Getting a job in Publishing

My path to marketeer at a Big 5

This is an old blog post from a previous website which I have updated. I hope it can help advise anyone trying to break into publishing, or side-step at a later point in their career like I did.

Where I work / Where should you work?

I was very lucky to break into publishing with a job at Hodder & Stoughton, who are owned by Hachette Publishing and you may know as the official Stephen King publishing house! I loved working for Hodder because the range of books they publish is so broad, so I got to experience everything from romcoms and thrillers through to celebrity autobiographies and fascinating non-fiction. I'm not sure I'd enjoy working for a more niche publisher who only did one genre, I get genre-tired very easily and this way I got to experience all of it. So I think the first thing is thinking about what type of publishing house you'd like to work at. The bigger the house (i.e Penguin), the more specific and specialised your job role will likely be, whereas at smaller ones (local independent presses) you probably get to be involved in much wider conversations more often, and get a better overview of how other departments operate.

What my job is / what job do you want?

I worked as Senior Digital Marketing Manager. My day-to-day involved managing the social media, customer newsletters and digital advertising for all Hodder & Stoughton, but I also was allocated a good amount of books to take care of each year. At Hodder, each marketing person is allocated books to ‘own’, and then we got to create and manage the campaigns for each of them. Every book has a different budget and, of course, themes, which means you can be really creative and are always working on something different. Whether it's reaching out to collaborate with brands writing radio ad scripts, or buying random goodies to send out with proof copies, there's always something fun and creative going on. Due to my job title many of my allocated books were digitally led campaigns, which meant getting to organise fun online campaigns and getting really interactive with readers. Before I left I was also the unofficial marketer for all the Hodderscape titles. Hodderscape was the fantasy imprint, so this was a lot of fun as I could be extra creative and had a very engaged fanbase of Bookstagrammers to collaborate with. When you are working for a specific imprint, the audience is always different, which means the campaign style is very different. When I worked on Yellowkite books (non-fiction), there was a lot more digital advertising and a lot less creative teen-focussed engagement campaigns.

If marketing isn't something you're interested in, there are loads of other things to think about. Working with audiobooks production or being an editor, which involves editing the manuscripts and being the authors main point of contact, ensuring they're always happy. PR work hard to get books mentioned in the press and organising events and TV/Radio appearances - they're the most sociable of all of us! And of course there are tons of other departments such as Sales who work to get books those coveted retail slots, and less creative roles better suited to data or vocational skills, such as Finance, Legal, and HR etc which follow more traditional workplace roles but have the benefit of being surrounded by books.

What was my path? Do you need a degree in X?

I have a BA in Politics and Journalism and a Masters in Political Marketing - I didn't even do English for A Levels. Then I worked in the fashion industry for seven years in several different marketing roles, which gave me a strong transferable skillset for creative marketing. What's important is proving your passion for the publishing industry. I had a book blog, and I also had a bookstagram, book youtube, and tiktok account at the time of applying for my role. All of these things illustrated my passion and interest, and showed that despite never working in publishing before, that with my marketing experience and personal interests, I could easily shift from selling clothes to selling books. The hard bit is standing out in a CV, particularly when you're competing against people who are already in the industry and would take less time to train on industry-specific platforms. This is where I advise being as creative as possible, and to be sure to mention any bookish things you do in your cover letter.

For my CV, I actually created one to replicate a book cover. The title was REMEMBER THIS NAME, below was my name as the 'author', and I had designed little 'reader reviews' to read 'Hire her - she's great' - Ex Boss, which made my hirer laugh. Then it opened to look like a book with my actual professional CV and cover letter inside, printed on paper to look bookish. For a role like marketing where it’s all about standing out, being creative and cutting through the noise, things like this goes the extra mile and will help at least get you through to an interview, and then it's all down to you!

What was the interview process like?

I imagine this will be different depending on the role you apply for and the company. I think my interview process was pretty standard. I applied via an online portal, answering various questions about myself and uploading my CV.

HR would have sifted through these and chosen candidates worthy of a first stage interview, and I was luckily chosen. For this I think I met with my direct line manager, and a rep from HR. I dressed semi-formally, and wore a blazer and neutral colours. The HR manager asked all the HR-y questions (you know the type - what are your strengths, tell us about a time you worked well under pressure etc) and my direct line manager asked more general questions about my marketing skillset and what I'd been doing in previous roles.

I was then called and invited to a second stage interview for which I had to prepare a project for to present. I was given a book title, summary, release date and budget and had to curate a marketing campaign for it. My presentation was about 30 slides long (!) because I wanted to show my range of skills and how many different platforms I could work across. I also did my best to estimate on things that I had no experience of, such as Amazon advertising, to show that I was open to learning and had initiative, but also made clear in the actual interview that I had no prior experience of it (I didn't want them to think I could do something I couldn’t). My second interview was with my direct line manager again, and the deputy CEO. I presented my project, they asked some questions about it and then the second half was largely getting to know me and asking me about what I liked to read etc. I think this is to get a sense of whether I was nice and a good fit for the team.

I was called the next week and offered the job, so it was a super quick turnaround compared to other jobs I've applied for.

What's the best part of the job?

So many things! I loved how creative I got to be - in the fashion industry everything was very traditional and they didn't like changing things up or taking risks too much, whereas working on so many different books/campaigns means you're never doing the same thing and in my experience, my boss was really open to trying and testing exciting new avenues. Obviously getting to chat to incredible and talented authors was super inspiring, and I loved brainstorming marketing ideas with them. I loved the accomplished feeling when a book climbed the bestseller charts. And, of course, getting to read manuscripts early! Is there anything better than getting something in from your favourite author and being one of the first eyes on it?!

Oh, and the free books. Naturally.

What about the worst parts?

It could feel overwhelming sometimes when you're getting pressure from editors and authors but are short on time/budget etc. I was working on roughly 60 books a year, which authors often don’t realise. It’s very hard giving sixty authors and publications a good amount of your time and energy. But I don't think it's any different from any other job, there are always times when things get stressful or mistakes happen.

I will say, the salary was terrible - and this is standard in the publishing industry until you reach Director level. Even then, it’s not great compared to other industries. Burnout can be common and you’re often working well above your paygrade. If I had opted to be a senior marketing manager in another industry, such as banking, I could have easily been making triple my salary. It’s truly a job set around passion.

What's the cultural vibe like?

I can't speak for publishing as a whole, and I'm sure all publishing houses are different, but I can speak on my experience at Hodder in comparison to the fashion industry in particular. I actually felt largely safe and happy with the office culture. I had really bad anxiety and offices was something which I struggled with after a really terrible work experience that left me with mild PTSD for a year, so I was super scared to delve into a whole new industry. My now-diagnosed autism and ADHD also meant I was prone to blurt things out without thinking, and struggled with neurotypical ways of working, which was an added stressor for me, but my team were very welcoming and took my personality in their stride. The office was very big and beautiful, and pretty casual as far as dress goes. I noticed that while there was no dress code, people like to dress smarter than my previous jobs where tracksuits and streetwear was the norm! But jeans and trainers aren't frowned upon, which is great for someone like me because I do think style and comfort are important for personal identity.

The people were so, so, welcoming and friendly. Everyone was always offering to help out and teamwork was something that felt really important. It's a very liberal industry to be in, with everybody's opinions being respected, and everyone stands up for what they believe in. You won’t last very long in publishing if you’re prejudiced! There are lots of wonderful committees to join such as LGBTQ ones and the BAME one which I had joined. Compared to Fashion, it felt like everyone mattered and they really cared about the staff. However, as with all industries, I’ve heard horror stories about other imprints / publishers and teams to avoid working with due to toxic environments. I think interview stage is the best one to keep an eye out for any red flag phrases.

Do I have to be in London?

Generally, the same with Fashion, yes. Nearly all the big publishers are based in London unfortunately, and while there are smaller indie publishers in other cities, they are extremely competitive. However, post-Covid I think many companies are being much more open to remote working and/or opening regional offices. I do think they are also trying to make it more accessible for younger folk to be able to intern for experience without being based in London, which has always been an issue.

I hope this helps and some of you find it useful!

Love,

C x