Regional Voices in publishing?
Ann Cleeves is much praised for her crime novels set far away from the big city, whether it's Vera Stanhope's Northumberland or the Shetland murders investigated by Jimmy Perez. Yet when she gets together with publishers to promote her books, she is struck by how very few people with regional accents work in publishing. "Everyone seems to come from London," she says. "Why? Because it's impossible to get a job without work experience. And how do you get work experience if you live outside the capital unless you have very wealthy parents prepared to support you? I worry that we're depriving bright and enthusiastic young people of a career in books and that we're limiting the vision of the industry." So she decided that she could do something, on a small scale, to make a difference, by sponsoring a bursary, paying a reasonable wage (including interview expenses).
As a result, Becky Plunkett has been appointed to an internship, and will be working in the press department of Pan Macmillan, for three months. She says:
"When I heard about the Ann Cleeves Regional Voices Bursary, I knew immediately that I had to apply. After graduating in July with an English Literature degree from the University of Leeds, I had returned to my family home in Leicester, with dreams of working in an industry where I could talk about books all day!
I feel privileged not only to be interning at Pan Macmillan, but also to be working for such a well-loved crime writer. I hope that I can become a valuable member of Ann's publicity team, and will certainly be putting all my enthusiasm into the role!
Ann addresses a well known problem with the creation of this bursary. For many graduates unpaid work experience in London is just not a viable option. The positive impact of this internship, for me, cannot be measured, and I only hope that others will follow in Ann's footsteps. I can't thank Ann, Chloe Healy, and everyone else involved at Pan Macmillan, enough for giving me such an innovative, exciting and valuable opportunity. I really can't wait to start!"
The post was advertised in August 2012 as an exciting opportunity available for a bright and enthusiastic candidate to work as a paid intern, working on a promotional campaign for an upcoming book by Ann Cleeves funded by the Ann Cleeves Bursary. The role will be based within Pan Macmillan's publicity department and will be for a fixed period of 12 weeks from the 1st October. Only candidates living or working outside the Greater London area will be eligible for funding by the bursary, which has been set up to offer applicants across the UK an opportunity to gain publishing experience.
Key duties:
- Liaise with key stakeholders such as journalists, reviewers and bloggers to secure publicity for the author and her books
- Assist in the organisation and attend book tour events
- Attend an accredited course for people beginning their publicity careers
- Assist with the social media campaign for the author and her books and help execute other digital publicity campaigns
- Liaise closely with Editorial, Marketing and Digital departments to get a better overview of the responsibilities within each team in a publishing environment
Experience / skills required:
- A desire to work within a publicity team in publishing
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
- Experience of working within an office environment
- Good IT skills, including MS Office
Atwood Tate was appointed as the Employment Agency for this opportunity. All enquiries must be made through Atwood Tate. Any applications not made through Atwood Tate were not considered.
Online application was via the Guardian or by e-mailing a CV and salary expectations to .