Before I decided to pursue a degree in publishing, I was sure of one thing – I wanted to be an editor. I loved language, and sentence structure, and debating the placement of a semi-colon. I didn’t love (or so I thought) sales, or statistics, or marketing. I certainly didn’t love design. And when I was seeking out potential placements, I was focused on finding one that allowed me to put my editorial skills to the test. I was aware that editorial was only one small part of the machine of the publishing industry, but that didn’t sway me – those parts were for other people to worry about.

When I started my placement with Luath Press, I was excited to finally gain an understanding of how the publishing process works in practice and to have my first exposure to the industry. I was less excited (or rather, daunted) by the long list of tasks we were expected to complete, which ranged from drafting a marketing plan to producing covers and author events and everything in between. Yes, there was copy-editing, but I immediately realised this had to take a backseat to the extensive market research and design work required to get everything together in time. Their placement is fully-remote, which is not surprising, considering 60% of publishing companies now offer remote or hybrid working. However, this coupled with the fact that most of these tasks were completely new to me and not something I had much experience with, left me feeling very apprehensive about my own ability to produce the work in time.

But to my surprise, a few weeks into working, something clicked. I had to put in the extra work to research design and teach myself new software. I read up on the target audience and comparable marketing strategies and sales histories, and all of the things that previously I would have felt intimidated by. Instead, I found I was more eager to get back to the design work than proofreading. I was excited to learn about social media campaigns and market trends. I think that the placement being virtual was conducive to this, in the end. I wasn’t able to just gloss over the parts I didn’t think I was interested in – I had to ensure that all aspects of the process were done correctly, which meant getting out of my comfort zone and immersing myself in all areas of the publishing process.

There are a myriad of benefits to completing a placement beyond being just something to add to your CV: an understanding of the industry you want to be a part of, feedback on your performance and development, and the opportunity to learn new skills and gain experience. But additionally, a placement can offer a perspective on areas of publishing that you may never have considered before. Publishers are seeking a diverse range of skills beyond editorial, particularly as the industry and related technology evolves. Coming away from this experience, I have readjusted my mindset to be more flexible about where I want to work. Of course, I still love editing – but I also enjoy learning about marketing, sales, and design, and each one opens up a new entry point into the publishing industry.