Publishing Work Experience.

[@bishopofapples]

The advice on listening to what is going on around in the environment seems great. Like not just going into a hole and filing, but actually listening to that seemingly unimportant conversation taking place - without saying something, just listening. Good stuff Sanne, as always. I'd hire you.

[@brwneyedgirlx19]

Free books were the best part of my internship at Penguin in the USA.

[@iamlaurenhannah]

The fact that your Hunger Games trilogy in the background isn't in the right order has been driving me crazy for the entire video. Also, I think I might want to work in publishing someday, so this was such a big help!

[@randomjasmicisrandom]

I just read all about your job at Hotkey books and wanted to say massive congratulations. Your application was inspirational!

[@nadineseroor]

my heart almost stopped at the mention of free book..........FREE BOOKS.

[@EvaSkewes]

Congrats on the job and your advice is absolutely spot on. I too recently got a job in publishing (in the US) after interning at a publishing house and working for several years at an independent bookstore. Another invaluable piece of advice on the US side of things (but I'm sure it's similar in the UK) is not underestimating the power of networking and getting to know people in the industry. Luck and timing are also invaluable.

[@SeptemberJules]

I work at a small German publishing house. The reason we'd like for interns to be with us for at least 3 months is because that is the time it usually takes for a book to go from manuscript to publication and we want our interns to be able to see the process in its entirety, particularly if they work on the project as well, so they get to enjoy the feeling of having helped a book on its way. UK work experience sounds more like those short internships you do as part of secondary school here.

[@BrandiMarie]

I was an intern for Harper Collins Publishing in NYC and it was a wonderful experience. Pretty much what you said applied to my internship experience as well however there were a few things that were different. I sent home 2 medium size boxes full of books (it was amazing and I have a video on my channel) and they also gifted all of the interns with a Nook from Barnes and Noble, which was extremely generous and exciting.

[@kaiquemr1]

I want you to know that I'm being motivated by your videos, I mean, you're a great English speaker and you're my inspiration on my learning process of the English language. I really appreciate dutch people, too, because they're so smart, I mean, understanding most of German, French and English languages. Thank you very much ! Kisses from SP, Brazil.

[@annabellemcasey4884]

This was such a helpful video! As someone who's currently at Uni (not studying English) and figuring out what it is I actually want to do with my degree, this was very welcome advice. Thanks Sanne!

[@JthyDancer]

Thank you so much! I'm heading into a post-grad program in Publishing and all of this is great advice. Congrats on the job too!

[@embunty007]

Brilliant! Gat video, I'm really interested in pursuing a career in publishing but had no idea where to start! I've just done a degree in French Studies and I didn't know how that would fair but I now feel really confident and am going to get some work experience under my belt. Thank you so so much for inspiring me! X

[@CinziaDuBois]

Congratulations on your job Sanne! Guess you'll be staying in England a lot longer ;) how lovely! xx

[@theriveroftruth]

These tips are really useful for when I start applying for internships soon. Thanks Sanne! Congratulations on your new job! :)

[@mariaismarvellous]

Thank you so much for making this video. It helped me to get excited about my future, but not scared!

[@ashdraws9076]

Great timing! I'm trying to find out where I should do work experience in a few months. I'm 16 and in high school (it's mostly mandatory to do work experience in Australia). Originally I was thinking of working for a magazine, but publishing sounds awesome. Thanks for the tips and congratulations on your new job! :)

[@trasslaren]

That seems like an interesting thing to do! I am trying to think of things that I want to do in my life, and there are so much stuff that I have never heard of and stuff that I had never thought of as an alternative.

[@booksandquills]

Of course!

[@booksandpieces]

Really interesting seeing this. I thought about trying to go into publishing when I was coming to the end of my degree but it just seemed so competitive that I went for librarianship. This, as it turns out, is almost as oversubscribed as a career as publishing but also lots of fun. :)

[@decadeslong]

Thank you for this! Perfect timing! I absolutely needed someone to tell me point blank that I'm not above filing and coffee making tasks. Once you've made peace with it, your experience gets much smoother. :)

[@LaxLune]

Thanks for this! I'm trying to decide between, librarian, publishing and teaching english right now and this seriously helped!!! :)

[@BrandiMarie]

Even if you're 14 there are several things you can do to start working on your skills that will be relevant for your future career. Start a book blog and practice your writing skills (make your website have more professional posts), read and keep up with in the now authors/publishers, start to learn photoshop, indesign, and maybe even illustrator. There is quite a bit more that you can do now to prepare that will help you in the long run!

[@TheBookShell25]

This was very informative! Thank you for sharing with all of us, and best of luck with your new job :)

[@emrbrownie]

Thank you so much for making this video! I've been looking into having a career in publishing (either editing or marketing) and your video is extremely helpful :)

[@khyan]

Congratulations Sanne! x

[@KimmyVilla]

Omg this just opened my eyes. lol I want to be a journalist when I get older but I also want another option in kind of the same field. Yay for publishing!!!! haha thanks for the awesome video :)

[@radiomush]

I was actually just researching into this yesterday so this is amazing timing, thank you! :D

[@booknerdcanada]

Great work experience advice! I worked at Penguin too and it was super fun! Lots of meetings and discussing where and how a certain book would be marketed. Lots of book launches and sporadic meetings with authors. Hmm I might just do a similar vlog on my own work experience :)

[@booksandquills]

Social Media, digital campaigns and taking care of ebooks.

[@DontPanicLaugh]

Sanne thank you so much for this video. Its amazing, and its just reminding me that Im on track to apply for these things

[@BeautifullyReckles]

Your internships sound lovely. Your video is very informative. Most of the ones in the US are extremely competitive, as hard as getting into university. They require a ton of time and last a semester (3-4 months) or up to a full school year. Most are unpaid and require school credit so it's difficult to get an internship at a large company once you graduate. I've never had an internship that covered travel costs.

[@IainBroome]

Fantastic. Congratulations!

[@95PMF]

Actually, in my country, no publishing companies have any information on work experience on their website.... I've sent several e-mails, but was never able to get an answer. Still, I live in a very small country, and I do intend to move to London once I'm finished with university, so thank you. Your information is actually quite valuable! :D

[@booksandquills]

Definitely! Any kind of writing will help. Obviously it would be great for editorial, but it doesn't hurt when you work in publicity either. (Let's be real, you're always going to be able to use some extra writing skills!)

[@bookishletters]

Have fun at your new job!

[@hilden4492]

Good luck on your new job!

[@louiselooksforalaska]

I'm 16 and I was lucky enough to get some work experience in a publishing house (at Hot Key Books, strangely enough). The thing I enjoyed the most was the large range of tasks- I did everything from helping to make Christmas cards to drafting rejection letters and phoning magazines to ask them to review books and I loved every minute of it. I'm not sure if this is true to every publishing house, though, or if it's just because HKB is still relatively small.

[@booksandquills]

Work experience is usually just a couple of weeks, while internships can also last for months. I think it might be a UK thing!

[@booksandquills]

Start applying now, but while you're doing that try to spice up your CV with some activities.

[@LauryMunoz]

Amazing video! I am a bookseller-graduate in Media (I am based near Bath) currently preparing my cover letter for a role in a publishing company and I am finding your video very useful! Thanks!

[@tiffanyywing]

Congrats Sanne! So glad you're turning your hobby into something you love and can do for a career/job. I've actually been thinking about getting to publishing as well, possibly publicity or production,but am not at the stage where I feel comfortable putting myself on camera just yet nor have a camera to do so. What would be a good way to ease myself into utilizing social media in regards to publishing? Or what other ways of social media can I use?

[@booksandquills]

That sounds amazing!

[@Ver0nika_Mars]

Congrats on the job! I hope to get a job in publishing too some day. I really hope I get an internship soon!

[@booksandquills]

From what I've heard, at Hot Key Books the interns get to do a LOT of different stuff. Really cool!

[@joycehamya]

This was awesome. Thanks Sanne

[@CharrFrears]

I really want to work in publishing. It's one of my biggest dreams, alongside having my own books published, owning a bookstore and owning a publishing house. Everything I've ever wanted to do revolves around books. There aren't any publishing houses near me (I've checked) but I move to a city in September (hopefully!) and I'm doing a Creative Writing course at Uni which works very closely with Little, Brown. Fingers crossed for my dreams!

[@IAmAZombieMeal]

I love Hot Key Books! Unique indie children's books are the best. I wish you the best :)

[@ericlarosee6390]

Thank you for making this! I'd love to work in publishing!

[@MikkiProductions204]

I'm actually doing online study for a BA Professional Writing and Publishing, however I have no interest in working in publishing, but these tips will come in handy if I ever want to work at publishing company while I write my own books :)

[@mnket]

Very comprehensive and very helpful video. Much appreciated :)

[@burntpeachesss]

Great video. Congratulations, Sanne! ;D

[@georgiawalters7523]

Hi Sanne:D I've just watched a few of your vlogs as I haven't watched some in a while! I bumped into you at the Marcus Sedgwick event @ w'stones Piccadilly while ago, by the way! This video was SO useful :) I have to apply for work experience later next year as that's my year before exams in school. I want to work at a publishing company(coincidentally, HKB is the top of my list and you work there:D) so this video was really helpful! -thanks :)

[@thehappyplate]

Congrats on the job!

[@stephanienoel2902]

Thank you for the video. I been wanting to work in the book world as a designer and very passionate about books. Sadly, where I live finding a publishing company is rather difficult so I been looking to design for author through freelancing.

[@FwiiChan]

Super useful video! Thank you!

[@raton662]

Well now I have an idea of what I want to do in a few years, thanks :)

[@hatorigirl1202]

It's very true. I'm still in school, but almost every summer opportunity or publishing house I find is in New York. It's disconcerting because I really dislike New York and don't like the prospect of living there being my only chance to do what I want. I'm trying to get into a university press internship. That would definitely be something to try. They prioritize students, but if you can get in, they're likely to be helpful in finding your next step because they do work with students so much.

[@booksandquills]

Yes, I work at Hot Key Books now.

[@XWhoeverX]

I have an interview soon at an academic publishing company for an internship. I'm a science graduate, I have no work experience AT ALL, and I know how competitive publishing can be. I'm super nervous, but I really want to do the internship cause it would be a great stepping stone.

[@booksandquills]

Be polite and useful and assertive and you'll be fine!

[@XWhoeverX]

booksandquills Thank you, I will!

[@XWhoeverX]

booksandquills UPDATE: So I went for the internship interview and they offered me a full time job instead as an editorial assistant. Insane! I'm glad I watched your videos and Rosie's videos, great advice!

[@booksandquills]

Ahhhh congrats!!

[@bekhanhnguyen]

You're actually really inspiring. :)

[@LauraCx1996]

This video was really helpful, thank you! :)

[@selfpublishing01]

very nice helpful tips!

[@alrightspock]

Thank you so much for this video!

[@dessdrawings5557]

This was helpful. Thanks!

[@dear_totheheart]

Please make more videos, I am very interested in approaching the editing industry (BS Social Sciences and MA History degrees and I'd like to become a historical fiction author) so it'd be great to hear more of your insight!

[@georginaphelps8287]

I have very vague ideas about what I want to do in the future because I'm only 14 but at the moment I'm leaning towards publishing, and I obviously won't be able to take this advice for several years, but it was still an interesting video :)

[@booksandquills]

Bedankt!

[@theaudiobookaficionado]

Okay I'm sorry if this sounds stupid but when you say "work experience" is that synonymous to an internship? I've just never heard that term before and now I'm confused.

[@aditivaidya1613]

Hi there. The video really was very comprehensive and helpful. You said you worked in marketing and you mentioned your job responsibilities. My knowledge is painfully less in the stream. So out of curiosity, what purpose does each of your job responsibility serve? And what do you mean by promo designing? Like, do they make promo videos for author events? Does the publishing company host Author events? If so, why? Also, the first 2 things you said.. Scanning and copying of newspaper articles and the one after that.. What exactly does that mean? I realize that most of my questions are the annoying why questions.. But I'm really curious.. So try answering.. 🙈

[@TheRealityPlan]

Hi Sanne! This video really helped me on what to expect with working in publishing, and I just wanted to ask you something. I'm now in year 10 which is when we do work experience at around Easter time, and I'm really interested in work experience in either HarperCollins or Hot Key Books as well. I just wanted to know if it's exactly like you described? And do they even allow work experience for students my age? I have other questions as well, but right now I just want to know some basic information :)

[@MissDarcei]

Yay thanks I would like to work in publishing! Im hoping to get some sort of internship

[@booksandquills]

Thanks! :)

[@booksandquills]

Haha I wanted the colors to look nice :D

[@cookieaddictions]

In the US, internships are usually much longer and are so competitive it's crazy.

[@CharlineLikesC]

Yes I guess it is a UK thing, because I have never heard of an internship in Germany that lasted less than 4 weeks - normally they prefer 6 months or at least 3 and I guess it is also harder to get one of those.... I wish there was work experience here, because I'm about to graduate and I don't know what I want to do...there would be a few fields that I'd like to try out before taking a decision...

[@michellemarie1197]

Free books is a great perk

[@kateFAIL]

Thank you very much for this xx

[@MANUinyourface]

"Make a short CV, not 5 pages" Sanne, je accent raakt helemaal verbritst! :D Heerlijk!

[@LaxLune]

In order of what will likely happen; 1. English Teacher, 2. Librarian, 3. Publishing I. order of what I would like to happen; 1. Librarian, 2. Publishing, 3. English Teacher The video made me more interested in publishing than I was before.

[@RonnetClaw]

This might sound NOT like a publishing question at first, but do read on. Ive got this friend of mine who owns a bookshop back in my hometown and is not doing pretty well. He dont get much books in and the place that i was working at was keen on expanding their reach. Should I suggest that they contact him and perhaps turn that bookstore into their exclusive outlet? ITS MY FIRST DAY!

[@ricardaseven6083]

I just applied for an internship as a bookseller and was wondering how long it took the pubilishing companies to answer to your application since I'm unsure how long to wait. ans when you say you get free books at the pubilishing companies, may I ask how many books you took home?

[@booksandquills]

No, I had a part time job for 6 years while I was studying and won money in a KZbin competition.

[@georgiecarter197]

Thanks so much for this! I'm trying to get work experience at the moment... what would you say is appropriate dress in publishing for experience/interviews - smart casual? Any definite no-nos? Thanks xx

[@booksandquills]

I'd say a nice dress or skirt with a blazer or cardigan and opaque tights/leggings always works!

[@georgiecarter197]

Thanks for the quick reply and hurray! That's luckily what I like wearing anyway. (Opaque tights all the way, all year round, in cold, rainy Britain...)

[@flaziola]

Yes, it's stands for Curriculum Vitae. It's just the English name for it.

[@callistox.4148]

Hi Sanne! I'm from Belgium and I really want to ask you a question.. I'd like to start a bookchannel just like you but the main problem is my accent. How did you improve it? I'm pretty good at English but it's the accent that isn't always that great. And your accent is really good so, did you like, talk English everyday? Please answer me, it would help me out a lot! Doegg xx Lise

[@jmcosmos]

Working in bookshops isn't necessarily that helpful, although it can be. I spent sixteen years in a bookshop, where I was the O/P specialist and STOP order geek. I could tell you about publishers that disappeared eighty years ago, and I could tell you about the details of special orders, but I got bugger all in the way of learning how to judge and evaluate frontlist and backlist ordering.

[@hopebrotherton4957]

So helpful! Xx

[@booksandquills]

But accents are great! Don't worry about it. If you really want to get rid of it, the only thing you can do is practice. And guess what one of the best ways to practice is? Right, making videos :D

[@StormFang18]

I love books and i always wanted to work with them. So i thought about about this job too, do you think it is good when you are 21 and have a finished schooling as an office clerk? (I am now 19, so i would have to wait and finish the schooling) But anyway, would this heighten my options and chances of getting a job as either a publisher or as an librarian/bookseller?

[@m0nnii]

I'm studying English Literature at college, i'm in my first year. But I'm from Portugal (at a portuguese college) and dream to work in publishing here. I'd love to try to get some work experience next summer, after my second year but most publishers here don't have a "Job" section in their sites. Do you think is ok for me to go there directly and ask if they offer those oportunities? Or is it weird to walk in there and ask whoever I see such thing?

[@BooksFriends]

No it's not weird take the initiative.

[@MaggieNeedham]

Is this something that publishers do in the US as well? I've only heard of internships that last a semester or two, but this sounds awesome.

[@VictoriaP9393]

Thank you for this. I'm really interested in seeing what it's like so I may well have a go at getting one. Problem is evidence of my interest... I watch videos, I read about publishing, I read books, but I don't really have any evidence I can show for that. Is that enough or do I need to do more before I can apply?

[@osrm20]

Hey do you mind me asking - as an international how did you go about getting your visa in relation to job applications in London? Visa first (Tier 5 Youth Mobility?), job first, or - how did that timeline go?

[@booksandquills]

+osrm20 since I'm from a European country I can freely live and work in Engeland.

[@ThatBookGirl]

Would a proofreading job or a writing job (for an online portal) be good credentials to list on an application? What department would that kind of experience be useful for?

[@Lyd299]

i am 14 and thinking about doing publishing...but what would you suggest i study? or where can i start? please answer

[@wallflowerdreamer7726]

Emerson College has an awesome Writing, Literature and Publishing major - since it's located in Boston, Massachusetts and Emerson is such a wonderful school for this area, there is a lot of opportunities to make connections and gain experience through internships.

[@bishopofapples]

In which direction did it compel you? I just feel like I missed out on the ending of your story....

[@Kairbear2468]

Very interesting

[@nataliarocco2661]

One question. To work in publishing, do you need to read all types of book genres?

[@sedaya22]

That must be a European place. But omg, you're so lucky! I majored in English in college because I want to work in editing. But I've been out of college for a few years and still no luck. It's really discouraging. I like your tips though! It makes me want to try harder. I don't live in New York or San Francisco so I feel like there's no hope Cuz those are the main places for our american houses. :(

[@BorichaConsumer]

I would love to intern at a publishing company. Unfortunately I live an hour+ from any city. Even then I only know of two, both of which are very small and 100% local. I doubt they even do internships.