Wednesday 9 May 2018

Publishing Masters: Semester 2 Reflection

And just like that, my Masters is over (aside from my dissertation which I’m deliberately not mentioning). Can you believe that? Can you believe that I now have to be a fully-functioning adult? Help!

Semester 2 started off with a 3 week internship at London Book Fair, which I got through a scholarship at Brookes. This was my first time ever working in an office environment, let alone in a publishing environment, and although daunting it was incredibly rewarding. It led to me attending my first ever LBF as part of the organising team which was amazing. Seeing an event happen that I had been a part of putting together was exhausting but exciting, and over the course of the week I met some fantastic people. Also the Fair environment is so special and there was so much to learn and see - I’m now really excited to see in what capacity I attend my next book fair, and also to experience other book fairs.
Trying to balance the internship and assignments was very stressful, but it all paid off in the end. Fortunately for me, the modules I had chosen were all interesting and I didn’t mind doing the assignments so much because I could see how they helped me apply my learning and also allowed me to pursue my own interests. For instance, for my Fiction and Non-Fiction class, my partner and I researched a lot into audio and set up an audio-first imprint for a children’s publisher. Other assignments included writing a journal article for History and Culture of Publishing and a report on a book fair for International Rights.

During semester 2, I also volunteered for the local Literary Festival and as a result I got my first job in publishing as a bookseller at the historic Blackwell’s bookshop. It’s still early days, but I enjoy it so much and it’s a huge relief to have the next step planned, at least for the next year. I work primarily on the non-fiction floor and even after just a few shifts, my non-fiction reading and TBR as skyrocketed.

Now that teaching is over, all that remains is the serious business of dissertation reading and writing, so excuse me whilst I go bury myself in literary theory and continental philosophers.

If you have any questions about doing a publishing masters, please send them my way!