful: if you’ve interviewed as many
people as I have, you’re looking for something distinctive that makes an impression.
But I hope that some things are different. I think that the candidates we look for
is changing. We want people with a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives.
For example, we know that over a third of children in UK primary schools are
not white children, and we want people to help us to create books that provide
authentic mirrors for those children, and authentic windows into those children’s
experience for white children.We want people whose sexuality and gender identity
make them sensitive to assumptions some of us might bring to family structures.We
want people who will help us respectfully and accurately represent children with
disabilities. In short, we want a range of opinions and perspectives to enable us to
make new kinds of books and engage with new audiences.
My first job in publishing was basically audio-​typing and photocopying, nei-
ther of them skills with much relevance to my own work today, or to the work of
people starting at Nosy Crow. But I had to learn new skills with every new job, and
within every new job. I had to be flexible and open right from the start: like lots
of people, I wanted to be an editor, but the job I got was in the rights department.
What I learned there –​from the way that the value of a publisher is essentially based
on the copyright it controls, through the differences between markets around the
world and how to negotiate, to how to ‘decode’ organisations and their politics –​is
the basis of everything I do now. I didn’t want a job in rights, but I was open to it,
and rights work is the spine that runs through my career.
And the learning and flexibility never stops: I would say that I learnt more
through the pandemic –​how to run a company when everyone was working from
home, how to manage my own anxieties and those of others, how to publish when
bookshops are closed and there are no international book fairs –​than at any point
in the previous three decades.
 Foreword: On Books ix

Publishing, and the processes in publishing, have changed hugely during

my decades working in it, and each year, it seems to me, change is accelerating.
Communication by letter becomes communication by telex becomes communica-
tion by fax becomes communication by email becomes communication by Zoom.
Xeroxing becomes photocopying becomes PDFs sent digitally. Facebook becomes
Twitter becomes Instagram becomes TikTok. And in the middle of this constant roil
of communication change, it has seemed that the book, the printed book, might
become, exclusively, the e-​book, or the audiobook, or the app… except that, so
far, hasn’t. The brilliant engaging book apps that we, among other publishers made
for half a decade didn’t work financially, and e-​books, audio and print books have
achieved a sort of equilibrium. In the world of children’s books in particular, the
resilience of the print book is remarkable.
When I was fired from a big job in publishing more than a decade ago,
I considered, for a moment, finding a job outside the industry. But publishing has
become such a huge part of my life that the pull back was too strong to resist, and,
because I thought no-​one would give me a job, I made one for myself by founding
a publishing company. The unique blend of the commercial and the creative that
I find in publishing inspires me daily. Every book is a risk and an adventure –​the
making of it, the marketing of it and the selling of it.
I also feel that what I do, what we do as a business, is worthwhile. I believe that
the books we publish for children are deeply imbued with important social and
ethical values –​about caring for the world and caring for each other –​whether
they’re stories or non-​fiction.The books that I read as a child have shaped my mind,
and I recognise that it is a privilege to be allowed, through parents and carers and
librarians and teachers, the power to shape children’s minds.
As I write this, Dame Sharon White, chair of the John Lewis partnership, has said
that over-​fifties opting out of working post-​pandemic is fuelling wage,1 and there-
fore general, inflation (though it means there’s more room for you…) and I think of
my friends –​lawyers, consultants, teachers, TV executives and civil servants –​who
are the same age as me and who have made the decision to stop work. I nod, when
they tell me that they are sick of the work they do, but I don’t understand that
feeling. I feel sad for them that they didn’t find a world as challenging and amusing
and friendly and fulfilling as publishing in which to spend decades of their life. I did.
I was lucky. I hope you will be too.
Kate Wilson, Nosy Crow nosycrow.com

Note
1 John Lewis boss: Over-​50s quitting the workforce fuels inflation, BBC 9 August 2022.
FOREWORD: ON PUBLISHING
EDUCATION
Professor Claire Squires, Director of the Stirling Centre for
International Publishing and Communication, University of
Stirling and Chair, Association for Publishing Education

Publishing is one of those industries about which many myths exist. Perhaps this
makes sense, as one of publishing’s key outputs is storytelling; the intellectual prop-
erty that underpins other creative economy sectors, including film, TV and theatre.
Publishing has a certain cachet, a sense of glamour, and an abiding pull to work in
roles which lead to the production of books, magazines, journals and related digital
products. But when individuals try to get into that industry, those myths –​and the
perpetuation of them in reality –​can lead to exploitation, and create barriers for
full and equal access to publishing careers. Unpaid work experience is one example;
another is informal routes into industry, which both create and exacerbate the
publishing work force’s skewed demographics, which for too long have remained
overwhelmingly white and privileged.
Books such as this one, then, make important interventions in debunking myths
and clarifying access routes to industry. Through comprehensible explanations
of market sectors, publishing is laid out in this volume as a complex but vibrant
industry, which offers distinct types of job roles, entry points and experiences. ‘How
to Get a Job in Publishing’ is broken down in simple ways that demystify the
industry, while still retaining a sense of excitement about the potential for what it
can offer its workers: satisfying and intellectually stimulating careers, multi-​faceted
and team-​based challenges, and the opportunity to work with that all important
intellectual property, be it the latest Booker-​prize winner, world-​saving research
into vaccines or content created around a TikTok sensation –​and a host of other
possibilities.
My own publishing-​adjacent sector –​university courses which offer profession-
ally oriented publishing education as a career route –​forms part of How to Get a
Job in Publishing’s overview, and sets out to perform a similar function as the book.
This function is to give real insight into the varying aspects of the industry, to offer
guidance, and to develop skills, knowledge and capabilities. Part of this function is
 Foreword: On Publishing Education xi

also –​as far as I’m concerned –​to encourage a critical reflection on the industry
and your potential place within it. Debunking myths is one thing, but what should
we collectively be doing to make publishing a fairer, more equitable, more environ-
mentally sustainable place –​at the same time as understanding and working within
its economic constraints? I no longer work directly within the publishing industry
myself, but educating future publishers makes this an ongoing question for me, and
also means that researching aspects of the functions of the publishing industry –​and
its associated book cultures –​is similarly imperative an undertaking. As well as the
publishing industry itself, what are the broader impacts and affordances of cultures
created around it and by it? I’ve got big faith in new entrants to the industry –​those
of you picking up and reading this book –​in responding to these questions while
you find your own career path, and even making the future pathways of those who
follow behind you well signposted.
For publishing can be a bit of an establishment industry, and –​as with the
authors of this book and their informative, helpful advice –​I’m concerned that
we open it out and make publishing welcoming and available to all. As part of that,
it’s important that we recognise that even once you’ve made your way into the
industry, inequities can continue. As one of the industry workers who contributed
quotations to this volume comments, ‘join a union if there is one.’ I’d add, work
together with colleagues if not to establish one.
My words might seem a slightly negative start to a book which sets out to help
you get a job in publishing. But as the multiple quotations from individuals working
in publishing collected within this book evidence, publishers share an infectious
enthusiasm for the industry and its products. And it’s actually for this reason that
I emphasise some of the socio-​political challenges confronting publishing –​it’s a
vital industry, still very much at the heart of knowledge creation, information, cul-
ture and entertainment –​and it’s therefore crucial that potential entrants to it are
encouraged, helped and offered pathways to successful and fulfilling careers within
it. How to Get a Job in Publishing contributes substantially to this career guidance –​
read it with attention.
Professor Claire Squires, Stirling Centre for International
Publishing and Communication, publishing.stir.ac.uk
FOREWORD: ON MAGAZINES
Steve Prentice, Group Managing Director, Special Interest
Group, Bauer Media

My first job in publishing was aged 19, after achieving a couple of very hum-
drum A-​level results, as a trainee reporter on the Peterborough Evening Standard.
Salary: £4,800 per year, straight in at the deep end learning how to be a journalist
by covering police calls, births, marriages and deaths, livestock prices and every-
thing in between.
After about six months following a qualified journalist around, I was finally
allowed to write something for the free weekly paper (published every Thursday).
Plus, I got to drive to jobs in a white Mini pool-​car with the newspaper’s name
emblazoned on the sides of the car… not so great when covering Fourth Division
away games at Hartlepool, Rochdale and Burnley, believe me.
But what a job! While my friends were bored senseless working in banks,
insurers and engineering firms I was having a ball. The excitement of working to
deadlines, the variety of the stories, the playing a part in making something every
week as I filed my stories to be sub-​edited, headlines written, the words turned into
real printed letters stuck to a camera-​ready page with melted wax (yes really) and
then sent to the printing press (owned by the same newspaper company).The smell
of the ink, the sound of the machinery, the anticipation of pulling an early copy
off the press, basking in seeing your name in print. And starting with a completely
blank page the next issue.
I’m now a group managing director for Bauer –​the ‘monster’ publisher
mentioned in Chapter 6. I have worked on evening newspapers, national newspapers,
magazines and websites, as an editor and publisher for three of the largest UK
publishers: Emap,Time Inc and Bauer, from titles like Classic Cars to Country Life to
Horse & Hound to Today’s Golfer to cyclingweekly.com. And through all those years,
navigating all those roles, from journalist to ‘senior management,’ I can honestly say
it’s still a blast and a great career choice.
 Foreword: On Magazines xiii

I still get a buzz seeing the latest issues arrive and love the almost instant data-​
driven reaction when a piece of digital content hits the spot. As I write this I can
see a huddle of three videographers, not long out of university, putting together the
latest video road test for the MotorCycle News website… publishing has come a long
way from starting a career on free newspapers.
As an industry we are going through an intense period of change as digital con-
sumption through our phones and tablets becomes ubiquitous and magazine sales
inevitably diminish. The global pandemic and the rise in energy prices means we
have to change even faster. But with this change comes opportunity.The communi-
ties our once print-​only titles serve are still in rude health. Film lovers still want to
know about the latest movies, golfers still want to shoot lower scores and equestrians
still want the inside line on three-​day eventing. Investment in technology means
we can now serve these communities on digital platforms, consuming our content
however, wherever and whenever they like.
Specialist teams of journalists are brilliantly placed to give readers behind-​the-​
scenes access to events such as the Open Golf Championship, British Fashion Week
and the Oscars; during the pandemic we saw an explosion in demand for craft,
gardening and walking content.
Consumers remain willing to subscribe to high-​quality content; advertisers, cru-
cially, continue to see value in accessing those readers.
This does not relate solely to special interest brands and audiences –​technology
is bringing together readers and advertisers across the board and publishers who
do this brilliantly are thriving in news, mass-​market, premium and business-​to-​
business sectors. As an industry we are developing engaging new products which
are generating revenue from content, playing a key role in recommending the best
products for consumers to buy, launching events, streams of video and TV con-
tent, paid-​for newsletters and becoming major players in new territories such as
the United States. The multi-​channel publishing world is more complex than ever,
driven by technology platforms and the digitisation of content. The huge hype
surrounding Wordle, and its subsequent acquisition by the New York Times, was a
brilliant example of how technology is fully integrated into the publishing world.
In turn this activity has created new opportunities. We are hiring! We’re hiring
affiliate content writers, developers, project managers, sales leads, business analysts,
platform experts, product managers, proposition managers, email marketing
executives, digital publishers, paywall experts, videographers, PPC executives, data
scientists, audience development execs… The routes into publishing are more
varied than ever before.
So, I hear you ask (after all, you did buy this book) how can you land a role in
the exciting new world of publishing? This book will help you enormously, as will
your qualifications, and here’s some key advice: this industry loves a doer. Are you
prepared to roll up your sleeves and make things happen? Can you cut through
problems and provide solutions? And crucially, how can you evidence of this at CV
and interview stage?
xiv Foreword: On Magazines

If you’re a writer, where’s your portfolio? Where have you worked over the
summer? You want to be a social media marketer? Show us your Instagram feed!
Better still, show us the Instagram feed you created for the charity you worked at
last summer! What did you do over and above your degree course that shows your
versatility? Playing roles in university societies, groups, the content and subject of
your sixth-​form EPQ, and your volunteering history are all great things to show
your willingness to get stuck in. This will always trump a candidate with the best
degree at the best university but no real-​world experience. Qualifications get you
through the door, but the winning interview is the one where you can show what
steps you have already taken.
The world of publishing is no doubt challenging. There are easier industries
to join (although after recent world events that is arguable) and it (probably)
won’t make you rich. But it’s fascinating, vibrant and highly creative, and perhaps
one of the few industries where communication, creativity and business come
together on an industrial scale. It’s come a long way from covering Peterborough
United v Rochdale on a freezing Monday night. And I still love every single
minute of it.
Steve Prentice, Bauer Media UK bauermedia.co.uk
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Alison would like to thank her family, students and colleagues at Kingston University
and many publishing friends. Above all, she is appreciative of having worked in a
really fascinating and utterly worthwhile industry for most of her life.
Susannah thanks her dear family –​Rik, Leo, Max and Isolda.You have been beside
me while I worked on this book, providing endless cups of tea and encouragement.
Steve thanks his darling wife Helen, who puts up with him going missing for
hours on end: sometimes this is what he has been doing.:
As a team we think we have embodied many of the good practices outlined
within this book. We have worked as a team, mentored each other through indi-
vidual professional and personal blockages (the value of mentoring is not just for
the young) and combined our experience. Somehow, and as with our first edition,
working in different time-​zones has provided an added spur to making the most of
our online meetings –​and getting things done by the next one.

General Thanks

It’s an honour to introduce this amazing industry to those thinking about where
they might like to start their career, both through this book and through our
teaching. Our thanks to students from Kingston University and the University of
Melbourne –​we love seeing how you are thriving as publishers, marketers, writers,
editors, artists, bloggers and more.
We thank friends we’ve worked with near and far, mentors and colleagues, and
those who have contributed comments and ideas including: Alex (where there’s no
surname the contributor has asked for it not to be used), Alicia Cohen, Alison Lawson,
Allison McMullin, Amanda Cheung, Amy Flower, Andy Jones, Anna, Anna O’Brien,
Anthony Forbes Watson, Averill Chase, Beth Driscoll, Camha Pham, Caroline
newgenprepdf

xvi Acknowledgements

Prodger, Charles Nettleton, Christie Davies, Claire Squires, Clare Somerville,

Clint, Dave Atkinson, David Taylor, Deborah Wyatt, Emma Smith, Emma Tait,
Fiona Hammond, the FNPOC Network, Grace Lucas-​Pennington, Greg Ingham,
Hannah McKeating, Heather Benn, Helen Fraser, Helen O’Dare, Hella Ibrahim,
Ian Evenden, Jack Baverstock, Jackie Harbor, Jackie Wise, Jan Goodey, Jessica, John
Peacock, Julia Moffat, Kate, Kate Fleming, Kate Wilson, Keiran Rogers, Kirsty Hine,
Laura Summers, Lisa Coley, Lucy Bingle, Malcolm Neil, Mark Barratt, Mark Davis,
Mark Seebeck, Martin Neild, Michael Cahill, Michael Hanrahan, Michiel Kolman,
Nick Hemburrow, Paul Watt, Rachael McDiarmid, Radhiah Chowdhury, Rich
Pelley, Ruth Jelley, Rob Pegley, Robert McKay, Sarah Cassie, Sarah Porter, Simon
Bradley, Sophie Langer, Starr Jamieson, Stefanie Di Trocchio, Stephanie Carey, Steve
King, Stuart Jones, Suzie Dooré, Tim Coronel and Travis Godfredson.
INTRODUCTION

When you first tell people you want to work in publishing, magazines or the
booktrade, you’re virtually guaranteed to hear this: get real. It’s practically impossible to
get into, and you’ve got no chance. Or perhaps, more politely, Oh! Um. Good luck. Often
you’re told that, in any case, even if you could, there’s no point: computers are taking
over and the book is dead.
Are they right? Well, yes, jobs in publishing are highly sought after. And yes, the
industry is changing.
What they don’t know is this: you have this book. We know publishing. We
know how the industry works, and when you’ve read this book, you’ll have a
vastly better idea too, giving you a keen edge over those who don’t. We know what
employers look for, what various roles involve, what it takes to succeed.
The future of publishing belongs to you and to people like you: young, born
digital, not soaked in decades of assumptions about how things should be done and
what people want.
So despite this avalanche of negativity, we maintain if you really, really want to,
you can make it, and that it’s worth the effort to find a place within the world of
publishing.

Why is the publishing industry a compelling place to work?

Publishing is a fascinating area of employment –​with a life-​long relevance. The
skills you develop as a publisher will prove useful to you in all aspects of your future
development, from how to lay out a programme for an important event to the
random general knowledge you acquire while involved in the industry.
As a publisher you are dealing with what interests people, or what they need
to know; the information they find personally or professionally useful. This places
publishers at the forefront of ideas and developing areas of understanding. What

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2 Introduction

they commission may take many different forms –​with both current models and
new options to come. Publishers look for experts who can distil thinking around a
new topic that needs to be understood; they commission material that resonates for
children, their parents and carers; they seek spot writers whose work nails an issue
within today’s society –​and may become emblematic of widespread empathy. This
is important work.

How can you spot the role of the publisher?

One of the reasons publishing is hard to understand as a career is that it can be dif-
ficult to locate. A well-​managed book or publication can appear both self-​standing
and self-​contained, as if it always had to be that way –​belying the careful attention
that has gone into its presentation.
Yet the more you understand about how information is presented, the more
you appreciate that a publisher’s role is a precious thing, offering an intersection
between user and content, a means of accessing and absorbing content that is so
ingrained, we cease to notice it:

That interface has evolved, but in some ways it has remained remarkably
consistent. I quote Martial in the 1st century of the Christian era, saying
how books were more convenient than scrolls because you could hold them
with one hand. ...The basic technology hasn’t changed in 2,000 years.There’s
been a lot of discussion about e-​books and how they would either kill off the
book or develop into fascinating multimedia objects, but actually neither of
these things have happened. Kindles are like books in format and size and in
what they want to do. They haven’t revolutionised the interface. They want
to be books.
Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies, Oxford University1

The publisher’s role as central within society

Predictions of the end of the book, and so presumably the end of the role of the
publisher, are premature. Publishers are creating an end product that has a value to
people; that others will respond to and want to own, borrow, steal, absorb –​and
often display.
During the lockdowns that were the international consequence of the pan-
demic, people turned to reading, and many publishers had their best ever year.
E-​book sales boomed but so did physical books, a time-​filler that kept people
connected, prompted links with wider society –​and fuelled happiness levels
through the receipt of parcels.
This was also a time of immense political change, with the ongoing need for
reports, publications and campaigns that sought to present ideas and convince
others. Here too, publishing was of central importance. Every legislative change
 Introduction 3

proposed needed accompanying documentation, reports, correspondence –​and

often challenge, and the role of the publisher was central to the process.

The metamorphosis achieved by publishing

The power of the publisher lies in taking the raw materials of thought and shaping
them into formats that others can access.
The raw materials of the publisher are often abstract: ideas and interests made
concrete through their translation into words and images on which further devel-
opment can be built. But it is the publishers who do the assembling; building
starting points into formats that others recognise and which can be sold through
mechanisms that exist –​or can be created.
It follows that the sheer plasticity of the role of publisher needs isolating and
understanding. When material becomes famous, and everyone assumes it was ever
so, then archives offer important access to the process by which it met its wider
world. The lyrics to a famous song scribbled on the back of a birthday card; the
first draft of a text that shows the author’s first idea was really close (or not) to what
finally appeared in print.
The role of the publisher is to take what is circulating, whether in the format
of conversations, ideas or stories, and turn this (maybe with the addition or more
material) into a format that can be shared.This is a dynamic and fascinating process.
And this role is changing. As society seeks to become more inclusive and to
reach all, the need for understanding across different interests and societal groups,
and their wider representation, often falls to the publisher. The industry is at the
forefront of recording what matters to society –​and reflecting these values back
through delivering relevant content.

The community is appealing

Book people tend to be pleasant people, those who can get excited by an idea and
sufficiently generous to work in teams towards its delivery.

We all love books. We can all –​even scared kids from the country –​find our
family, and I think that is what brings us together. We find people who get
us. Find people who get excited about the written world. Share your passion.
Helen O’Dare, author and publishing maven, Australia

What does this book cover?

We started out thinking about publishing –​books, journals and magazines. All
of those are mixed media; print and digital, digital and print. We look at online
and digital-​first publishing, trade, educational and professional publishing, journal
publishers and aggregators, and touch on communications, journalism and the
4 Introduction

wider booktrade including booksellers, both traditional and those reaching markets
through other retail channels and new routes to market.

Who are we to comment?

So, a word of introduction to your team of authors. Each of us is a hugely experienced
practitioner; we have been senior managers in publishing and the booktrade,
media/​journalism and researchers and commentators on the industry –​as well as
the wider creative economy.We are actively involved in teaching publishing to new
generations. When asked to talk about these industries we found we were con-
stantly asked about the practicalities of approaching the employment market. How
can people get a job –​particularly new starters and those early in their careers? The
first edition of this book was our response.
We continue to see massive changes in the environment of work and education.
Training and development are now largely devolved to the responsibility of the
individual, rather than being the responsibility of the employer once you have that
job. Individuals wanting to consider publishing feel pressure to study for master’s
degrees and to undertake industry placements and internships at their own expense,
before making job applications.
The search for staff is also becoming more varied and the value of a diverse work-
force is more widely understood. There is less of an assumption that an individual
from the ‘right’ college or school automatically makes the best future employee.
But employers need help in being guided towards those whose life experience
has been different, and who offer comparable, diverse or superior perspectives that
would make them useful employees, with guidance on the transferability of that
experience.
It follows that nurturing your career is vital. You are both your own project
and your own best advocate, and you need to resource yourself with a sufficient
understanding of the market and the individuals you are asking to invest in you to
make the right impression. We hope this second edition of our established classic
text will help you do just that.
In conclusion, there has never been a better time to become –​and remain –​a
publisher. We hope to continue to show you how.

Note
1 Books do extraordinary work, but we can overstate their importance, Guardian 30 April 2022.
1
WHY PUBLISHING AND WHY YOU?

Why this book got written

Luck and chance and happenstance play an enormous part in creating life’s
opportunities, whether professional or social. So open your life and give
yourself every chance for opportunities to develop... you just never know.
John Peacock, former Group Production Director, Macmillan, UK

Remember that publishing is normally a commercial endeavour, involving

producing and selling for money. It is not an academic or lifestyle extension.
Robert McKay, Director, Dunedin Academic Press, UK

Keep going! If you are sure you want to get into publishing and you think
you can do it, it might take you months and months and months.You might
be on the dole, living in your parents’ house. It might take luck, and you may
need help from family and friends with connections or other ways to help. It
may take hundreds of applications.
Stephanie Carey, Associate Commissioning Editor Joffe Books (London)

We wrote this book to do two things: to help you decide whether you want to
work in publishing; and if you do, to help you get a job.
There are three of us: Alison based in the United Kingdom, Susannah (Australia
then United Kingdom then Australia) and Steve (previously United Kingdom, now
Australia) –​three guides for the price of one (you’re welcome). We all love this
industry, have enjoyed working within it for many years, and want to demon-
strate why publishing can offer such an enjoyable career. Between us we’ve worked
in every kind of publishing houses in many different countries, and numerous
published products, from magazines, books and newspapers to blogs and websites;
and as we’ve researched this book we have consulted hundreds of people. So what
DOI: 10.4324/9781003273424-2
6 Why Publishing and Why You?

you’re about to read is broad –​and internationally based, and applies across different
types of publishing and cultural settings.

What this book is not

It may not be wise to hold out too long for your dream job. Be prepared to
get into the industry through other routes and be open to considering sectors
or roles which aren’t your first choice. Much of your experience is transfer-
able, so you can bank some skills whilst you wait for other opportunities to
come up. You may even find, as I did, that your aptitudes and interests align
in unexpected ways –​I didn’t think I’d stay in educational publishing but it
proved to be a great fit for me.
Caroline Prodger, Freelance Publisher, UK

Buying this book doesn’t guarantee you a job in publishing. Even if it did, however
well you prepare, however often you read it from cover to cover, you just won’t
enjoy working in it unless you’re inspired and excited by ideas, able to take leaps
of imagination and think about doing things differently. Publishing is an entrepre-
neurial profession; it needs people interested in ideas and willing to think about
what excites consumers, why and how –​and to keep on doing so.
Having made this key point, let’s give you ten good reasons to work in publishing.
Read them and see whether this is the industry for you.

Ten great things about working in publishing

1. You get to work with products you like
Book people love books. Later we explain why it’s not a good idea to say you love
books in an interview (really!), but for now, just between ourselves, we feel free to
say that a genuine passion for the medium of books or words, reading and con-
tent and a love of browsing bookshops –​is a great starting point for any potential
employee.
In the world of magazines it may be the subject matter that draws you in. But
whether you are working on books, magazines or digital content, you must be
prepared to be interested in whatever you are allocated to.

I can remember the format of almost every book I have enjoyed; I like their
feel, their smell and heaviness –​and I feel slightly panicky if I suddenly realise
that I have time available, and nothing to read. I can still remember spending
my first book token, and using it for a boxed set of Paddington Bear books. I
read Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles as a homesick sixteen-​year old, exiled to
France on an exchange, and was utterly engrossed. I never throw my books
away, but regard them as the most important kind of decoration –​indeed the
first thing I do on going into a new home is to look at the books on display.
Alison
 Why Publishing and Why You? 7

Reading has always been my thing, and I’m thrilled to have built a career and
a life around words –​as a reader, a writer, a podcaster, a marketer, a publishing
professional. Books were my first friends and I expect them to be my last
companions.
Susannah

Reading was just about all I used to do as a young teenager (it still is). I
worked in my dad’s fruit and veg shop, and he used to find a shop full of
unserved customers, with me engrossed in reading the newspaper we used
to wrap stuff in.
Steve

To each of us, it’s a huge bonus to be able to work with a product we value and
respect so much, and all of us feel proud to say what we do when asked.

2. You work on products that really matter to the world

Books stand for something. Most aspiring politicians (and, incidentally, eventual
dictators) at some stage package their ideas between two covers rather than rely on
dissemination through articles in the press or media interviews. Books displayed
within the home or office have a representational value.

My father’s tatty collection of 1950s Penguins and Pelicans was a statement of

his interest in ideas and a rejection of the burgeoning consumerism around
him; to him they represented a more idealistic world, and ambition. I can
remember clearly how as a first-​year university student I self-​consciously lay
about the house reading Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying during a claustrophobic
family Christmas. –​
Alison

The immediacy of publishing still grabs me. In particular, the power of the
printed word is still glamorous and magical.You put a magazine together, and
then a couple of weeks later you go into the local newsagent and there it is
on the shelf –​wow! And the thrill of seeing your own words in a book (this
is getting a bit meta, isn’t it?) has never worn off.
Steve

3. You get to participate in your culture

There is always more material seeking a publisher than there is the capacity to
manage, store or sell. It follows that what finally does get published has made it
through rounds of analysis and meetings. So what appears tends to be the most
interesting, most researched, most innovative, the most quoted or the product of
the hottest trends. This is fascinating. Publishers tend to know who are the key fig-
ures within society, the disruptors and the motivators –​in business, government,
8 Why Publishing and Why You?

the charitable sector and the media; whose star is rising and whose falling, and that
is interesting information. Feeling ‘current’ is a satisfying reason in itself for being
in publishing.

4. You’re making something you’re proud of –​and can hold

In the beginning, knowing what you want to do is a big challenge. I encourage
everyone to learn a little about everything and a lot about one thing that
really engages you. Over time you continue to build the knowledge, skills,
and network that can help you change a job into a long and enjoyable career.
On a practical side, the nature of work in publishing is changing, with free-
lance and consultative work becoming ever more the norm. Navigating those
challenges, or rather developing the skills, as well as the confidence in navi-
gating the changing nature of publishing will become ever more important.
Michael Cahill, Senior Regional Director, National Geographic Learning,Taiwan

People love books and magazines –​the written word on paper. Just about every
book is now available as an e-​book, and in addition to e-​book readers you can read
on your phone or tablet or laptop, but people still buy print books –​for reading in
bed, in the bath, at the beach –​or to fully own something initially read as an e-​book.
Think about the concept of the ‘eternal format’; a product that achieves a basic
shape which is then tweaked and experimented with, but stays basically the same
forever. The sandwich, the flush lavatory and the Post-​It note are examples. The
basic codex is another. New publishing formats come and go all the time, but they
all approximate the look and feel of the basic codex, and indeed are judged by how
well they perform compared to the versatile functionality of print books.

Like many of us I get anxious when I don’t have something to read.

Smartphones help of course –​news, longform articles and social media all at
my fingertips. And e-​book readers are brilliant, particularly for travel –​lots
of panic downloading at the airport. I buy print books for myself whenever
I can and there’s no better gift than a book. I don’t believe that people are
either print readers OR digital readers –​I am happily both, and why not?
Susannah

5. The people are really interesting

There is no other career where you can pick up a little knowledge on so

many different things, and meet people from pop stars to politicians, from
poets to princesses.
Martin Neild, former Managing Director, Hodder and Stoughton, UK
 Why Publishing and Why You? 9

Publishing offers the opportunity to meet interesting people –​and this is not just
confined to those working within the world of celebrity publishing. Publishing
offers you the chance to meet people making a difference in the world, whatever
they write about.
One of Alison’s early jobs was with Macmillan’s medical, scientific and technical
division, and here she came across a group of doctors whose hospital received the
United Kingdom’s first AIDS patients, and hence were involved from the start in
firstly trying to identify, and later treat, the condition. Similarly, she worked with
researchers at the Royal Marsden Hospital who have since completed pioneering
work in cancer treatment.
Publishing offers endless opportunities to meet interesting people –​and the
general knowledge you pick up along the way builds your general knowledge!

6. You work with great people

A frequent comment by those who leave the publishing industry is that they miss
the people. A television producer Alison met recently, through involvement in a
series about books, commented afterwards on how nice publishing people are. As
with any industry ruthlessness, naked ambition and internal politics are in evi-
dence, and there are inevitable fallings in and out, but in general publishers are co-​
operators; eager to do a good job and get the product out on time and on budget.
Alison’s theory is that because publishing people work in teams on products that
carry someone else’s name, they are generous and collaborative. For most it’s a con-
genial world to work in.

Although I no longer work full time in publishing because I have family

commitments and am also now developing a second career as a writer, I
can honestly say that the ten years I spent in the industry as an employee
were wonderful.The money isn’t fantastic, but for me editing particularly was
an enormously enjoyable and satisfying job, and one which I still miss. The
friends I made in that time have become friends for life. As long as you are
realistic about your aims and prepared to work hard, it is a brilliant industry
to be in.
Julia Moffat, freelance editor and writer

Publishing is often mistakenly thought of a sinecure for those with a Literature or

Arts degree, but we need publishers in every area of life for which there is a need
for finalised content. In her experience, Alison comments that Linguistics graduates
make good publishers, because they are focussed on thinking about how to get a
message across, and what way of communicating is most effective. Sometimes those
with a Literature degree can be over-​convinced of the need to persuade others of
the merits of their favourite author.
10 Why Publishing and Why You?

Some take this a stage further. There are many publishing romances and
relationships.And management issues of how partners working for rival organisations
share information at home have in general been handled in a civilised fashion,
without –​as far as we are aware –​any high-​profile legal cases.
There is a wider point here: you should be careful what you say; relationships
are widely spread, and sympathies endure long after they are over. People within
the industry tend to job-​hop within publishing, rather than industry-​hop, and you
never know whom you are talking to.

7. You get a flexible, long-​term career

Publishing makes a good choice for those who want a flexible career, and perhaps
not to be office-​based all their lives. Publishing companies are often run on the basis
of slight understaffing, and there is a tradition of relying on external services and
opinions (cheaper than employing them in-​house, full time). It follows that you can
carry on feeling useful long after you officially leave. There are various roles that
combine well with having a family, or living an itinerant lifestyle, and the industry
is not as obsessed with youth as others. There is a wide understanding that you get
better at publishing as more happens to you –​as you have more empathy with a
wider group of markets. Other industries tend to assume a much greater ‘cult of
presentness’ which means that if you are not there you can’t be part of it.
What is more, the skills and competencies you acquire during a career in
publishing are useful in a wide variety of voluntary and paid employments such
as writing and editing newsletters, publicity and public relations, and managing
other sorts of publications.Your experience also gives you a less socially acceptable
legacy –​a life-​long obsession with detail: you can’t read a menu in a restaurant or
programme at an event without spotting typographical errors or examining the
production standards or choice of typeface.

I had a number of brilliant roles and would recommend the industry as a

vibrant, modern and challenging place to work. I was able to move from one
sector to another without being pigeon holed, which was great –​I worked in
education, STM, fiction, religion and academic and professional. The skillset
I acquired meant I could freelance alongside my day job so I built up a great
network of contacts and worked on a huge variety of texts, ranging from aca-
demic work about fisheries management to erotic fiction.
Alison Lawson, Head of Discipline of Marketing and Operations,
Derby Business School, University of Derby, UK

8. People think what you do is glamorous and exciting

Here’s an interesting party game. How do different professions get greeted when
they say what they do on social occasions?
 Why Publishing and Why You? 11

If you’re a dentist and mention that fact at a party, people tend to respond by
telling you they don’t like dentists. Doctors get pestered by people who want an
instant diagnosis for a pain in the knee that has been troubling them. Teachers get
told they have long holidays; ministers of religion that it must be good to only have
to work one day of the week.
Tell someone at a party that you work in publishing, and they will not wait for
you to explain that it’s selling high-​priced monographs to academics in Japan –​they
immediately conjure up a mental image of you lunching with Margaret Atwood
and scanning news websites for potential bestsellers. ‘That must be fascinating’
is the inevitable first response. Then they tell you all about the book they have
in them!

9. You’re not looked down on as ‘just in it for the money’

Publishing has become vastly more professional in recent years, and salaries have
risen in line with improved efficiency. Even so, it is still an uncertain way to make
your fortune. Profit margins are slim, and salaries in publishing tend to be lower
than might be secured by your talents and inclinations in other professions. If you
sincerely want to be rich, become a merchant banker or a lawyer. Sadly, most cre-
ative industries (journalism, arts marketing, visual arts) generally pay in the lower
salary brackets. However many think the interesting work and congenial colleagues
make up for it.

10. You get your reading cheap!

Working within publishing or for book retailers generally offers you the chance to
buy products from other publishers at trade discount (usually at least a third off), and
reading the trade press each week gives you many more ideas of what to read than
you may have had before.You will probably find yourself reading more.
This can have its downside. Family and friends are often quick to find out if you
can get a discount for them too. An awareness of your special buying status does
tend to mean that any books you give as presents are assumed to be discounted
items, even if –​as often happens to us –​you pay full price through bookshops
because you’re not well organised enough to get them ahead of time through
the trade!

What kind of person does best in publishing?

Later sections of this book talk about the particular mental –​and sometimes phys-
ical –​attributes you need to succeed in specific parts of publishing. For now, let’s
talk about the two main attributes: you need to be insatiably curious, and excited
by new ideas. The first gives you the material to work with, the second gives you
the passion to do something with that material.
12 Why Publishing and Why You?

Are you insatiably curious?

To succeed in publishing you need to be curious. Nosy might be a better
word –​or, even better, the Australian term: you need to be a stickybeak. You
are fascinated by new markets, and how and why customers buy and use their
product, and why those who don’t buy from them have not been tempted. You
can spot trends and get excited by new marketing methods, production facilities
and selling locations.You can imagine yourself subjecting your friends and family
to all kinds of product ideas, and you can listen rather than just impose your own
ideas or solutions.
A good graphic designer is constantly absorbing trends and fashions; a good
journalist or editor is able to see a story where the rest of us see none. A new maga-
zine idea can come from anywhere, and from anyone. All it takes is someone who
is passionate about something and believes there are others who share that passion.

Are you excited by the new?

To succeed in publishing, in any medium, you’re going to have to excel at
distinguishing between passing trends (which may still be profitable publishing
opportunities, if you move quickly); lasting trends (more profitable, because they
are enduring); and ‘busted flushes’ (over and no longer worth investing in).
You have to be able to spot leads; good ideas buried within unpromising
submissions and be guided by your instincts to look further. You need to com-
bine enthusiasm with realism, able to persuade others to follow you, but open
minded enough to listen to negative feedback and make the right decision. Be full
of curiosity:

Nietzsche said: ‘I like the future to be uncertain’. That’s what drives me on –​

the fact that nothing is written, that anything can happen, that life is full of
surprises. I wake up every morning thinking that maybe I will meet someone
wonderful, read an incredible text, go to a party that will end at dawn.–​
Leila Slimani, novelist1

Publishing is fascinated with ‘the ones that got away,’ ideas that were presented to
a number of publishing houses but whose merits were only spotted by one house,
and relatively late in the day. Harry Potter, for instance, was turned down by many
other more famous houses before being taken on by Bloomsbury. Stephen King
was repeatedly turned down by publishers; Lord of the Flies, Life of Pi and Twilight are
all on the list of bestsellers initially rejected.
Based on this, there is a large, and growing, strand of publishing that copies what
already exists. Many houses bring out their own versions of good sellers, or package
their books to look like what has already been successful; witness the stream of Sally
Rooney look-​alikes, or the different genres of fiction that can be judged on cover
appearance without needing to read the blurb.
 Why Publishing and Why You? 13

Copying can yield profits, and all creative industries work like this –​artists copy
each other, and journalists are more likely to believe each other (what they see
in other media) than their publicity contacts. But really good publishers can spot
a good idea that is fresh and turn it into something others want to own, read or
access. Once an idea is up and running it can look like it was always appealing; an
effective publisher can spot something in unpromising material.
For example, Piatkus Books spotted a story on the slush pile from someone who
had felt she had lived before. They engaged a ghost writer, retold the story, and the
book is now the best documented example of a previous life. In other words, they
were able to look beyond the poorly drafted first manuscript to spot an idea that
others would be interested in hearing more about. And Charles Monteith, a junior
editor at Faber, noticed that the first chapter of the manuscript of Lord of the Flies
was yellow and worn, but the rest of it was untouched. He started with Chapter 2 –​
and discovered a classic.The book was published in 1954, minus the off-​putting first
chapter, and has gone on to sell millions.
So if you are a stickybeak and can smell what’s in the air before others do, what
other qualities do you need? You need to be:

• Current.You need to be well informed and up-​to-​date. Certainly, around your

subject matter you know everything that’s going on. You also need to know
what other publishers are producing, by scanning the industry press and regu-
larly browsing bookshops.
• Well-​organised. You need attention to detail, and a good memory for names,
faces and previous examples.You also need to be good at storing information,
so it can later be retrieved.
• Tactful. You’ll be working with creatives –​indeed, you may be one your-
self. Any creative worth their salt is passionate, and often that means neurotic
and paranoid, about their own product, and they don’t care about commer-
cial constraints. Some writers are easy to deal with; some are not. Can you
encourage the genius but work around the associated difficult personality?
• Good under pressure. Publishing has an insatiable appetite for new products.
So while juggling lots of new ideas is stimulating, you’ll find you don’t have
nearly enough time or resources, and for what you’re doing to be profitable it
has to be out before it’s anything like as good as you want it to be. If you are a
perfectionist, who hates compromise, and feels bitter disappointment if some-
thing is anything less than 100% perfect, publishing could be a difficult place
to find satisfaction.
• Thick-​skinned. Everyone you know will want to be published. If you’re
writing for a magazine they’ll tell you exactly what needs to be done better
and differently, including scathing criticism of your own work. If you have the
power to commission you’ll be besieged by people who won’t take no for an
answer. If you’re in marketing, you’ll slave away for hours on a brochure, proof-
read it endlessly, proudly receive ten boxes of printed copies, only to have ten
people point out a typo on page 8.
14 Why Publishing and Why You?

• Not overly sensitive. You’ll do work for which you don’t get the credit.
Think about how that might feel. Imagine, for example, you work for a maga-
zine company and come up with a great idea for a new magazine. But the
publisher decides you don’t have the experience to edit it, and you see your
vision distorted. Or perhaps, even worse, your vision is taken on by someone
else and turned into a glorious success, for which you get minimal credit. It can
happen, and if such an experience would turn you bitter and twisted –​rather
than inspiring you to come up with another idea, and another, until you get to
be in that chair –​then think hard about potentially exposing yourself to such
treatment.

There are a few things to be aware of that could otherwise take a while to
work out: a) Publishing, and general publishing in particular, is tribal and
inward-​looking, so either be happy to play the game or work out how you
can turn your lack of these attributes to your advantage. b) The book’s been
around for a long time and growth is sluggish which means that you have to
combine geniality with high levels of competitiveness with your colleagues,
to flourish. c) Publishing is about people, not books. d) Change jobs every 3-​
5 years without fail. e) Seek out the visionaries and make the effort to work
for the best people.
Anthony Forbes Watson, former Managing director of Penguin UK

In conclusion, how does publishing sound to you now? We hope we’ve tested some
of your assumptions and perhaps made you think about how well suited you are to
it as a career.

Note
1 The Questionnaire: Leïla Slimani, FT Magazine, 6–​7 August 2022.
2
THIS PUBLISHING BUSINESS

In this chapter we introduce you to the publishing industry and the issues it faces.
You need to understand the business of publishing –​and it is, above all, a business.
You also need to have an understanding of, and to form your own views on, trends
and challenges.
Having an enthusiasm for books and/​or magazines is a good place to start,
and we assume throughout that you have that. But it’s not nearly enough: it is
what philosophers like to call a ‘necessary but not sufficient condition.’ To impress
someone considering you for a job, you need them to know that you understand
that this is a business, not just a nice place to work or somewhere to indulge your
love of reading at someone else’s expense. Feedback from those who have had
recent interviews for publishing jobs is that a common question is this: ‘Tell me
about some of the challenges facing the publishing industry.’

Never say ‘I want to be in publishing because I love books’. Of course that is

important but you need to make it clear that you understand that publishing
is a profit-​oriented business like any other, but that its appeal is that it is a
unique blend of the cultural and the commercial.
Martin Neild, former Managing Director, Hodder and Stoughton, UK

This chapter considers trends and issues that those who work within publishing are
dealing with. If they’re not interesting enough for you to want to devote your life
to them, then publishing is not for you. And it’s a good thing you find that out now,
rather than fighting to get into an industry that, honestly, you won’t enjoy.
Conversely, it’s a good sign if you have things to say about these trends, anecdotes
that relate to them, and bring your personal experience. Even better if you furi-
ously disagree with us on any of what follows. Good! That shows you’re thinking
independently and have strong views. And, if you need it, just to get you started on

DOI: 10.4324/9781003273424-3
16 This Publishing Business

the process, we present here questions with which you can challenge yourself –​and
which can serve as practice for interviews. Having a view that you can articulate
and support is far more important in an interview than being right –​and after all, if
these questions had simple, clear, correct answers you wouldn’t get them thrown at
you in your interview.They don’t tend to ask the easy ones, except to help you relax.

How can we improve diversity and inclusion within publishing?

Publishing is difficult to get into, and dominated by white people from privileged
backgrounds. Many of its entry points are invisible unless you know where to
look: informal processes, nepotism and long-​term unpaid placements mean limiting
opportunities to those with the right connections who can afford to take them.The
industry has also long been based in major urban centres, expensive to live in and
travel to, particularly if a placement is unpaid.
This is unfair, but it’s also bad for business: restrictive recruitment practices limit
a publisher’s understanding of the market. If those making choices about what
gets published come from a tiny sliver of society, and all agree with each others’
tastes and preferences, the choices they make won’t reflect the full extent of market
opportunities. And this may lead to a general failure to reach sectors of society that
may have an active interest in buying your published products –​or even the iden-
tification of opportunities for the development of new products for markets as yet
unreached or unknown.
There are initiatives to widen participation within publishing, and the situation
is changing, albeit gradually.

Everyone has to start somewhere! Publishing is as a whole a friendly industry –​

most people are willing to engage and help junior staff. It is becoming more
inclusive and diverse, and definitely isn’t as nepotistic as it once was.
Sarah Porter, Key Account Manager, publishing, UK

Questions: How varied is your own reading? How do your choices indicate that you
have a heart for understanding issues of diversity and inclusivity –​and backgrounds
other than your own? What titles/​publications have you read recently because you
need to know what others are talking about? Whose voice do you still need to hear?
See also Chapter 3, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging in Publishing.

What impact has the pandemic had on publishing?

What part should disaster planning, for all kinds of unplanned events, play in long-​
term forecasting?
The publishing industry is part of the business economy and must respond to
local, national and international trends as they arise. Some they can seek to influ-
ence (e.g. making customers aware of how environmental friendly their products
are), others are entirely beyond their control (e.g. weather, wars and infections).
 This Publishing Business 17

Publishing had a good pandemic. Books sell well during economic difficul-
ties. They are perceived as a treat, are relatively low in price and excellent value
for money (how many hours’ pleasure will you get from a good book versus a
good movie?), and throughout history, low-​ cost treats have done well during
major conflicts and other cataclysmic events. Many people had more time to read
during the pandemic and enjoyed the experience. As a result, publishers who could
manage delivery, regularly reported best ever financial results during the peak of
the pandemic.
But this has brought other significant long-​term difficulties. Retail outlets have
had a tough time, and bookshops that were not able to offer delivery as part of their
service have found their businesses, and customer relationships, under immense
pressure.
We could take education as an example. Many schools were closed during
the pandemic, and education was largely online and home-​based. This led to
the identification of some major social inequalities; those without online access
and room to learn at home were seriously disadvantaged. Some educational
publishers sought to fill the gap and provide free resources to schools without
the means to purchase, but then found they reaped a longer-​term benefit, when
schools opened again and teachers had money to spend. Resources for sale to
parents at home who could afford them did well –​and in the first weeks of lock-
down, some of the bestselling titles were those bought by home-​educators. But
this advantaged children whose parents were able to order online, or had books
at home already. As a direct consequence, in the United Kingdom the National
Literacy Trust encouraged publishers to donate books, which could be added
to the food/​supply parcels being circulated to those without means. Presenting
books as life essentials in this way may positively affect how they are perceived
longer term.
Publishing is necessarily optimistic –​you’re throwing books out there and
hoping people catch them and develop an appetite for more. And that’s all the more
reason to spend time considering what happens when things go wrong. Disasters
can create opportunities, so that, for example, you might be able to re-​market a
backlist title suddenly made relevant due to a particular situation in society –​or just
the enduring truths of the human condition described.

Question: Give an example of a book you have read, or are aware of, that gave you
insight into a political or societal situation that subsequently really happened.

Do we still need publishers?

What implications does the rise of self-​publishing have for the traditional industry?
Long dismissed rather snootily as the last resort of the untalented, self-​publishing
has risen significantly over the last few years. Now more usually referred to as inde-
pendent (or indy) publishing, it has empowered many authors and writing com-
munities to develop projects of personal or particularly local significance, enabled
18 This Publishing Business

traditional publishers to spot trends or products with a track record and hence
worthy of future investment –​paranormal romance and fantasy are two notable
­examples –​and created business opportunities to sell services.
It has taken time, but finally the traditional industry, at first highly resistant to the
concept and likely value of self-​publishing, has come to realise that authors with the
gumption to self-​publish may be demonstrating the kind of proactivity publishers
can use.
At the same time, anyone who has gone down the self-​publishing route, and the
easy availability of services to support it, has gained a newfound respect for the role
of the editor, up to now largely invisible!

Question: Update yourself on current trends in independent publishing. Can you

name some well-​known self-​published authors or titles that have impacted on the
industry?

Is print dead?
Forget publishing, so goes the common wisdom: print is dead.
Tosh. The term ‘publishing’ itself comes from making public: publishers develop
information and entertainment (‘content’) into whatever format people find it
attractive to purchase, use and share. And there are so many ways content can be
shared now: books, in a variety of formats; print magazines; websites; television and
film; blogs and social media, podcasts, bite-​sized video snippets… This is the ‘Age
of also’: there’s no one way to present anything. The most useful attitude for you to
approach all this is flexible curiosity.
One of the first decisions a publisher must make is the format in which to
present material. But print is no longer the only, or even necessarily the best, first
option. Instead, a publisher must think first of the customers and readers, and then
work backwards to understand what medium or, more likely, media best serves that
market –​and therefore makes most money for the publisher, so you can build on
the success and either develop more for the same market and fund other options.
As a consequence of this research, you may decide to publish an e-​book first, to
build your audience; then a paperback if interest builds. Or maybe an online news-
letter becomes a seasonal limited edition hardback.
And here’s a question: what is reading anyway? Have you ‘read’ a book if you heard
it as an audiobook? What counts as reading a magazine, when hardly anyone ever
ploughs through it from front cover to back? Does it count as reading a newspaper
if you access a tiny fraction of it online? Publishing has always thrived on innovation
and new technology, yet our basic concepts and terminology remain remarkably
stable.

Questions: Have you ever ‘read’ a book again, in a different format (e.g. as an audio-
book or seen an adaptation on stage)? What was the significance of your second or
subsequent experience? Did you see the story in a new way?
 This Publishing Business 19

Will the consolidation of publishing organisations continue?

Where will it end?
Consolidation is most definitely A Thing, not only for publishers but for retailers,
information providers and, arguably, even for authors. Big firms buy up smaller ones
to achieve economies of scale –​not only because the cost of books and magazines
are stable (or falling) and customers have other options on which to spend their
money, but also because companies are under incessant pressure from shareholders
to increase profits. If you can’t satisfy shareholders with organic growth –​and
in a flat market that’s really tough –​then another way to grow is to purchase
other publishers. This may not be profitable in the long term –​melding business
approaches and staff is notoriously difficult –​but it’ll keep your shareholders off
your back. It shows you’re taking action, likely increase turnover and, more posi-
tively, it may well introduce fresh thinking and new ideas.
And just as publishers are consolidating into fewer and bigger players, so there’s
consolidation among information providers. Firms such as Meta or Alphabet
(Google) want to be a single port of call for customers and for whatever they need
or can be persuaded to want.
Even authors are being consolidated. Books are increasingly marketed as a par-
ticular type of publication –​recognisable by the lettering on the front (raised/​foil/​
matt laminate), the size and format, and the cover and design. Authors are also rou-
tinely now forming teams and writing in partnership, so they are able to respond
to their readers’ desire for faster delivery or in-​person events, particularly within
popular series.

Questions: If you could buy one imprint, or publishing house, which would it be
and why?

What is the future for independent publishing?

On the one hand there is consolidation; on the other, the rise of the independent
publisher.
It’s not impossible to be creative and innovative if you’re a publishing giant, but
it’s harder. Arteries thicken, decisions take longer and longer, and creativity ends up
playing second fiddle to bureaucracy. A friend knew it was time to leave his large
corporation when he was asked to yet another meeting to discuss… how they might
have fewer meetings!
Creative people (‘creatives’) find all this infuriating, and given that the industry
has always attracted people who are both optimistic and free-​thinking, there is no
shortage of independent publishing firms,or those setting up to become independents.
Within these firms ideas develop, new talent grows –​and new publishing trends
flourish. In fact, the big fish know this, and often use the independents as market
research, swiping ideas, writers and talent. (Mind you, you may feel less outraged by
the injustice of all this when it’s you they come headhunting.)
20 This Publishing Business

Where is the best place to work? With a big firm comes the satisfaction of a
name others recognise, better pay and more job security (well, until the next man-
agement restructure). On the other hand, you can find yourself siloed in the par-
ticular function for which you were recruited, and isolated from understanding the
greater industry.You can become a small fish in a big pond.
Working for a small publisher you get the chance to learn about everything, to be
intimately involved in all the successes and failures –​and maybe the chance to work
on your own personal passion. Seriously consider a placement or work experience
with a small company, where you are exposed to all aspects of the industry. A small
firm relies on all hands on deck, and you can feel pleasingly needed.
As a compromise, advice that is often offered to those starting out, is to try to
work for a large organisation before taking that thinking to a smaller one, or starting
an enterprise yourself.

Question: An experience of working for a high street retailer made one of us think
they wanted to work for a small organisation, where there was less standardisation
and more reliance on individual initiative. Have you had a similar experience, and
how has this affected your thinking? Where do you sit on the line between prefer-
ring large or small organisations?

What is the role of profit within publishing?

Publishing is proud of its contribution to culture, and this is of course important.
But publishing must be profitable, too, otherwise it ceases to exist.
Shareholders, individual or institutional, invest in a commercial organisation
because they believe they will make more money than banking it. Their ambitions,
either for their own income or on behalf of their clients, drive an organisation’s pri-
orities and deadlines. This may mean that the firm is pushed beyond just producing
more and better versions of what it’s already doing. More often a more aggressive
approach is required, which can mean only one of three things: more revenue,
reduced costs –​or both.
Buying up competitors may drive revenues. But other routes to this may
include cutting standards in quality or getting more from staff on fewer resources.
A common example is reducing editorial standards by offering freelance (not in-​
house) editors a sum for the job as a whole, rather than an hourly rate. Alternatively
you could make the author commit to bearing the cost of the index or to buying
a certain number. Improved margins may come from books to which you are
uncommitted –​celebrities or politicians whose values you do not share, for
example.
This pathway may lead to working difficulties and a reduced income for you.
Longer term, there may be reputational damage for the organisation. Publishers are
known for the ideas with which they associate, and, as an employee, you are tarred
with the same brush.
 This Publishing Business 21

The pay within the publishing industry has often been its downfall.You have
to love the industry, warts and all. Do the time, develop and grow your skills,
be interested and engaging with what you do, and be patient. Your salary
increases as you move up -​assuming you want a career path? The difficult
thing these days is when people leave, often their roles aren’t replaced and
restructures take place regularly to cover the work. Are you prepared to take
on multiple roles for incremental pay increases?
Rachael McDiarmid, Director, RM Marketing Services, Australia

Question: Think now, how much does money and what it can bring (security, life-
style) matter to you?

How involved should the author be in the marketing of

their work?
The role of the author is rapidly evolving. Thirty years ago, the author typ-
ically wrote the book, and then left it to the publishing house to handle the
marketing. They were distanced from their readers because bookshops handled
the sales. Today the author must take part in the promotion of the book, not
just its writing, and often the extent of their involvement is specified in their
contract.
Some authors hate this, blaming the rise of celebrity publishing and a media
more interested in gossip than good writing. There is a suspicion among writers
that an author’s marketability (including their general attractiveness and online
connectedness) has a disproportionate influence over whether or not they get
published. Of course, it may seem obvious that a publishing house might choose
an author who is well connected and compliant; geniuses can be socially awkward
and aloof.
For authors who do get involved with their readers and the marketing of their
work, public interest can bring a whole new sense of both empowerment, and per-
haps a recognition that they hold more cards in the publisher–​author relationship
than they realised. Many move from merely contributing to the publicity process
when asked, to playing a role in shaping how the public see them –​and perhaps
employing (or asking their publishing house to employ on their behalf) their own
publicist. As the hugely popular Jodi Picoult, largely ignored by reviewers and yet
regularly at the top of bestseller lists, observes: ‘You can’t just be an author.You have
to be your own cheerleader.’

Questions: How much do you want to know about the author of books you love?
How do you feel about authors who write long introductions to their own work?
Does the text belong to us all, and therefore we make our own interpretation, or do
you find this helpful? Editors are conscious that the ‘intrusive author’ is not always
appreciated within a text. Does this make sense to you?
22 This Publishing Business

Who owns content?

Discussions around who owns what is published have got more complicated. Not
all published products begin with an author having an idea. Some may start with
the publishing house, which then looks to commission content from someone who
can write, or whose name can be associated with the content they create. In such
cases, the publisher may pay a one-​off fee for the writing and take all the profits.
This debate is particularly relevant within large corporations, where ideas that
are created by those working for the organisation belong to that organisation. For
example, in the early 1950s chemists Stewart Adams and John Nicholson worked
for Boots. They developed ibuprofen, but because they were employees, the drug
they developed belonged to Boots and not to them.
In publishing, you can see this debate taking place in universities, which have
established copyright departments and business development parks (often termed
‘business incubators’) to manage the intellectual property (‘IP’) created by those
working for them. Academics argue they should own it themselves. Along similar
lines, university marketing departments may be keen to highlight media-​friendly
research that attracts newspaper coverage and promotes the university as a whole,
which academics may fear is either dumbing down their institutional reputation or
restricting intellectual freedom to develop more complex and less media-​friendly
research
Other authors are finding self-​publishing a much more appealing way of
making their material available than working with traditional publishers. Self-​
publishing has lost its reputation as a poor second cousin and become a badge
of proactivity for identifying useful authors. Authors who have self-​published
may be useful collaborators because they know their market and can offer
proof of concept before a publisher commits. While they may appreciate pub-
lisher support with a book cover that appeals more to retailers (covers are often
the Achilles heel of self-​published titles), they may decide to retain particular
rights, which they are well suited to serve effectively (e.g. merchandising) and
bring sharp negotiating skills to discussions that publishers previously tended to
dominate.
The key issue here is disintermediation, a fundamental change in the delivery
process that raises crucial questions. Will authors exploit this development for their
own agenda? Will they, for example, dictate the number of languages their material
must be available in at the time of publication, or perhaps insist on the production
of a low-​price edition for markets too poor to buy?
The impact on publisher costs, and income, could be huge. The future publisher
needs to be vigilant, and clear about the role they play in shaping a product for a
market –​and in particular to dispel the myth, often heard among authors (who say
it with an airy wave of the hand), that all they do is ‘to press a few buttons.’

Question: Who should have the final say in how a book is presented?
 This Publishing Business 23

The identification and pursuit of niches

A strong trend in recent years has been the identification and pursuit of niches –​
groups of customers with similar needs, wants and desires who can be profitably
approached through marketing. This applies within book publishing and increas-
ingly within magazine publishing; a content provider can, by using the right vocabu-
lary and commissioning appropriate content, become the key provider within an
interest-​based group, and this can be profitable. Publishers need to appreciate and
identify rising trends and spot those who could usefully be drawn into content
creation.

Question: Can you identify examples of niches that are either newly identified and
exploited, or as yet undiscovered? What unusual interests do you have, or know
of others having, and how well served are they by published information and
associated stories?

What is the future of publishing for university students? Do we

need textbooks?
The boom in the number of students –​the massification of higher education –​has
led to changes in how education is delivered. Vastly increased numbers of students
reduce the intimacy of the teaching experience (it’s impossible to know everyone’s
name now) and means that the teacher’s insistence on a particular textbook counts
for less. And since students now are more likely to be self-​funding, and see them-
selves as consumers rather than merely absorbers of what is on offer, they’re getting
ever more demanding, and less likely to buy a textbook unless they’re convinced it’s
necessary. The plethora of freely available learning content through Massive Open
Online Courses (MOOCs),YouTube, Khan Academy and so on means increasingly
students believe materials should be available at no charge, and begrudge paying at
all for learning resources.
One direction that is picking up momentum is the creation of a web-​based
course-​specific resource, rather than expecting students to find what they need
themselves. So, for some courses the book price or course entry price now
includes an accompanying ‘learning cartridge’ of resources, and often from a var-
iety of different sources, and the whole thing attractively packaged and integrated
into the learning platform. Publishers are having to be flexible about business
models for the resources they create that match their students’ needs, preferences
and budgets.

Question: As a student (at any stage, from school to university) what formats were
your learning materials delivered in? What worked best for you in accessibility and
learning?
24 This Publishing Business

How can we better communicate the value of books?

Ever since media producers cottoned onto the idea that books and authors make
for popular –​and cheap –​airtime, there’s been a boom in book talk on the air.This
doesn’t just make interesting media: it drives sales.
TV is not the half of it. Book podcasts and book social media are booming.
Literary festivals are increasingly popular and there are many initiatives to get
whole communities talking about books. Chicago aimed to get the whole city
reading To Kill a Mockingbird, and there are widespread schemes for freshmen
at US universities to read the same book and discuss it as part of the initiation
process –​Alison set up her own at Kingston University (The KU Big Read). In
Australia the Books Alive! project goes from strength to strength. All these create
opportunities for promoting reading and selling books, and publishers have to be
up to date with what’s going on –​and push hard to make sure it’s their titles that
get included.
But it remains true that lots of people don’t read and don’t want to, and literacy
levels can remain both low and gendered. The life-​changing impact of book own-
ership and reading needs better communication.

Question: What book would you recommend that everyone read? Which book had
the biggest impact on you?

Will bookshops survive? How will we buy what publishers have

to sell in future?
Most people working in publishers were big readers as kids and grew up loving
bookshops. But the pandemic converted many consumers to buying online, taking
business away from traditional bookshops. It’s worth thinking about how pur-
chasing patterns have changed.
The modern consumer is intolerant, short of time and knows their rights.
They want access to products they choose wherever they find it convenient to
buy, and whenever that feeling strikes. Publishers need to think about how to
make this happen, and a reliance on advertising or even featuring on the book
review pages in the Sunday supplements and bookshop stocking guides is not
enough.
If you’re a publisher, there are more ways than ever for you to reach your poten-
tial customers, such as by making content available online but limiting access by a
paywall or pay-​per-​view; through streaming; through blogs and newsletters which
build an audience before offering a product that brings the previous content
together; via social media; through networking; through cross-​promotions with
magazines and TV and so on.
As tomorrow’s publisher, you need to know how to exploit these opportunities
to make your next sale. And tomorrow’s new way of reaching the consumer hasn’t
yet been invented.
 This Publishing Business 25

Questions: Where/​how have you bought a book recently and what inspired your
purchase? How quickly were you able to get your hands on what you wanted, and
did this influence where you made your purchase?

Should we judge a book by its cover?

It’s tempting to think that what really matters is what is between the covers, but
instant decisions to buy or discard are based on how something looks and feels. As
Oscar Wilde so wisely observed more than a century ago, you should always judge
a book by its cover.
In fact, you already do. As a consumer you consider hundreds, perhaps thousands,
of invitations to buy every single day. In a single trip to a bookshop or a website you
evaluate dozens of potential purchases in the blink of an eye. How can you make
these judgements so fast? By how they look –​and this usually involves making an
assessment of their cover.
And publishers are often not even lucky enough to be appealing directly to their
potential customers. For those selling through a market, for example to children or
through academics to students, the game is to appeal to a parent or academic who
can be quick to dismiss presentation as ‘patronising’ or ‘not for them.’
One of the hardest things is to develop an eye that is not your own, so that you
just know something will work for the market, even if you don’t personally find it
attractive.You don’t have to like something to have a view that it will appeal to its
potential readers.

Questions:What book covers do you admire? What trends do you see in book cover
design?

What is the future of marketing within publishing?

When we began working, commissioning editors (or ‘publishers’ as they were called)
ruled. Publishers who found authors, publishers commissioned titles they wanted
and publishers told their colleagues what they had decided. Today most firms are
driven by marketing and sales people: what sells drives what is commissioned.

Whether we like it or not, publishers do play a cultural gatekeeper role and

everyone working in the industry therefore has a responsibility to think crit-
ically about how we publish and how we could do it better.
Anon, publishing, Australia

Does this mean the quality of what is being produced is lowered, and poorer titles
are commissioned because ‘that’s what the market wants’? Do ‘better books’ get less
profile, and marketing spend, than they deserve?
This is an issue everyone within the company you work for has a strong view
on: approach with caution.You also need to work out your own position. How vital
26 This Publishing Business

is it to work on titles you believe in and feel proud of? Can you sleep at night if
you’re contributing to the lowering of standards in publishing? Or do all products
have a market, and does offering reading material in a format that resembles other
publications spark a reading habit in people otherwise untempted? Perhaps readers
should make up their own mind, and if they want what you’re offering, then that’s
up to them?

Questions: Whose book would you refuse to be associated with? And isn’t that
suppressing free speech?
In summary, if you have confident answers to these questions, then we’ve done
a poor job of explaining the issues, because these are all issues that publishers the
world over are wrestling with. They don’t have answers, so why should you? But at
least knowing that there are questions, and knowing the variety of views on each,
gives you a head start (and perhaps also a headache).
3
EQUITY, DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND
BELONGING IN PUBLISHING

In this chapter we ask you to reflect on what equity, diversity and inclusion mean
to you, however you identify and whatever experiences you have had. Maybe you
identify as LGBTIQ+​or as a person of colour, or live with a disability or difference,
or maybe you don’t but are looking to find out more about how to be the best ally
you can be, or maybe you’re not sure what all this talk about diversity means and
don’t see how it can ever be relevant to you. Whatever your situation, this chapter
is for you.

Before we start, it’s important to be clear about what we are

talking about
We talk here about equity rather than the other term sometimes used, equality.
Equality involves treating people equally, including making sure they have the same
opportunities, access and rates of remuneration. Equity is different, and involves
recognising that people don’t have an equal chance to take advantage of oppor-
tunity, and ensuring that everyone has a real chance to succeed.1 Diversity is the mix
of people in a society or workplace –​particularly in how they identify in relation
to specified attributes such as gender, sexuality, cultural identity. Inclusion is about
getting the mix of people to flourish, to feel safe, to achieve their best. Belonging
is making sure that that mix of people all get a voice, and that their insights and
contributions are valued. Media creatives Liz and Mollie put it this way: ‘Diversity
is having a seat at the table, inclusion is having a voice, and belonging is having that
voice be heard.’2
In publishing, equity, diversity and inclusion (often referred to as EDI) initiatives
support people and help create a richer, fairer workplace. Diversity of thought
creates better business decision-​making and opens opportunities that would not be
obvious within a monocultural workplace. And critically, in our society, publishing

DOI: 10.4324/9781003273424-4
28 Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging in Publishing

is a gatekeeper for ideas and information. Enabling diversity in publishing creates

better representation and widens access to books, education and information.

About publishing and belonging

The publishing industry is an amazing place to work, and there are wonderful
initiatives happening worldwide to improve diversity and inclusion. Globally, there
are increased opportunities for people from marginalised backgrounds to access
roles in publishing, including lists and publications such as Cocoa Girl and Cocoa Boy
magazines –​the United Kingdom’s first publications aimed at representing Black
children; internships, awards and support, such as HarperCollins’ Black, Asian and
Minority Ethnic (BAME) traineeship and Hachette’s practical support (office space
and warehousing) for Jacaranda Books Art Music. The UK Publishers’ Association
maintains a list of diversity initiatives on their website.3
Some people live this daily. Those of us who identify as people of colour, live
with disability, identity as LGBTIQ+​, speak English as a second language, are
neurodivergent, have non-​traditional career paths, are women or non-​binary or
trans, stand out because we are older or younger or shorter or taller or are in any
other of a multitude of ways ‘different,’ know that we operate within the working
world –​-​making compromises, pretending not to notice, deciding whether or not
to point out what we see, processing microaggressions, performing to be something
we are not.
As for those of us who don’t personally consider that we might encounter issues
of difference? We have the privilege to be able to be strong allies in our publishing
careers, supporting and advocating for fairness and equity of opportunity.
Do you think these issues do not apply to you? At some point in our lives, each
one of us will be the one who feels different, who is trying to fit in. Or we will
watch someone we care about struggle with structures of privilege and prejudice.
By thinking about these issues and committing to be the best allies we can be, we
contribute to supporting others –​and our future selves.

Publishing is not as diverse as other industries, but being on a publishing

advisory board at a UK institution has given me insight into how courses
are changing and attracting students from more diverse backgrounds, which
is positive to see, and aligning this with the Publishing Association’s efforts in
inclusivity and diversity.
Amanda Cheung, marketing, publishing, UK

So what’s the problem with an undiverse publishing industry

anyway?
Publishing as an industry is regularly presented in the popular media as a glamorous
profession –​think Sandra Bullock in The Proposal, the Manhattan location of Last
Days of Disco, Renee Zellwegger in Bridget Jones, the TV series Younger, movies as
Another random document with
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the Divine Teacher and the listener who was drinking in
such soul-absorbing truths!

Percival. Surely it was not in blind ignorance of the meaning

of what she did, that Mary brought her precious ointment to
pour on the feet of the Master! He who could read her
inmost thoughts said, "She did it for My burial." Were not
Mary's thoughts, then, something like this—

"He hath said it—alas! alas!—and all that my Lord says

must be true. The holy Jesus will be delivered into the
hands of the Gentiles. He will be mocked, scourged, and
slain. Yes, He who called my brother from the grave must
Himself die! And they who murder Him will not, perhaps,
suffer due honour to be paid to the holy corpse; I may not
be able to approach the sacred form! I will be beforehand
with Christ's cruel foes; what I may not be allowed to do
after His death, I will do ere the awful moment come when
the Lamb of God must be sacrificed for our sins. I will
anoint Him for His burial!"

Seyton. And when the sacrifice had been offered, you

believe that Mary of Bethany, unlike any of the apostles,
had faith to look beyond death to Christ's Resurrection?

Percival. There is nothing in Scripture that I know of to lead

us to doubt it. The piety of Mary of Bethany seems to have
been of a higher, a more spiritual type, than that of her
sister. It was not Mary who exclaimed against the removal
of the stone from the sepulchre's mouth. Mary perhaps saw
in the resurrection of Lazarus a type and pledge of that of
her Lord. If so, her joy must have been yet more intense
than that of Martha, even as her gratitude took a more
palpable form.
Seyton. It is interesting and refreshing to the spirit thus to
meditate over Scripture characters. What to some are
merely like ancient statues, when we gaze on them thus,
become human beings instinct with life.

Percival. And such meditation makes us realize the tie which

binds Christians of to-day to saints of the olden time; at
least, it has that effect with me. I feel almost as if those
whose forms I have attempted to depict on my canvas had
become my familiar friends. I look forward to meeting those
three Maries hereafter: perhaps that time may not be far
off.

Seyton. There are two male figures in the background of

your picture, represented as just about to enter the room.
One, the elder, appears to be struggling to retire: he is
unwilling to intrude on the sacredness of grief.

Percival. Can you not read sorrow and shame on his half-
averted face?

Seyton. His younger companion is using loving persuasion

to draw him forward: his arm is thrown around the elder,
and his face expresses compassion and love. The two
figures must represent John and Peter.

Percival. Such was the idea in my mind. Where would poor

broken-hearted Peter hide himself when, pierced by that
look of his Lord, he went forth and bitterly wept? Would he
not seek the solemn shade of the olives in the Garden of
Gethsemane, and prostrate himself on the spot where the
Master had knelt in agonized prayer? Would not Peter lay
his throbbing brow on the sod where he could trace red
signs of the bloody sweat, and try to efface them with his
hot tears?
Percival went on: How terrible to Peter must have been the
darkness which for three hours covered the earth, a sign
that the fearful deed was being done, on which the sun
could not look! He who had thrice denied his Lord dared not
go near His cross; but the disciple's anguished soul would
vividly picture its horrors. Peter must have trembled at the
shock of the earthquake which told that all was over. How
could he rise from the earth? How endure ever to look again
on the face of a fellow-apostle?

Seyton. And you have imagined John, with tender

sympathy, seeking out his erring brother in the place where
he would be most likely to find him.

Percival. And entreating Peter not to remain apart from all

his brethren; not to give way to despair: but to join those
who, like himself, were mourning their crucified Lord.

Seyton. No marvel that Peter should shrink from entering

the presence of the bereaved mother of Christ!

Percival. Mary would not turn from him; she would utter no
word of reproach: she would raise her tearful eyes, and give
the penitent Peter a look which would remind him of that
which he had last seen on the sacred face of her Son.

CHAPTER X.
The Legend of the Roman Soldier.
I HAD fastened up several of Percival's pictures on the wall
of the room which he now occupied; and in which he
received frequent visits from my aunt. On one occasion the
following conversation was held between them.

Lady Mar. Percival, I cannot take my eyes from that picture

of yours hung in the corner: it is so dramatic in
composition, so vigorous in execution. Yet I find it so
difficult to trace any connexion between it and any narrative
contained in the Bible. I understood from my nephew that
you only illustrate passages from Scripture.
Percival. Not exactly so, dear Lady Mar. The connection of
my poor fancies with the Scriptures is like that of the
mistletoe with the oak. The mistletoe is a weak little plant;
of a nature different to, and far less noble than, the tree on
which it rests: yet from that tree, it derives both
nourishment and support.

Lady Mar. And the mistletoe bears delicate white berries,

which serve to make winter brighter. But this picture before
me has red berries rather than white ones. Despondency
and attempted suicide appear to form its subject. A
powerfully-made soldier, evidently a Roman, is about to fall
on his own sword, his face expressing the despair which is
driving him on to self-destruction. Another man, a Jew, has
caught hold of his arm, evidently to prevent the warrior
from accomplishing his desperate purpose.

Lady Mar continued: "Please tell us on what branch of the

oak your parasite grows. You cannot refuse us anything this
evening, as my nephew leaves us for college to-morrow; so
to one of us, as you see, this will be the last night of
meeting for some months to come."

I thought sadly, "Possibly indeed the last meeting. Shall I

find Percival here on my return?"

"I happen to have written out my little Legend," was

Percival's reply. "If Seyton cares to read it, and you to
listen, it is quite at your service."

"Whilst my nephew reads, I will keep my eye on the

picture," said Lady Mar. "I feel a sympathy with that
stalwart Roman, who seems in such a desperate plight."
 The Legend of the Roman Soldier.

A soldier sought the silence and solitude of a forest; for the

presence of his fellow-creatures had become hateful to his
soul. The moonbeams, piercing like silver lances between
the branches, glimmered on the steel breastplate and arms
which had been borne in many a fight.

Marcus was a tried warrior, who had distinguished himself

from his comrades by feats of strength and deeds of daring.
But now all his spirit was gone: he would not have cared to
raise his powerful arm to ward off a blow; nay, he would
have welcomed the sharp steel which should cut him off
from the earth, which had become to him worse than a
prison.

"Now let me end my misery!" exclaimed Marcus. "I am a

guilty wretch not fit to live! There is only one good deed
which I can perform—use this accursed hand to avenge the
innocent blood which it shed."

Clenching his teeth with fierce resolution, Marcus fixed the

hilt of his sword firmly between the gnarled roots of a tree;
hastily unfastened his breastplate, and flung it clanging on
the earth; then nerved himself for the desperate act of
throwing himself on the point of his sharp weapon.

But at that moment, the muscular arm of the strong soldier

was seized by a Jew, who, unseen in the shade, had
watched his movements.

"Madman! In Christ's name forbear!" exclaimed the Jew.

Marcus was startled at the word. "What! Are you one of the
followers of Him who died on Calvary?" cried the soldier,
drawing back, and surveying almost with fear one whom by
a slight exertion of his giant strength, he could have dashed
to the ground. "If you be a disciple of Christ, far from
staying the execution of justice, you will slay me yourself,
and trample my blood under your feet! Take yon sword, and
strike home!"

"What hast thou done," asked the Christian, "that thou

shouldst bid me slay thee?"

"Hear, if thou wilt; for I can no longer endure to bear my

burden in silence. Hear and then strike; for I have well-
merited death from the hand of a disciple."

So saying, Marcus flung himself down on the gnarled roots,

which afforded a rude kind of seat, and signed to the Jew to
take his place on a large stone near.

Asahel, such was his name, obeyed the sign, and prepared
himself to listen.

But for some minutes only deep groans were heard from
the unhappy Roman, who seemed to shrink from beginning
his terrible confession. At last, averting his eyes, he thus
began:

"Is it not enough to say that I was one of the Prætorian

band on that day—not many moons have waxed and waned
since then—when there was darkness and an earthquake;
and the Temple curtain was rent in twain."

"What! Thou wast one of those Roman soldiers! Thou didst

mock the Blessed One, and crown Him with thorns!"

"I did not!" cried Marcus fiercely. "I was not base enough for
that. When I looked at that calm majestic Sufferer, I
thought Him more kingly in His robe of mockery, than
Pontius Pilate in all his state!"
"When I heard the yelling of the savage mob, thirsty for
blood, I said to myself, 'Were I in the place of our Governor,
those slaves might shout as they pleased, I would never
give Him up, innocent as He is, to fanatic priest or frantic
people! I would not so play the coward!'"

Asahel winced, as if some acute pain had suddenly struck

him.

"But it was my duty, my detestable office, to execute the

sentence which I thought unjust as well as cruel. I was
accustomed as a soldier to obey orders without question,
and without remorse. Hardened as I am by familiarity with
executions, without mercy or scruple I crucified one of the
wretched thieves. His yell of agony as I did my work did not
even awake a feeling of pity in my heart."

"But it was very different with me when I laid my hand—

would that lightning had blasted it!—on the hammer, and
did what I would now give my life to undo! He uttered no
groan—no curse; He submitted like a lamb in the
slaughterer's grasp. He but said—I cannot repeat what He
said."

The soldier's head sank on his broad breast, and the strong
man wept.

"Christ said, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what
they do!'" said Asahel, softly.

"I was present through all," continued the soldier, when he

had recovered his self-command, "I saw the sudden
darkness: it fell over me like a shroud! Every hour of that
fearful time convinced me the more that I was helping to
torture—to murder—One who was more than man. At last,
when I heard the faint words, 'I thirst!' I ran; and putting a
sponge filled with vinegar on a reed, I moistened the white,
parched lips of the Dying."

"Oh that I had done that!" cried the Christian Jew, bursting
into tears. "Blessed man! Thou wert the only one, then, to
relieve the Saviour's dying anguish!"

The Roman gazed in astonishment at his companion. "I

thought, O follower of Christ!" said he. "That thou wouldst
abhor me, even as I abhor mine own self."

"I am a thousandfold more guilty than thou art!" cried

Asahel. "I was one of the savage mob. It was as if under
the direct influence of Satan that I shouted even as they
did. I saw Him suffer—and I did not pity! Thou didst act
under compulsion. I—I struck Him; and yet I live!"

Marcus started to his feet with something like an

imprecation. "Wretch! Thou art beyond pardon!" he
exclaimed.

"I have found pardon!" cried the believer. "And where I

found it, so may'st thou."

Then, in a voice trembling with emotion, Asahel recounted

the wonders of the Day of Pentecost; and repeated, almost
word for word, that address of Peter, on hearing which,
three thousand sinners were pricked to the heart and
repented.

"I was one of that three thousand," said the converted Jew.
"I believed, and I was forgiven. The blood which flowed on
the cross was a full, sufficient, atonement even for guilt
such as mine."

"And will it avail even for me?" exclaimed Marcus, the first
ray of hope glimmering on the midnight of his despair.
"Did Christ not pray for thee, O brother? And art thou not
already forgiven?"

CHAPTER XI.
Asleep.
I SHALL ever remember that evening: what followed
impressed it so deeply on my mind.

Percival seemed unconscious of any one's presence; his lips

softly repeated the last word forgiven, and I thought that he
smiled.

A brief prayer closed our meeting that night: I now doubt

whether Percival heard it.
My aunt, seeing that the invalid was unusually drowsy,
hastened the preparation for his nightly rest.

In the morning. I went to Percival's room early, to bid him

good-bye ere I started for college. I knocked at his door:
there was no reply. I knocked again: still silence within. I
opened the door softly; and entering, approached his bed.

My first glance at the countenance, so white—so still—so

beautiful, told me that the spirit had fled.

"For death had come in the land of sleep;

And his lifeless body lay
Like a worn-out fetter, which the soul
Had broken and cast away!"

We had anticipated for Percival a long, slow, painful descent

to the river of death: but some chord had given way within;
he was free, and had cleared the river at a bound. I could
not have laid a detaining hand on the freed and rejoicing
spirit!

Nothing is now left, in this world, of Henry Percival—but a

modest tomb, a fragrant memory, and his little gallery of
pictures.
LONDON: MORGAN & SCOTT, 12, PATERNOSTER
BUILDINGS.
 *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PERCIVAL'S
PICTURE GALLERY ***

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