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

DOI: 10.4324/9781003273424-1
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
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
POSITIVES, COMPARATIVES, SUPERLATIVES.

239.
Pos., A pronoun; Com., A period of time; Sup., Fermenting froth.
Answer

240.
Pos., A knot of ribbon; Com., An animal; Sup., Self-praise.
Answer

241.
Pos., A reward; Com., Dread; Sup., A festival.
Answer

242.
Pos., To reward; Com., A fruit; Sup., An adhesive mixture.
Answer

243.
Pos., A meadow; Com., An unfortunate king; Sup., The smallest.
Answer
 244.

Pos., In a regular line;

Com., With an appetite fine;
Sup., ’Twill be done when we dine.

Answer

245.

Pos., Busy, noisy, and cheerful.

Com., The thought of it saddening and tearful;
Sup., Its roar and its fierce claws are fearful.

Answer

246.

Pos., The end of all time;

Com., Judge of music and rhyme;
Sup., The Orient clime.

Answer

247.

Pos., Denotes a bond or tie;

Com., In the centre it doth lie;
Sup., The billows break on it and die.
 Answer

248.
Pos., An American genius; Com., To turn out or to flow; Sup., An
office, an express, a place, a piece of timber.
Answer

249.
Pos., To depart; Com., To wound; Sup., A visible spirit.
Answer

250.

Pos., Pleasant, dreary, wet or dry;

Com., If ’tis light or heavy, try,
On your scales, before you buy;
Sup., Don’t spend money foolishly!

Answer

251.
A gentleman who had sent to a certain city for a car-load of fuel,
wrote thus to his nephew residing there:
“Dear Nephew
;
 Uncle John.”
Presently he received the following reply:
“Dear Uncle
:
James.”
Answer

252.
Why is a man up stairs, stealing, like a perfectly honorable man?
Answer

253.
Why is a ship twice as profitable as a hen?
Answer

254.
Why can you preserve fruit better by canning it, than in any other
way?
Answer

255.

Twelve kinds of things in fact, not fiction,

Behind a veil of contradiction.
 * * * * *
All dressed in silk, with stately grace,
We stand with ready ears,
And yet the sounds that greet the place
Not one among us hears.1
We’re keen and quick our holes to find
And run in lively mood,
And yet we’re footless quite and blind,
Although our eyes are good.2
Our perfect heads can’t give us sense,
Though we are naught without them;3
Our useful tongues are mere pretense—
No talk or taste about them.4
Our locks though fine can ne’er be combed;5
Our teeth can never bite;6
Our mouths from out our heads have roamed,
And oft outgrow them quite.7
Our hearts no pity have, or joy,
Yet they’re our richest worth;8
Our hands ne’er waved at girl or boy,
Or anything on earth.9
Alive are we, yet buried quite;
Our trust is in our eyes;
They help us out through darkest night,
Though sight stern fate denies.10
We sally forth when day is done,
And set the owls a-hooting,
And, though we have no bow or gun,
We often go a-shooting.11
Our souls, alas! are dull and low,
Down-trodden, from the start;
Yet who shall say, in weal or wo,
They’re not our better part?12

Answer

256.
 Within this world a creature once did dwell,
As sacred writings unto us do tell,
Who never shall be doomed to Satan’s home,
Nor unto God’s celestial Kingdom come;
Yet in him was a soul that either must
Suffer in Hell, or reign among the just.

Answer

257.
What best describes, and most impedes, a pilgrim’s progress?
Answer

258.
Why is a girl not a noun?
Answer

259.
What part of their infant tuition have old maids and old bachelors
most profited by?
Answer

260.
What is that which never asks any questions, and yet requires
many answers?
 Answer

261.
What quadrupeds are admitted to balls, operas, and dinner-
parties?
Answer

262.
If a bear were to go into a linen-draper’s shop, what would he
want?
Answer

263.
When does truth cease to be truth?
Answer

264.
How many dog-stars are there?
Answer

265.
What is worse than raining cats and dogs?
 Answer

266.
Why is O the only vowel that can be heard?
Answer

267.
Why is a man that has no children invisible?
Answer

268.
What is it which has a mouth, and never speaks; a bed, and
never sleeps?
Answer

269.
Which burns longer, a wax or sperm candle?
Answer

270.
Why is a watch like an extremely modest person?
Answer

271.

LORD MACAULAY’S LAST RIDDLE.

Let us look at it quite closely,

’Tis a very ugly word,
And one that makes me shudder
Whenever it is heard.
It mayn’t be very wicked;
It must be always bad,
And speaks of sin and suffering
Enough to make one mad.
They say it is a compound word,
And that is very true;
And, when they decompose it,
(Which, of course, they’re free to do)—
If, of the letters they take off
And sever the first three,
They leave the nine remaining
As sad as they can be:
For, though it seems to make it less,
In fact it makes it more,
For it takes the brute creation in,
Which it left out before.

Let’s try if we can mend it—

It’s possible we may,
If only we divide it
In some new-fashioned way,
Instead of three and nine, then,
Let’s make it four and eight;
You’ll say it makes no difference,
At least not very great:
But only see the consequence!
That’s all that needs be done
To change this mass of sadness
To unmitigated fun.
It clears off swords and pistols,
 Revolvers, bowie-knives,
And all the horrid weapons
By which men lose their lives;
It wakens holier feelings—
And how joyfully is heard
The native sound of gladness
Compressed into one word!

Yes! four and eight, my friends!

Let that be yours and mine,
Though all the hosts of demons
Rejoice in three and nine.

Answer

272.

A word by grammarians used in our tongue,

Of such a construction is seen,
That if, from five syllables one is removed,
No syllable then will remain.

Answer

273.

Formed long ago, yet made to-day,

I’m most in use when others sleep;
What few would like to give away,
And none would like to keep.

Answer

274.
 A lady was asked “What is Josh Billings’ real name? What do you
think of his writings?” How did she answer both questions by one
word?
Answer

275.
Why is Mr. Jones’ stock-farm, carried on by his boys, like the
focus of a burning-glass?
Answer

276.

A by <. The name of a book, and of its author.

Answer

277.
What word in the English language contains the six vowels in
alphabetical order?
Answer

278.
If the parlor fire needs replenishing, what hero of history could
you name in ordering a servant to attend to it?
 Answer

279.
My FIRST is an insect, my SECOND a quadruped, and my WHOLE
has no real existence.
Answer

280.
If the roof of the Tower of London should blow off, what two
names in English history would the uppermost rooms cry out?
Answer

281.

MY FIRST.

In the glance of the sun, when the wild birds sing,

I start in my beauty to gladden the spring;
I weep at the morning marriage, and smile
On the evening tomb, though I die the while.

MY SECOND.

I wander; I sin; though a breath may make

All my frame an effeminate nature take,
And a manly dignity that, as well,
Can of mastery and lordship tell.

MY WHOLE.
 I have startled the world to jeering and mirth,
Since that, earthly, I dared to withdraw from the earth;
But I stay, though cut off in my prime, far more
Enlivening and life-full than ever before.

Answer

282.

One hundred and one by fifty divide,

Then, if you add naught to the right or left side,
The result will be one out of nine—have you tried?

Answer

283.
I am composed of five letters. As I stand, I am a river in Virginia,
and a fraud. Beheaded, I am one of the sources of light and growth.
Beheaded again, I sustain life; again, and I am a preposition. Omit
my third, and I am a domestic animal in French, and the delight of
social intercourse in English. Transpose my first four, and I become
what may attack your head, if it is a weak one, in your efforts to find
me out.
Answer

284.

Unto a certain numeral one letter join—sad fate!

What first was solitary, you now annihilate.

Answer
 285.

My FIRST was heard to “hurtle in the sky,

When foes in conflict met in olden time”;
My SECOND none can yield without a sigh,
Though it has oft been forfeited by crime;
My WHOLE, its ancient uses gone, is found
On sunny uplands, or in forest ground.

Answer

286.

Can you tell me why

A hypocrite’s eye
Can better descry
Than you can, or I,
Upon how many toes
A pussy-cat goes?

Answer

287.

Walked on earth,
Talked on earth,
Boldly rebuked sin;
Never in Heaven,
Never in Hell,
Never can enter in.

Answer
 288.
There is a certain natural production that is neither animal,
vegetable, nor mineral; it exists from two to six feet from the surface
of the earth; it has neither length, breadth, nor substance; is neither
male nor female, though it is found between both; it is often
mentioned in the Old Testament, and strongly recommended in the
New; and it answers equally the purposes of fidelity and treachery.
Answer

289.

We are little airy creatures,

All of different voice and features:
One of us in glass is set;
One of us is found in jet;
One of us is set in tin;
One a lump of gold within:
If the last you should pursue,
It can never fly from you.

Answer

290.

My FIRST is a point, my SECOND a span;

In my WHOLE often ends the greatness of man.

Answer
 291.

Wherever English land

Touches the pebbly shore,
My FIRST lies on the sand,
Changing forevermore.
My SECOND oft, I’m told,
State secrets will hold fast,
But, to a key of gold
’Tis known to yield at last.
Fond mother, tender wife,
With agonizing soul,—
The exile, sick of life,—
Have looked and sighed my WHOLE.

Answer

292.

I begin with a thousand, I end with a hundred;

My middle’s a thousand again;
The third of all vowels, the ninth of all letters,
Take their place in the rest of the train:
My WHOLE is a thing you never should do,—
At least, you don’t like it, if tried upon you!

Answer

293.

A word which always speaks of shame

I pray you, reader, now to name:
Eleven parts my whole contains,
To guess them you must take some pains.
 Three groups there be which stand related;
The first with many a word is mated:
The second speaks of favor rare;
The third of plenty everywhere.

Cut off the first; and shameful grows

As fair as any garden rose;
Cut off the last, and lo! ’tis plain,
The word is full of shame again.

Answer

294.
The eldest of four brothers did a sound business; the second, a
smashing business; the third, a light business; and the youngest, the
most wicked business. What were they?
Answer

295.

Cut off my head, and singular I am,

Cut off my tail, and plural I appear;
Cut off both head and tail, O wondrous fact!
My middle part remains, though naught is there.

What is my head cut off? A sounding sea.

What is my tail cut off? A roaring river.
Far in the ocean’s depths I fearless play;
Giver of sweetest sounds, yet mute forever.

Answer

296.
I’m a creature most active, most useful, most known,
Of the thousands who daily perambulate town.
Take from me one letter, and still you will see
I’m the same as I was; just the same, to a T.
Take two letters from me, take three, or take four,
And still I remain just the same as before:
Indeed I may tell you, although you take all
You cannot destroy me, or change me at all.

Answer

297.

My FIRST is up at break of day,

And makes a welcome voice heard,
And goes to bed in twilight gray,
Though neither child nor song-bird.

My SECOND’S known to tongue and pen;

Is fast to all the church walls,
Is always seen in nurseries,
And often when the snow falls.

In green and yellow always dight,

Though melancholy never,
My WHOLE shines bright with golden light,
And emerald, forever.

Answer

298.

To fifty add nothing, then five,

Then add the first part of eighteen;
A desert would life be without it,
 But with it, a garden, I ween.

Answer

299.
What tree bears the most fruit for the Boston market?
Answer

300.
Why is the end of a dog’s tail, like the heart of a tree?
Answer

301.
Why is a fish-monger not likely to be generous?
Answer

302.
Take away my first five, and I am a tree. Take away my last five,
and I am a vegetable. Without my last three, I am an ornament. Cut
off my first and my last three, and I am a titled gentleman. From his
name cut off the last letter, and an organ of sense will remain.
Remove from this the last, and two parts of your head will be left.
Divide me into halves, and you find a fruit and an instrument of
correction. Entire, I can be obtained of any druggist.
 Answer

303.
Why was Elizabeth of England a more marvelous sovereign than
Napoleon?
Answer

304.
A SQUARE-OF-EVERY-WORD PUZZLE.
I.

The desert-king,
Whose presence will
Each living thing
With terror fill.

II.

Of this word ’tis the mission

To be a preposition,
Giving you a notion
Of onward, inward, motion.

III.

This charm to blend,

The myriad roses of Cashmere you ask
Their subtle essences to one small flask
Freely to lend.

IV.

The middy, to his labor trained,

The sun by sextant viewed;