We recently had the pleasure of connecting with Publishing and Writing Graduate student, Amala Reddie, to chat about her publishing internship at Star Bright Books.
How did you find your internship?
I actually applied for a Spring 2021 internship on Handshake but it had been filled. However, I reached out again to the Editorial Manager in April and got an offer for Summer 2021!
How long is your internship?
My internship ran from May 29 to August 19, 2021
Where is your internship taking place? All Virtual? Hybrid?
It was a complete virtual internship which worked for me as I also work remotely as a Web Services Assistant for the Emerson College Digital Services team.
How do you feel about it?
I’ve worked remotely for the major part of my career so I was completely at ease with working independently and checking in with my supervisor over the phone and Zoom meetings.
What does your daily routine look like?
I work every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. My day usually begins with a check-in call with my supervisor where we would go over the weekly projects. Then I sort out my projects in terms of priority and deadlines and go from there. Each day is different depending on my task of the day. Some days I’m down the internet rabbit hole researching material for my blog articles and other days I’m reviewing databases for vendors like Amazon and Barnes & Noble!
What are some of your responsibilities?
As a publishing intern, I had the opportunity to work across multiple departments and handled a plethora of projects. I have tabulated metadata spreadsheets for upcoming books, written articles for the blog, updated social media channels, and even compiled reader reports on manuscript submissions.
What were your favorite and not so favorite parts of the internship?
My favorite aspect of the internship is the flexibility where I get to choose the projects and departments I want to work in. I feel this allows me to explore the depth of my own knowledge and also acquire other skills. This internship was a great way to gain an overview of the children’s publishing industry! The only complaint I guess is that I wish I could have met my fabulous co-interns in person along with the stellar team! Although we had some fantastic zoom calls (that always ran over the time limit), I’m sure being in the same room would have been an experience unlike any other!
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently wrapping up marketing campaigns for two upcoming books where I came up with a social media campaign and also designed activity sheets for children and their parents. I enjoyed working on this as I got to exercise my creative skills. It was also interesting to see how much goes into building a book’s presence before its actual publication!
What is something you wish you learned before taking your internship?
Fortunately, the WLP faculty and courses I had taken were of huge help as I navigated this internship! In fact, I was taking the metadata course while preparing the metadata spreadsheets so it was a perfect example of classroom-to-practice experience!
What are some essential skills/abilities/knowledge someone in your field should have?
Communication and organization skills are the foundation of any professional in the publishing field. Besides this, a solid understanding of current trends within and outside the industry also goes a long way!
Why did you decide to take this internship?
As an international student, I was looking to get as much experience as I could about the US publishing field. I was especially thrilled to get this internship as it gave me a deeper insight into the children’s publishing industry!
