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!

You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover

But let's be honest, you do it anyway.

This is my idea of a beautiful cover design

Book covers fascinate me. I love how simple some can be, how colourful others may be and how beautiful they can look when placed side by side. It's not the first time that I have bought a book purely because I liked the cover (sometimes I don't even read the blurb on the back!).

It was only natural, then, that when it came to choosing a dissertation topic that I would plump for something to do with book covers. You have to enjoy researching and writing something that is between 15,000 and 20,000 words in length, and I thought my fetish for all things cover design would fit the bill perfectly.

London Book Fair

What a week!

I'm back in Scotland after a whirlwind trip to London to the annual Book Fair. It was my first time visiting both the Fair and the city, so I had no idea what to expect. I will admit to being terrified of using the tube and a bit daunted at the prospect of meeting so many people, but I set out determined to face my fears.

Baking and Book Covers

Wednesday was a very busy day.

As part of my publishing course we are involved in 'live projects', attempting to produce two books in both print and electronic format. In order to raise funds for this, we held a bake sale on Wednesday at our campus. The idea was instrumented by our brilliant marketing team, headed by Kelly Hamister, and we all brought in baking to tempt the people of Merchiston. The result was a feast for anyone with a sweet tooth. We outdid ourselves - authentic American chocolate chip cookies, rock cakes, chocolate truffles, and Chinese onion biscuits (which were delicious!).

Some of the sweet treats we served up

The marketing team went with a vintage theme in honour of one of the books we hope to publish. They dressed up for the occasion and they had music, which created a brilliant atmosphere. Passers-by were certainly intrigued and by lunch a lot of the baking had been sold. By the end of the day quite a few of the treats had sold out. I'm very happy to report that the bake sale raised £241! I don't think any of us expected it to be such a huge success and we are all very proud of our marketing team. This money will go towards our marketing materials, such as bookmarks and promotional teabags.

That evening I attended the 'Do You Judge A Book By Its Cover' event at Blackwell's on South Bridge. I must confess to being ever-so-slightly obsessed with book covers. One of the things I love most about physical books is how pretty they look lined up on my book shelf. Since starting my publishing course this interest in cover design has grown as I've learned just what goes into making a book look the way it does. InDesign and I may have our issues, but I enjoy the creativity involved in designing a book cover. So, when I heard about this event, I was determined to attend.

The book at the heart of the event was Far Rockaway, by Charlie Fletcher. The paperback cover was designed by Astrid Jaeckel, a student from the Edinburgh College of Art, as part of a competition held in conjunction with the College. Both author and illustrator were present at the event, along with Anne McNeil from Hodder, Jonathan Gibbs from Edinburgh College of Art, and Janet Smyth from the Edinburgh Book Festival.

The discussion was based around Far Rockaway but it threw up a lot of ideas and discussion about book cover design in general. Anne McNeil stated that the jacket design should encompass the heart of the book and reach out to potential readers. I found it interesting when she spoke of the collaborative process involved in designing a book's cover. Until I started this course I didn't give much thought to the process. My only exposure to it was while on work experience at Luath Press. The designer would come in for meetings with authors on a Tuesday, and though I saw the author, designer and publishing team sitting together at these meetings it always seemed to me as if the designer was the one directing everything. The more I learn about publishing, however, the more I am realising that departments have to collaborate and that no decision can be made without consultation.

One of the main things I took away from the event was the importance of the market. McNeil spoke at length about the influence of bookshop trends and the decision that is often taken to make a cover more 'commercial' so that it will be easily identifiable to the readers. This is something I can relate to. Just today I spied a book in a book store and the style of the cover immediately alerted me to the fact it was a historical romance in the vein of Philippa Gregory. So, you see, there is so much more to a book's cover than the image. It is a fascinating process, one based on careful consideration and involving more than just the designer. It is, I would argue, one of the most crucial decisions made about a book. I know that attractive covers have influenced my purchases in the past.

I have my suspicions that I am just a nerd, but if you think about it I'm sure you will be able to think about book covers that you have loved and loathed. Let me know which ones. We can maybe start a club!

Annette xx