What type of jobs are there in publishing?

It's Work in Publishing Week, where we celebrate our colleagues and share all the brilliant and unexpected things that happen behind the book.

Have you ever thought about the people who keep everything running at a publisher? They're the ones who speak to retailers so you can buy your new favourite book in Waterstones, who oversee the audio production process, and make sure that ebook is available for you to read on holiday.

Here, Penguin colleagues share their varied journeys into publishing and what makes their jobs so great – who knows, you may find a dream job you didn't know existed...

Keeping the BBC Audio team running

Leah Attwood, Audio Operations Executive, BBC Audio & Green Team Co-Chair

How did you get into publishing?
I started my career in strategy consulting after studying business service management at university, but could never quite shake the urge to work on creative content. While at uni I worked in a bookshop and knew I wanted to return to the world of media.

I moved into my first publishing role as a trainee in licensing & international rights for a children’s magazine publisher. Working with huge children’s brands such as LEGO really awakened me to the exciting world of children’s publishing and brands. From this role, I gained amazing knowledge of content rights, international editions and adaptations, leading a variety of magazines from contract creation and content adaptation to print production and distribution.

That gave me a great understanding of the entire publishing process, which I was then able to translate into the world of digital publishing at Penguin Random House UK, first as an Ebook Coordinator, and now as BBC Audio Publishing Operations Executive.

What does an average day look like to you
My day involves a lot of collaboration - with colleagues in audio editorial, customer operations, the BBC Studios team, but also externally, with retailers like Audible and Apple, or freelancers working on our titles.

A key aspect of my role is being owner of the master publishing schedule, so I start my day by going through our upcoming publications and checking their status to make sure we are on track. I then spend a chunk of time coordinating our post-production, which will include sound mastering and proof listening, as well as checking reports and metadata to ensure titles are up for pre-order and files are ready for distribution.

I also act as Co-Chair of the Penguin Random House UK Green Team, our employee-led sustainability network, engaging with colleagues across the company to organise working-life sustainable actions, which has been a great way to meet people outside of my direct team and share thoughts and passions around green topics.

What might someone find surprising about your role?
I'm not able to spend as much time as you’d think listening to audiobooks!

What skills does your role require?
A large part of publishing operations is collaboration, and chasing others to deliver work, so an ability to communicate well is essential, as well as organisational talent to stay on top of a large list of publications and the factors that influence this process.

What challenges do you face in your role?
Audiobooks are built by many different departments, and my role in overseeing this means that I need to be prepared to adjust when things don’t go as planned. The world of digital publishing is also fast-paced and ever-changing – retailers regularly pop up with new business models and as a publishing house, we look to reach these wherever possible.

For example, the audio team worked hard to onboard YOTO, a children’s audio retailer that make physical cards & audio players, an interesting move away from download-based content back to what reminds me of the cassettes I listened to as a kid! While it’s a challenge, getting to dive into new projects and adapt from past experiences is also a really exciting part of operations.

What has been your most surreal or exciting work moment?
The first time I got to see my name in a printed book at Waterstones was honestly surreal! I had been working virtually in the ebooks team for 6 months due to the pandemic and hadn’t met any of my colleagues face-to-face yet, but I was able to walk into the shop and see my name credited in an Adam Kay book our team had created the ebook for!

There's more outside of my role too – earlier this year I abseiled off the Arcelor Mittal in London to raise funds for the National Literacy Trust, and I volunteered for the Early Words Together programme in a London school. In 2023 I’ll be heading to the Arctic with colleagues, challenging ourselves in icy -30C Finland, again to fundraise for the NLT’s incredible work. The experiences I’ve been able to have through volunteering have definitely been exciting, and getting to do them with fellow Penguins is even better!

Being the go-to person

Harry Matthews, Personal Assistant

How did you get into publishing?
I first joined Penguin Random House as Recruitment Coordinator in the HR team. My job was to manage the candidate experience from beginning to end – I absolutely loved speaking to so many passionate hopefuls daily. From working in that role, I realised how much I loved being led by processes and the impact I could have by maintaining the operational side of the business. Fast forward to now and I am currently on secondment as PA and loving it!

What does an average day look like to you?
No day is the same! But I spend a large portion of my time dedicated to managing the Finance Director, Mark's diary, by scheduling meetings and rearranging where any clashes occur. It’s admin-heavy, but I love that. There are invoices and expenses to code, travel to book and lots of exciting events to plan!

What might someone find surprising about your role?
This job is nothing like The Devil Wears Prada, where the assistants are simply bossed around and ordered to get coffee. I think people would be surprised to know that it’s very equal and collaborative, as I have the unique responsibility of managing my director, and have a relationship where I can always make suggestions and am encouraged to use my voice.

What skills does your role require?
To be a PA, I’d say you need to really master your planning and organisation skills, as diaries fill up so quickly and schedules change constantly. Multi-tasking is hugely prevalent in the role, due to the nature of how reactive our work can be. I’d say the most underrated skill of being a PA is empathy – knowing how to adapt and respond to the person you’re managing, as you will be spending most, if not all your time with that person! Being that stable influence is crucial.

What has been your most surreal or exciting work moment?
A pinch-me moment was when the fire alarm went off in the office and stood behind me at the fire evacuation point was Florence Pugh – she was in the office to record the audiobook for A Private Spy! It made me remember how exciting this industry is.

Creating your favourite ebooks

Chris Liew, Complex Ebook Producer

How did you get into publishing?
I definitely took a long way around – I was interested in publishing in my teens, but took the science route instead and ended up studying Physics at university. After a few years of unsuccessfully trying to make my way, I decided to start from scratch and go back to publishing, which kept returning to my thoughts even years later. I eventually got into The Scheme here at Penguin Random House (shoutout to the amazing BBC Audio team!) and later joined the ebooks team.

What does an average day look like to you?
At the moment my days are usually filled with working on conversion guides – the instructions that are used to turn print books into ebooks – and running checks on freshly completed ebook files before they are distributed. I also handle more technical questions and requests from across the company.

What might someone find surprising about your role?
I think the most surprising part is that writing conversion instructions can be such a creative process. It often involves fashioning new solutions to translate design and editorial intent into digital format. For instance, features such as bleeds, precise textual layout and double-page spreads need some adjustment for viewing on a screen. Seeing it in action in the finished ebook is brilliant. It feels like completing a jigsaw, or turning the last page of a good book.

What skills does your role require?
The ability to pick up new technical skills is important, as the role requires some programming knowledge and usage of Adobe software. It isn’t incredibly high-level, but it is niche and I’ve been told that the people before me also learned it on the job. And, as in every publishing role, organisation and prioritisation skills are paramount for keeping on top of everything.

What challenges do you face in your role?
As I’m adjusting to my new role, I have to be careful not to let my ideas run ahead of my technical ability! Sometimes I will want to implement a solution that would involve spending more time just to learn how to do it (and the prettier they are, the more tempting this is!) As my knowledge grows, this is becoming less of an issue.

What has been your most surreal or exciting work moment?
Getting this position! I did not expect to get this role so quickly, but I am really enjoying it so far. I've also found the social element of working at Penguin Random House to be way beyond what I would have expected before joining, and sometimes it feels surreal to be able to work in such a positive atmosphere!

Getting books onto shop bookshelves

Samara Smith, Sales Operations Executive

How did you get into publishing?
I studied History at uni but knew from about the age of 16 that I wanted to work with books. My careers advisor at school told me about publishing and after a bit of research, I knew that was where I wanted to be. I got my first week of work experience across multiple departments at Little Brown publishers and knew I was on the right track. I then secured a week’s work experience with Vintage Books, and with rights at HarperCollins. However, still no job! About 18 months to the day after I graduated I got my first job at Quarto where I was International Sales Administrator, before moving to Penguin Random House.

What does an average day look like to you?
My day revolves heavily around my inbox as I answer a lot of queries from retail customers based in Asia and India, so I get a good sense of what my day will entail when I log on every morning.

As I work in operations, my role has a lot of crossover with the sales team, so I'll be sending orders to process and answering stock and order queries. At the moment it's very busy, as a lot of our biggest titles are published at this time of year. For example, I look after Penguin General for operations and have just been working on the order releases for Michelle Obama’s The Light We Carry. I like to fix problems and make processes more efficient, and that’s what I get to do almost every day!

What might someone find surprising about your role?
In operations, we work really closely with our divisions and territories across international sales, and so much of our role is about building relationships and trust. We also get incredible opportunities from time to time to meet authors and attend events from all divisions – as we work across them all.

What skills does your role require?
I would say first and foremost, patience. You can get asked the same question a number of times or the same issue comes up quite a lot, so you have to work through some repetitive practices! Secondly, attention to detail – a lot of the work we do in ops revolves around trying to spot what’s wrong or understanding a process or system enough to be able to find an issue. Lastly, although not a skill, you definitely need a sense of humour! We like to joke and share funny incidents we experience throughout the week – it keeps us entertained and connected.

What challenges do you face in your role?
There can be a variety of challenges in my role. We are customer-facing, so if a customer isn’t quite happy, we’re always aware of it – we then work methodically through what the problem is, how we can fix it and make their experience better. Another challenge is expectation vs reality – working out what is urgent and what can wait is a skill; you are trying to balance the expectations of customers and then realistically what our warehouse can manage!

What has been your most surreal or exciting work moment?
At our offices, we frequently have authors visiting to talk with editors or sign copies of their books, and occasionally they sit in the canteen and have lunch. There have been a few occasions where Michael Palin has been leaving his booth and I’ve swooped in after him to take the seat!

Let us know who you'd like to hear more from by emailing us at editor@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk.

Image: Ryan MacEachern/Penguin