Publishing

Publishing roles are generally divided into editorial, design and production, marketing (sales and publicity), distribution, contracts and rights, and administration (which includes the finance and technology functions). Some of the specific job titles include:

• Commissioning editor
• Editorial or publishing assistant
• Proofreader
• Picture researcher
• Book production controller
• Public relations/promotion/events
• Sales and marketing manager/digital marketer
• Rights manager
• Graphic designer
• Web developer
• Illustrator
• Consumer analyst
• Digital marketing assistant

The Publishers Association's careers pages break down the various roles in publishing well, as do Hachette in their free virtual presentations known as Opening the Book, each discussion focussing on a role or division within publishing. 

Editorial

These are busy roles requiring excellent time management skills. To work in editorial you will need to be collaborate with colleagues and motivate yourself to work on multiple projects. Companies will look for a high degree of literacy and strong communication skills, with an excellent attention to detail and an analytical approach when working with data. Strong project management skills are also crucial. Work may involve briefing and managing freelancers.

Tasks might include:

• Commissioning and chasing readers' reports for new book proposals and scripts.
• Market research - is there a demand for this product or a gap in the market? 
• Drawing up and sending out author and contributor contracts.
• Preparing scripts for handover to production.
• Liaising with authors, agencies and in-house production, marketing, sales and rights teams.
• Producing a project to a deadline.

Design and production

The increasing use of new technology particularly affects the design and production of the finished book or journal. If you are considering a role as a production editor you will need strong organisational skills and an ability to prioritise and adapt to varying workloads. These roles demand an ability to work under pressure and to deadlines. Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential, as are innovative problem solving skills.

A production editor will take responsibility for managing the whole end-to-end production of new titles from typescript through to delivery of the final product.

Tasks might include:

• Commissioning external suppliers.
• Preparing material for external project managers, for copy-editors, proofreaders, indexers, text designers and illustrators.
• Copy-editing, proofing and approving cover artwork and blurbs.
• Preparing initial and final costings for approval.
• Controlling production budgets.
• Communicating with a large range of teams, from the editorial teams to the printing teams.

Marketing

The marketing team create innovative marketing strategies to engage audiences with the firm’s products. The ability to prioritise and adapt to varying workloads is important, as well as adaptability and flexibility. A good level of reading and editing skills is required, to enable you to quickly prepare communications to sell your products.

A marketing coordinator role may include:

• Helping on specific marketing campaigns to a budget (this may include social media campaigns, e-marketing campaigns, subject catalogues, leaflets, trade promotions, London Underground campaigns etc.).
• Building knowledge of authors and an awareness of competitors in order to develop marketing plans accordingly.
• Supporting authors (including author letters, assistance with events and launches, invites etc).
• Approaching companies to join up with for promotions.

Literary agenting 

Literary agents exist outside publishing companies and act as an important intermediary between a trade publisher and an author. There are over 400 in the UK, from sole traders to huge enterprises such as Curtis Brown and United Agents, and including local agencies  of 5-10 agents such as Felicity Bryan. They are experts in the market and the genres they deal in. 

These days, little fiction or non-fiction being created in trade or consumer publishing is via direct submission. Almost all publishers want authors to come to them via a  literary agent, who acts as a first sift, seller, marketeer, contract negotiator, mentor and cheerleader for their author, taking 15% of royalties as their salary (but they work hard for that commission) . Publishing houses just don't have the time to read submissions from authors.

Literary agents have to be comfortable with peaks and troughs of success and income and be excellent with people (there's lots of networking to be done). They often have worked in publishing houses themselves, where they develop contacts and knowledge, and move across to agenting. 

As with every industry, experience is useful to demonstrate your motivation and skills for a career in publishing. But it needn't be a formal internship programme - there's plenty you can do while at Oxford to gain publishing experience.

Summer Internships and Micro-internships via Oxford Careers Service 

The Internship Office (part of the Careers Service) has successfully brokered paid summer internship programmes (2-12 week internships in the long vacation) and voluntary Micro-internships (2-5 days experiences in 9th or 10th week of each term) in publishing for Oxford students. Previous examples include: 

• Writer and content creator at Bimble
• Editorial assistant at Dinosaur Books Ltd
• Fiction editor at Everything with Words 
• Marketing intern at Lantana Publishing 

Keep an eye on CareerConnect for publishing internships or sign up to email updates form the Internship Office. 

Internships and work experience direct from publishers 

One of the easiest ways to keep up to date on which publishing companies are offering work experience is to follow their careers feeds on social media. Many of the larger companies run formal internships or work experience, including but not limited to:  

• Penguin Random House ran 9 paid, eight-week summer internships in 2024 for those from a lower socio-economic background.
• Hachette offer a free virtual work experience programme via the website Springpod.
• Harper Collins offer three ways to experience the company: their 12-month traineeship for individuals from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; an 18-month early careers programme; and virtual learning days in editorial, marketing and publicity.
• Blake Friedmann, literary agents, run the two Carole Blake Open Doors Projects: a ten-day work shadowing scheme for students from backgrounds that are under-represented in publishing and a six-month mentorship. Application deadlines are usually in May
• Felicity Bryan Associates, the Oxford-based literary agents, offers a regular 3-month, paid internship programme. The internships run from January – March, April – June, July – September, and October – December. The deadline for each placement is usually one month prior to its start. The agency also offers a mentoring scheme.

Also check on individual publishing house websites to find more to apply to, and don’t be afraid to approach the organisation directly to ask. The Book Trade Charity offers financial support to people looking to enter the book trade but who may struggle to afford the costs of attending interviews and undertaking internships or entry level positions.

Both CareerConnect and The Oxford Brookes' Masters in Publishing webpages have listings of work experience opportunities.

Alternative sources of experience

Internships are not the only way to make yourself a competitive publishing candidate. Although experiencing publishing directly is often a primary goal for Oxford students, there are lots of other ways to develop your knowledge and prove your interest in the world of publishing that can impress publishing recruiters:

• Attend the Insight into Publishing programme at the Careers Service in Hilary term.
• Gain awareness of customer reaction, and a retailer’s eye view on the market by getting work in a bookshop.
• Get involved with a university or college publication, such as The Oxford Student, Isis or Cherwell, to gain knowledge of the publication and production process in general, and develop your attention to detail and communication skills.
• Watch free virtual presentations organised by publishing companies, such as Hachette's Opening the Book series of 10 panel discussions each focussing on different roles within publishing. 
• Join the Oxford branch of the Society of Young Publishers, which organises a series of talks and other networking opportunities. Oxford SYP regularly recruits student representatives from Oxford.
• Attend The London Book Fair, (free for students) in April, to find out more about the industry and make useful contacts. 
• Learn about the marketing and events side of the industry by getting involved with book-related festivals, charities or author events. 
• Pursue an independent project to demonstrate and deepen your interest. This could be creating a blog about the industry, arranging industry-themed talks or events, wider reading about the industry, or supporting a friend or student through e-publishing online.
• Volunteer at the annual Oxford Literary Festival. It takes place each March, at the end of Hilary Term, and is a great way to meet authors, see how books are promoted and improve your publishing industry knowledge. You can apply directly to the Volunteers Coordinator at volunteers@oxfordliteraryfestival.org.

There is often confusion about whether you should be paid to do an internship or work experience. It will depend on your arrangement with the employer and also the status of the employer. To find out if you are entitled to be paid when undertaking work experience or an internship, visit the Government’s webpages on the National Living Wage. The Book Trade Charity offers financial support to people looking to enter the book trade but who may struggle to afford the costs of attending interviews and undertaking internships or entry level positions.

Graduate schemes vs. entry-level jobs

Most candidates get into publishing through an entry level (junior) role than a structured graduate scheme. Graduate schemes in publishing are few and far between (particularly compared to sectors such as law or banking) and they include:

• The HarperCollins Traineeship, for those from a black, Asian and ethnic minority background. This scheme offers a twelve-month rotational traineeship around the business in London. 
• Hachette offer a 12-month traineeship in partnership with literary agents Curtis Brown and Waterstones.  It actively seeks applications from candidates from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, applicants from lower socio-economic backgrounds and particularly men from both of these backgrounds, to improve the representation of these groups in Hachette UK’s staff base. 
• In the past, Pearson, Wiley, Cambridge University Press have offered graduate schemes. Follow them on social media to find out when they open.

What's an entry level job title?

You are more likely to get into publishing through an entry level role than a graduate scheme. The Publishers Association advises:

 “If you were looking for an entry level job, the kind of job titles you should be looking for are editorial assistant, publicity assistant, production assistant, marketing assistant, publishing assistant, sales assistant.”

Is a short-term/temporary contract worth doing?

Taking a non-permanent contract is a common way to get a ‘foot in the door’ in publishing, and can lead to a permanent job. It’s definitely worth considering.

Do I need a postgraduate degree?

‘Masters in Publishing’ courses are available to those who want to investigate the history and technical side of publishing. If you want to stay in Oxford, Oxford Brookes has well-known courses, including one focused on digital publishing. It is not a requirement to have a postgraduate qualification to work in publishing, however, and it’s no substitute for work experience. If you’re considering the Masters' course, think about what exactly you could gain from the experience, and balance it against other ways to attain the same goals.

For those looking for a role in publishing that  would use technical skills (e.g. illustration or software development), then other technical courses might be more appropriate.

Advice for job hunters

• It is important to look widely for routes into publishing and not focus solely on vacancies advertised by large publishers.
• Don’t rely solely on advertised vacancies. Many publishers, particularly smaller ones, rarely formally advertise vacancies, but rely on recruiting from speculative applications.
• Don’t let lack of direct work experience hold you back. Write a persuasive cover letter explaining your suitability for the job role, citing relevant experience for as many of the skills they are looking for as possible. Perhaps you have had work experience in  a different industry that required communication skills or you work in teams, using your attention to detail, on one of the Oxford student newspapers. 
• Don’t worry that there’s not a lot advertised in Michaelmas term. Vacancies are usually for immediate entry-level opportunities, with few employers advertising more than six weeks before the posts need to be filled, meaning Trinity term can be busy time for publishing applications.

Job hunting strategy

1. Use the vacancy websites listed in our resources section to find individual jobs. Bear in mind that individual roles are usually advertised a few months before the potential start date. You could still start looking earlier in the year to gain familiarity with selection criteria, but the months immediately before you hope to start work would be the key time.
2. Visit the websites of individual publishers – occasionally jobs will be advertised only on the organisation’s pages.
3. Check social media – Wiley, HarperCollins and Hachette, for example, use Twitter/X to advertise UK career opportunities. Setting up a free LinkedIn profile can give you access to jobs advertised on this professional social network. Join LinkedIn ‘groups’ to see more roles discussed and listed, and bookcareers.com has a very active Twitter/X feed (@bookcareers) and podcast series about getting into publishing.
4. Talk to people! The more people who know your career ambitions the better – ask your tutors, friends, family if there’s anyone in the industry that they can put you in touch with. Join the Society of Young Publishers. Ask people questions on Twitter/X. Come along to events organised by the Careers Service, such as 'Insight into Publishing' in Hilary term or 'Introduction to Publishing' most terms. At the very least a conversation can build your knowledge and confidence, and you never know when an unadvertised position might come your way as a result. For more information see our guidance on networking.

Keep up-to-date with publishing news

Anyone who has attended the Careers Service's Insight into Publishing programme in Hilary term will know that the academic or scholarly publishing market is a bigger market than trade and educational publishing combined. Subscribe and follow The Scholarly Kitchen to keep up to date with what’s happening in academic publishing. The Geyser (a subscription blog, but some of it is free) is also very insightful.

Journo Resources is a useful website for aspiring journalists as well as those wanting to go into publishing, communications and content writing. Sign up to its weekly newsletter for useful tips, job vacancies and lists of graduate schemes. 

Also, don’t forget to follow the Society of Young Publishers and your favourite publishers on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

General vacancies and industry information

• The Bookseller: Jobs – large publishing job board
• IPG: job board – independent publishers’ guild. Lists lots of jobs (including entry level jobs) at independent as well as well-known publishing houses.
• bookcareers.com
• Journo Resources - primarily a careers site for aspiring journalists, but many entry levels publishing jobs come up on the jobs pages
• Oxford Brookes: Publishing Jobs
• TARGETjobs: Book Publishing Careers – a quick, overview of jobs and areas of the publishing industry
• The Publishers Association – about careers in the industry, brief but detailed. Particularly look at their 'work in publishing blog' for insights to different roles.
• Women in Publishing: FAQ – information from a different source, but with pretty congruent advice with The Publishers Association, which is reassuring!
• Guardian: Top Ten Tips for Careers in Book Publishing 
• Jobs.ac.uk – job board for academia, including student services, university press publishing and lots more
• BookBrunch – a daily source of news for the publishing industry
• The bookcareers.com 2023 salary survey 
• LinkedIn Jobs
• Guardian: Jobs
• Telegraph: Jobs
• The Times: Jobs
• Independent: Jobs

Two blogs that academic publishers who visit the Careers Service all recommend are:

• The Geyser - a subscription blog but some content is free
• Scholarly Kitchen - great for keeping up to date on news in academic publishing

Publishing recruitment agencies

• Inspired Selection
• Atwood Tate Publishing Jobs
• Morgan Healey - STM publishing, Academic and Digital Content specialists

Associations, societies and news

• The Bookseller - the leading trade journal for the industry
• Society of Young Publishers – includes their useful vacancies section
• Oxford University Society of Bibliophiles
• UK Publishers Association – includes their guide Careers in Bookselling
• The Independent Publishers’ Guild
• The Society for Scholarly Publishing - the society behind the Scholarly Kitchen blog
• International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers 
• Periodical Publishers Association

Recruiters are keen to have a diverse workforce, and many will have policies and processes that are proactive in recruiting students and graduates from diverse backgrounds. An increasing number of recruiters are offering traineeships, internships and insight events that are aimed at specific groups and many are being recognised for their approach to being inclusive employers.

Try the following to discover more about the policies and attitudes of the recruiters that you are interested in:

• Read their equality, diversity and inclusion policy

• Search their website to see if they have any specific staff networks

• Look for external accreditation such as whether they are a Disability Confident employer, a Stonewall Diversity Champion or part of the Mindful Employer charter promoting mental health at work

• Check to see if they are partnering with organisations such as Rare Recruitment, SEO London, MyPlus Students' Club, EmployAbility or one of the many other organisations that are working for specific communities

• Explore what they do to celebrate diversity on their Facebook and Twitter pages

Specifically for publishing:

• Equality in Publishing Network
• Creative Access provides opportunities for paid internships in creative industries for talented people from BAME backgrounds.
• Carole Blake Open Doors Project – a two week, all-expenses-paid work shadowing scheme for students from backgrounds that are under-represented in publishing.
• Internships and graduate schemes offered by Penguin Rando House, HarperCollins and others that are proactively recruiting from diverse backgrounds (see the Getting Experience and Entry Points sections of this briefing)  

The UK Equality Act 2010 has a number of protected characteristics to prevent discrimination due to your age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or beliefs, sex or sexual orientation. For further information, visit the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s webpage on the Equality Act and the Government’s webpages on discrimination.