Black & White Publishing

Picture Courtesy Black & White Publishing

Hey all, sorry I have been AWOL lately. I have been frantically beavering away with my dissertation (it’s not going well so it’s best we don’t mention it) and I’ve also been kept busy with work and my internship at Black & White Publishing. You may remember I told you about starting it a while ago. Well, my last day was last Friday – that’s the quickest six weeks of my life!

I’m not exaggerating when I say it was a wonderful experience. I had more fun than I expected. Everyone was so nice and welcoming and I never once felt like a mere intern. They treated me like an extension of the staff, even allowing me to sit in on some meetings and offer my opinions on author interviews. I got to create quite a few databases which was actually a lot of fun. I got to research things like craft and wool shops and book review blogs, which introduced me to a whole host of interesting blogs.

One of my main duties was to read through the submissions and keep a log of them. I’d encountered the slush pile at Luath, but I’d forgotten just how truly awful some writing is. It never ceases to amaze me how many people think they can write when they really can’t. It actually makes me question my own love of writing. I hope I’m better than some of the terrible submissions I had to read over the last six weeks! There were several where the English was barely comprehensible, while some others were just utterly disturbing (children being impaled on spikes, anyone?) But there were some interesting ones. I thoroughly enjoyed an entire manuscript that I got to read entitled In Fear of Fear. It was about a woman in a mental institution and we discovered how she ended up there through a series of flashbacks. It was really well written and I loved the twists and turns in the plot. On my last day I discovered a young adult submission which I think had some potential, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for that too.

The highlight for me was being able to proofread a children’s picture book, Magpies and Mischief. It was so much fun! The illustrations were beautiful and the story was actually really good. I will definitely be purchasing a copy when it is published. Not once did it feel like I was working. It clarified for me that this is indeed what I want to do with my life.

Black & White was a great experience. I would definitely recommend anyone interested in getting into publishing to apply for work experience with them. I want to thank them all again for having me and for treating me like a valued member of the team. It’s been the best six weeks and I’m going to miss going in every Thursday and Friday. I’ve discovered a whole host of new books thanks to my placement and I hope I’ve sharpened my skills. I certainly feel more confident and I hope it’s not long before I am able to work for a publishing company again.

Book Review: Dreams & Tide, Books 1 & 2 in the Sarah Midnight Trilogy

Today I'm reviewing not one, but two books - Dreams and Tide, the first two instalments in the Sarah Midnight trilogy written by Daniela Sacerdoti. Set in Edinburgh and Islay, these books are a YA fantasy series about a girl who belongs to a world of demon-hunting Secret Families. So far, so very Mortal Instruments, but that is where the similarities end. These books are original and establish their own intriguing mythology which sets them apart from the other YA series out there.

The first book in the series, Dreams, begins with Sarah, the heroine, standing at her parents' graves. We learn they have been murdered and that they are hunters, but at this point we are not told what exactly they hunt. This quite clever tease left me curious and eager to discover what was going to unfold over the course of the story. The first chapter then drops you straight into the middle of the action. We see Sarah on her first hunt and we learn about her supernatural power, the blackwater, which allows her to dissolve demons. I quite liked this idea as it's not a power I've come across in any of the other books I've read. One other thing I found refreshing was that using the power was not as simple as putting her hands out and dissolving the demon. The blackwater leaves Sarah soaked and feeling drained, which gives it a more real and frightening edge. It reminds me of Rumplestiltskin's warning in Once Upon A Time - 'all magic comes with a price'. In these books it really does!

'Sleep. Her own private torture.

She was too tired to stop it.

If I dream again, I swear, it'll kill me. For real.' (Dreams)

Let the Work Experience Commence!

Goal #3 for the year (and arguably the most important) - Take my first steps in getting a job in publishing. Last Thursday I made some progress on this front when I begun a work experience placement at Black & White Publishing in Leith, Edinburgh. This is my second work experience placement (I spent two weeks at Luath Press, also in Edinburgh, last March) and I was eager to get started and gain a further insight into the publishing world.

This placement is part of my MSc Publishing course, although I organised it myself. After a speculative email, I was answered almost immediately and luckily there was an opening which I gladly seized upon. A few people on my course had already been to Black & White and they all had seemed to have enjoyed it, so I looked them up and discovered they have quite a varied and exciting list. As well as many non-fiction titles, they also publish crime and mystery fiction, romance fiction and even (to my delight) a couple of young adult titles. Having discovered this I was excited for my first day.

Based on Ocean Drive, Black & White are a simple bus journey from Edinburgh city centre. I've not been to Leith too often (apart from one horrible interview/assessment with a recruitment company) but armed with Google maps I soon found my way to the office. It is a lovely, bright, airy office, and I even have my own intern desk, complete with stationary and Mac. My first impression when I walked in was one of wonderment. There are so many bookcases and so many books; I felt like a child in a candy shop. I probably came across as a little over-enthusiastic!