Full name/age/job title:

Louise Buckley/24/Editorial Assistant at Pan Macmillan.

Please give us an overview of your average day.

No two days are the same, but as a general rule I get to the office around 9.30am and start going through emails. Over the course of the day, a large proportion of my time will be spent liaising with other departments, such as Marketing or Art, or responding to queries from authors and their agents.

Aside from attending meetings, I can be involved in any number of tasks, including writing cover blurbs, checking jacket covers, researching author quotes, updating Advanced Information sheets, making blog posts, reading submissions, checking contracts, and updating our internal database. And those are just the interesting tasks! At the end of the day I normally try and leave the office before 6pm, but that doesn’t always happen.

What is the most common misconception about your job?

That I spend my day editing books and going out to lunch with authors. Those are still aspects of the job, but by no means the most frequent or important parts.

What is the hardest thing about your role?

If I had to pick I would say that the rapid increase in ebook sales over the past year or so has meant a swift and constantly changing renegotiation of working practices across all areas of publishing. At times this has meant big changes in my own working practices and longer hours spent in the office. However, I don’t necessarily see this as a bad thing, but rather something that is inevitable and, dare I say it, even exciting.

When did you decide what you wanted to do with your life and how did you set out to achieve it?

After my undergraduate I was in a bit of a quandary. I knew I wanted to use my literature degree in some way, but wasn’t sure if I wanted to try and make it as a writer, or go into publishing or journalism. I managed to land a part-time role with Waterstones and applied for every form of publishing or journalism work experience that I could.

As a result I ended up being offered three weeks’ editorial work experience with Walker Children’s Books. This was really hands on and I was involved in some of the creative decisions, which sealed the deal in terms of deciding to try and make it in publishing. A few months later I interviewed for a Custom Publishing Assistant role with Rough Guides. I didn’t get the job but was offered an interview for an Editorial Assistant position with Dorling Kindersley, which I was offered. This was in their Travel division. But after a year learning the editorial ropes, I decided that fiction was my true passion and applied for my current position with Pan Macmillan. 

What can you do to get a head start?

People often say to me that they have a literature degree and they can’t understand why they aren’t getting anywhere, but the reality is that publishing is such a competitive industry, with roles in Editorial or Publicity sometimes attracting up to 200 applicants. Therefore, you need to make yourself stand out.

This often means undertaking a variety of work experience placements and trying to make yourself known – publishing is very much an everyone-knows-everyone industry, so asking as many questions as possible and not being afraid to learn about areas you aren’t that interested in (for example, Sales or Rights) is likely to get you much further. Working in a bookshop is also great experience as it gives you a good understanding of which types of books sell and why. In addition, there are several good MAs in Publishing, and The Society of Young Publishers hold regular sessions about getting into publishing too.

Could you describe the creative element to your job?

As an editor you have a huge amount of control over all aspects of a book’s life cycle. Editors decide everything from shaping the content and tone of the novel, to specifying pictures for the front cover and providing guidelines for the marketing package. As an Editorial Assistant, I can hold sway over all of these aspects too, and frequently spend my time writing cover blurbs or helping the Art department with design decisions. As a result, it is really satisfying holding the finished product after months of hard work.

What’s the one thing you wish you had known at the start of your career that you know now?

That you will be rejected for a lot of jobs and have many interviews, but you will get there in the end. Perseverance, hard work and a ready smile really do pay off.

Which organisations/websites/resources do you think would be useful for people entering your industry?

I would say that The Writer’s and Artist’s Yearbook is a bit like the bible for those trying to get into publishing – as well as listing every UK publisher and literary agent, there is a wealth of information about the publishing industry in general, as well as information for authors too.

The Bookseller is also an industry staple, providing weekly publishing news about what’s hot and what’s not. It is also the best resource for publishing vacancies. Finally, join The Society of Young Publishers as they offer numerous talks and networking events across the year.

Would you like to be featured in Job of the Week? If you work in the creative industries and would love to share your advice, expertise and experience with IdeasTap members, drop us a line at ideasmag@ideastap.com. 

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