By Kate Lally

One of the most important things about my second term in Edinburgh Napier University was undertaking a professional placement. Until this placement everything I did was on a purely contextual and academic level. Doing tasks in real time for a real future publication offered me invaluable experience and an insight into the industry.  The various tasks I undertook while undergoing my placement allowed me to see the theoretical elements of class come into play in real time. One of my modules Fiction and the Fiction Market was particularly helpful for tasks I was asked to undertake such as conducting market research, making a marketing plan and making a social media plan for my title. Another module I found very helpful was our course’s Publishing in Practice module as it helpful when we were required to use Adobe InDesign when making an AI sheet, book covers, event invitations and book posters.

One of the things I enjoyed most about the placement opportunity was the fact we got a taster of many different roles in the publishing industry. From editorial, to graphic design, to marketing. My favourite part of my placement was reading and conducting a reader’s report on the title I was given. As the title was a republication from William Cook MacKenzie, I did not have to do any grammatical editing, but I had to look at the novel from a reader’s point of view and determine if I enjoyed it and if think it would fare well with readers. I also had to consider when reading this novel, the way in which it would be marketed. The title I was reviewing was a work of historical fiction and explored a tale usually told in a non-fictional way, due to this I had to report on the characterisation and pace of the novel and if I felt it was worth republishing. The people at the company I conducted my professional placement at were glad to hear from a readers perspective.

Something about this work of historical fiction I enjoyed is that it explored and emulated societal issues and patriarchal structures that exist today. It and was very thought provoking and emotive despite the featured events being usually told in a factual and logical way. This was a new take on this tale which centered around the mistreatment of Lady Rachel Grange and her unjust imprisonment on the island of St Kilda. The Scottish interest element of this novel was a prominent part of my marketing proposition and something the people overseeing my placement also felt was one of the key advertising points for this novel. The publishing company I undertook my placement at is hugely successful in the market of Scottish interest titles and works that celebrate Scottish culture literature and language. We had to recognise this and the influence this would have on their social media presence and advertising techniques. This was helpful to the process of outlining an Instagram and TikTok campaign and brand awareness and conducting a marketing strategy going foward.