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!

Venturing into Blogging

Not quite sure how to start this so I'm just gonna dive right in. My lecturer is always telling us to start blogging, but I've resisted so far because I'm not sure I actually have anything interesting to say for myself. Then my friends, Clare and Lauren set up a blog to document their challenge of meeting the 13 goals they set for themselves for 2013, and it inspired me so much I decided to try blogging for myself (you can follow these two amazing girls and chart their progress here: http://wakeupyourluck.blogspot.co.uk/). They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, so for this first post I'm gonna list my own goals.

1. To be more proactive - I'm not one for putting myself forward. I like to fade into the background and not be noticed. But this year I want to push myself into taking on bigger roles in the projects I'm involved in and to do things that would normally scare me. I'm always complaining about not having done anything with my life thus far. Well, that's because I haven't really tried. This is the time to do something about that.

2. To exercise more - I'm a Libra and we have a natural affinity for lounging about. Unfortunately this leads to putting on weight, so in the interests of losing weight and being healthy, I want to at least try and work out every week. I keep talking about joining an exercise class, but I never do it. I want to try zumba, so let's see if I can motivate myself into joining the class at the local gym.

3. To take the first step in getting a job in publishing - I'm (hopefully) already half-way there through doing my MSc, but I want to do more. Part of my course involves a placement and I really want to try and organise more work experience, especially in London. It's my dream to work in London and all the publishing houses I am interested in are there. If I can get some work experience at one of them that would be amazing. It would also fulfil my first goal. I'm always saying I want to go to London but I never have, making cost an issue. A placement there would force me to step out of my comfort zone.

So, those are my goals. There are only three because a) I want to be realistic and I think the fewer there are, the more likely I am to fulfil them, and b) I couldn't think of any more! Let's see if I can see them through over the year. Wish me luck!

Annette xx