Whigs, Wigs and Wigging out.

Perched on the edge of a large velvet sofa, trying desperately to hide my bitten nails and nervous shakes, my University interviewer, and Director of Studies to be, thought for a moment and then asked, “What is the point of a museum?”

What? My brain cried, what sort of question is that? I’ll explicate the causes of the 1917 Russian Revolution! Expound on the limitations of the Great Reform Act of 1867 or deliberate on the role of women in the decline of the Liberal Party. But museums? What have museums got to do with history?

Where dates don’t matter!

After mumbling something about making history accessible to everyone I quickly moved on to firmer ground, weighted in dates, names and facts. Five years down the line and I can barely remember what I had for breakfast, let alone who the Chancellor of the Exchequer was in 1905 (oats and Asquith respectively…) but that question did stick. And, as with all the best historical theories, my thoughts have changed considerably over time.

I used to be someone who worked with history, and now I’m someone who loves stories –and I’ve realised that actually those two aren’t so far apart. Museums, stories, history – it’s all about getting under the skin of someone else. I spent most of my degree standing on the edge of yesterday and asking my brain to put together a kaleidoscope of stories to cobble together something approaching truth. And not much has changed. Michael Gove’s decision to move the curriculum away from the history as experienced by people, understood as a complex web of experience, lies, stories and great moments, towards something that can be drawn neatly along a ruler is at once astoundingly naïve and also, I believe, wrong.

History is as much about the stories as it is about the Bills, laws and coronations. When an archaeologist uncovers a piece of jewellery, a Roman wall or an ancient shoe, historians work in the realms of guesswork and creativity to connect the dots and make ‘history’ bigger. Museums are a great bridge from stories to fact, you have to use a touch of imagination to bring it altogether but underneath the guesswork and possibilities are the scavenged artefacts of truth.

A servant boy with Bill Spykes the hedgehog

The best museums (in my opinion) are the ones that encourage you to use your imagination to really understand the past. Some people think that history is something abstract and intangible that can be recited from books and learnt from timelines (*coughs* Gove. Ahem.). BUT…not so. I fell in love with the idea of history as a thing in its own right aged 7, sitting in an Andersen shelter listening to the bombs falling over London, and comforted by the kind cockney women telling me to keep my “chin up”. Granted this was in the confines of the Imperial War Museum and I’d only recently emerged from the trenches – but, down there with the benches shaking and the smell of smoke creeping through the walls, that history was as real and as valid, as any textbook or timeline might claim.

A (ghostly) foundling girl

There are many great museums that really let you get a first-hand taste of history. Recently we went on a Victorian themed tour of Bloomsbury, visiting The Dickens Museum and then The Foundling Museum.

Shortly after breakfast I was a maid making porridge on a huge iron stove. Quickly followed by a stint as a servant boy where I explored the wine cellars, jumped at a rat and realised I’d left the oats on to burn.

A restorative latte later and I was Thomas Coram, establishing the Foundling Museum, taking in waifs and strays from across London and transforming the face of British society. And then briefly a girl left by desperate parents with only a small ‘token’ as a clue to my true family. Segueing from an anonymous servant girl to a man whose name lives on as one of the great philanthropists of our time, and back to a life of hard graft- I was able to pick up stories, get a taste of history and really learn something (*cough*).

Thomas Coram – a very splendid coat

So the moral of this story? The imagined past is as good as any story. Museums can be the alchemists touch which turn numbers and names into history gold. Children are excellent at understanding the complexities of a history. Don’t take away the dressing up! Lastly – I look great in a wig.

Anyone for tea?

Bank Holiday Reading

Happy May 6th Bank Holiday! We hope you are enjoying the weather (please no rain!), having a delicious meal, spending time with your favourite people, and finding time to enjoy a good book. Even though most of us spend the majority of our reading time pouring over our own books, we do manage, especially on these holiday weekends, to fit in a few titles outside our list. So, here’s what we’re reading this weekend:

Amy: I’m so close to finishing THE ACCURSED by Joyce Carol Oates, which I feel like has taken my brain and twisted it into an origami crane (or more appropriately, an origami vampire bat). It’s a completely bizarre and beautifully written story set in the early 20th century about a curse which descends upon the inhabitants of Princeton, New Jersey. Just read what Stephen King had to say about it. If I manage to finish that, I’ll move onto either LET’S EXPLORE DIABETES WITH OWLS by David Sedaris, or WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK by Nathan Englander. Decisions, decisions!

Sarah O: I’m reading a book called A HORA DA ESTRELA by Clarice Lispector. I’m reading it with my Portuguese teacher. In Portuguese! It’s the story of a young woman from the north east of Brasil who moves to Rio de Janeiro  for work and things dont go well for her. It was Clarice’s last published work, published posthumously, and exhibits all her courageous and innovative use of language and attitude to structure. Though she is one of Brazil’s greatest writers she is published a bit too little outside the country. Maybe that will change.

Emily: For me it is BE AWESOME – Hadley Freeman’s alternative to HOW TO BE A WOMAN by Caitlin Moran.

Sarah B: I am reading, in chunks, (when I have time -  which I hope to be this bank hol!) – LITERARY ROGUES: A SCANDALOUS HISTORY OF WAYWARD AUTHORS which I picked up in New York. It’s the perfect read for a) a person in publishing and b) someone who lives with an author – just to watch out for the warning signs of bad behaviour! Each chapter is on a different author, period and their vices and normally, their tragic ends!

Cait: BAD PHARMA by Ben Goldacre – terrifying so far, I’m desperate to finish over the weekend!!

Naomi: THE CRANE WIFE by Patrick Ness. As a huge fan of Patrick Ness (although come on, who isn’t?! Even my severely dyslexic boyfriend who has only ever read the Harry Potter books and several Guns N’ Roses themed  autobiographies loved the CHAOS WALKING series!) as well as Japanese folklore, I was very excited to hear that he was releasing a new book for adults, based on a traditional Japanese fairytale. As I already know how the original story goes, I am pretty certain there will be no happy endings here, but it still looks like an amazing read and one I can’t wait to sink my teeth into. Also the cover is gorgeous! And I can (probably) exclusively reveal that the double-matte finish FEELS LIKE VELVET! (Not that I know this from repeatedly rubbing it on my face, of course.)

Sara OC: I’m reading THE END OF BIG by Nicco Mele on my Kobo app. Nicco is a friend of mine from high school and basically revolutionised the way presidential campaigns are run. He pioneered the grassroots social media fundraising as webmaster for Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign.

Emma: THE GREAT GATSBY – because it is a modern classic I have never read. And because the film is coming and I HATE seeing the film before I have read the book. Also WONDER – the story of a boy with severe facial disfigurement. I am reading this with my 9 year old. He is loving it and so am I.

Jan: Right now I’m plowing through my haul from the Stockholm International Comics Festival that I attended to last weekend. Most of all I’m looking forward to reading STORIES FROM ENGELFORS. It’s an interlude graphic novel, published between book two and three in the YA trilogy “The Circle” by Sara Bergmark Elfgren and Mats Strandberg. It’s been making it’s way around the world for the past few years and since the co-writers and artists Kim W Andersson  (who also designed the trilogy covers), Lina Neidestam and Karl Johnsson are friends of mine I’m hoping this graphic novel gets the same treatment!

Another two beautiful finds that I’ll be ogling are Sigbjørn Lilleeng’s  GENERATOR which looks a bit Akira inspired, with a Paul Pope treatment – Norwegians really know their stuff when it comes to comics! So do Germans, and even though I won’t get as much of DAS INFERNO by Michael Meier it’s looking amazing!

Becca: Over the bank holiday  weekend I am reading THE LAST GIRLFRIEND ON EARTH by Simon Rich. My little sister sent it to me in the post because she loved it so much, and I definitely trust her judgement. So far so good, it’s a collection of quirky, surreal and hilarious short stories and sketches about love. My favourite so far involves an over-amorous goat and the grisly troll that ‘got away’. I’m excited to see where this goes….

Georgia: I’m reading THE LOST ART OF KEEPING SECRETS by Eva Rice – Emily’s copy via Becca! I’d never have picked this book up as it has the most dreary pastel cover and looks like godawful chick lit, but it’s a delight – a kind of pastiche of a 50s novel, full of wonderfully eccentric characters, fabulous period detail, written with great wit and warmth but also real poignancy. Utterly delicious and unputdownable!

What are you reading today? Tell us below!

Throwing Paper Planes…an ode to a friendship

As I’m sure you won’t have failed to notice – Journalist, documentary maker and TV presenter Dawn O’Porter has written her first YA novel, which officially came out yesterday.

There is so much online chatter about this book due to Dawn’s career so far, and this has been amazing for us as a new(ish) publisher to see. Sure, it’s felt pretty glamorous for us to be listening to Dawn talk on the radio, or TV, or in magazines about a book we publish.

But, all this aside, besides all the hype and chatter, we have a book. And a stunning book at that. A story, of a friendship. If you’ve ever been a teenage girl – and I have – you will remember how genuinely crap you can feel sometimes, how all over the place your emotions are, how friendships can feel so fragile and how those first “loves” take over your life. When I first read Dawn’s novel, I went on a massive nostalgia trip – all those feelings I’d put away came rushing back. I tell you now – I’d never want to be a teenager again!

When we were thinking about Paper Aeroplanes, and how to get across those teenage feelings, we thought of music. How many times did I close the door to my bedroom and play music so loud to wallow in teen angst? I can only imagine what my parents thought to me singing at the top of my voice to Whitney Houston over and over again. *hangs head* So, when we discovered The Bookshop Band, and heard their songs about books, we thought – what better thing? We commissioned an Ode to a Friendship, for Renee and Flo, and when I listen to this, it takes me back to my teenage years. And it made Dawn WEEP. (Honest).

So – here is the WORLD PREMIERE, of Throwing Paper Planes, by the very, very talented Bookshop Band – we hope you enjoy it…and go on, wallow a little.

Of wrestling trolls and faces of the moon…

Last year, our first Bologna, we had five books to sell on the international rights front – not bad for a launch list of nine. It was exhilarating, scary, sobering, surprising – and enormous fun.  And now here we were again, one year on, with our shelves stacked with real finished books and with a few prizes and rights sales too.

What happened in the interim?  Let’s take MAGGOT MOON.  We reckoned we had a bit of a winner there, but markets can be fickle (and the mood was pretty cautious) so you can never be quite sure.  That’s one of the thrills of the business – no two books work in the same way.  It’s a statement of the obvious, I know, but it makes life challenging and just a little bit dangerous.  The fair just reminds you of the amazing diversity of tastes (sometimes surprising, sometimes downright confounding), of ways of publishing, of national and cultural conventions.

MAGGOT MOON went down brilliantly at that first fair and has now sold in seventeen countries (it’s only the beginning) and has been published in three so far.  So, in seventeen places, the book has been similarly appreciated, loved and bought but just take a look at the jackets and differences immediately emerge.

Our edition

The American edition

American booksellers are colour-prejudiced – they abhor white jackets – so for the US edition our image has been cast on a cool shade of midnight blue.  In both the Italian and Spanish editions the title has changed (it is a bit of a difficult one) so it becomes THE THREE FACES OF THE MOON and STANDISH’S PLANET.  Take a look at the treatment – graphic and photographic – reflecting what the publisher feels will make it work in the local market.  Of course if you were to give the book to a handful of UK publishers you would get as many and various jackets but with translation you have the originating publisher’s vision first and foremost – to reject, accept or adapt.  I can’t wait to see the Chinese, Japanese and Thai versions…

The Italian edition

The Spanish edition

Interestingly the book has sold in southern European countries, the far east too, but NOT in Scandinavia.  It’s just a matter of time but it’s still curious – is it because of the subject, the politics, the genre, the state of the market, the fact that there are more books being published by local authors at the moment?  Hmmmmm.  I’ll let you know.

When we’re offering for a book, we consider what we think we can sell in translation, and it’s tricky.  Say we have a book on wrestling trolls, for instance.  Trolls are from Scandinavia so that should be fertile territory, although one Norwegian editor told me that her publisher absolutely hated trolls.

And what about wrestling? It’s hugely popular in Japan, Korea, the USA and of course Turkey where oil wrestling (when the participants are covered in olive oil…) is a national sport, but in Japan they are not so fond of huge hairy trolls (Moomintrolls are quite another matter).  There again the combination of the two is perhaps more than the sum of its parts. Basically, there is no science in this, no easy formula that can be worked out with a bit of research on google.  All I can say is that the mood of the fair was definitely receptive to the idea of wrestling trolls.  Hooray!  It’s all about the magic of the writing and the spell it casts over the reader.  And that’s the thrill of a book fair.  There’s nothing quite like seeing that glimmer in an editor’s eye – the excitement of a new idea, a challenging concept… a wrestling troll.

Bowling, group love-ins and metadata…

Last Thursday and Friday, a bunch of us went down to Chelsea Harbour for a Bonnier Group Love-in, including food, presentations and bowling, officially known as the Bonnier Manager’s Conference. This is an annual event where all the publishers in the Bonnier Publishing group get together and we all get an update on what our lovely sisters are doing.

And then we all lose all that sisterly love, just like in a real family, and battle it out on the bowling alley in the evening. Hot Key Bowling Report: Sarah Odedina is actually a secret bowling star, Emily Thomas wins the most enthusiastic member of the team ever and Jet Purdie was the one that actually scored most of our points (who isn’t surprised by that?). It all got a little serious at points I must say. For instance Autumn publishing took things VERY seriously:

Things got serious(ly competitive)

But anyway, I digress. Being part of a group like Bonnier Publishing is great. Firstly – nobody takes themselves too seriously, and everyone is very approachable. Nobody is corporate. For instance – which other CEO would let themselves be caricatured and put right there on the website?

The Bonnier Publishing CEO Richard Johnson reading CEO for Dummies.

It also means though we have strength in numbers – we can share some functions like having a group sales and accounts team – but then also each company is decentralized which means we all have full editorial control and each have our own identities. Look out for our sister companies blog takeover in a few weeks time where you can get to know them all a bit better.

I was given the unenviable task of task of talking to the group about metadata. SAY WHAT NOW? I hear you ask. Well…metadata is how people find our books online, so it is mega important. But only to a data-geek I hear you say? Well here’s how I convinced people otherwise with a little video conversation…with a little help from Xtranormal.com:

What can I say, apart from after that, metadata was certainly the word of the conference!

Bologna Day 2, in pictures

It’s day two of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, and things are in full swing at the Bonnier stand. Hot Key and our sisters Autumn, Templar, Five Mile, and Red Lemon Press are meeting like mad with people from all over the world. Cait Davies has been kind enough to send us a few pics of the action. Here’s a lovely panoramic view of the Bonnier booth:

Basically, everyone at Bologna has a packed schedule:

Here is a shot of Sarah O and Jet looking quite smart:

Occasionally, there are a few moments to catch your breath in between meetings…

And it seems no matter how far you go from the office, certain things travel with you…

Even though its freezing in Bologna this year, Cait is happy to report that the food is still incredible:

If you want to check in with all the action at the Bonnier booth live, you can watch the stream here: http://bit.ly/10eQpDE.

Show Your Books!

Today’s blog is from Jenny Jacoby, a wonderfully talented editor and all-around awesome lady who is filling in for Sara O’Connor while Sara is on maternity leave. Look out for more blogs from Jenny in the coming months!

An old internet meme I used to enjoy was ‘Show Your Books’. The name pretty much says what it was about, so I thought I’d resurrect the game and Show My Books as my first post on the Hot Key blog. (Also in the hope of starting a Twitter #showyourbooks meme…)

This is my bedside table. These are my books. Rather, these are my on-the-go books. There’s a second pile behind them of next-in-line books.

And here is my confession: I’m a terrible cheat on my books. I love them all but I can’t commit to one at a time. I’m a serial polygamist.

Like Renée in PAPER AEROPLANES, like everyone in THE VINCENT BOYS/BROTHERS, I might be in a relationship with a person (i.e. book) I love and who loves me back, but I can’t resist the temptation of a flirty new individual who crosses my path.

The story will go something like this: I’m reading FREEDOM but it’s a big, heavy hardback, so I keep it for reading in bed. That’s alongside my other long-term projects like THE MITFORDS. Then I need to have a portable book on the go too, for when I go on the tube. I start Iain Sinclair’s Hackney book, decide I’m enjoying it so much I want to savour just little bites of it at a time, so I start reading whole other books in between single Sinclair chapters… I’m given a copy of THE NAME OF THE STAR so I have to start it, and even though I’m loving it, when I’m then given a proof copy of Paper Aeroplanes I have to tear through that first.

I’ve lost track of how many physical books I have on the go at this stage.

What you can’t also see on the pile of books here is THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, which I’m reading on my iPhone because it’s good to have something illuminated to read as I lie in the dark on the floor next to my daughter’s cot while she falls asleep. (She doesn’t need me to do this every night … but it is a chance for me to catch up on some reading…)

I also have a couple of manuscripts I’m reading on my iPhone.

I’ve always been like this. As a child I had a bedside book pile of a similar height, which I kept on a strict rotation: one chapter per night from whichever book was at the bottom of the pile, replaced after reading onto the top of the pile and not getting another look until its turn on the eight-night rotation came round again. It could get confusing, one night being at boarding school with Charlotte Sometimes, the next joining Minty at the Moondial, and the next finding Paula Danziger’s Bat in Bunk Five, but I felt like I was having more fun than the book monogamists.

I like to pretend that this gets me through more books at a time, but it’s not true. I’m still officially reading BABIES AND THEIR MOTHERS (second from the bottom, there) because having a baby piqued my interest in infant psychology, but my daughter is two years old now. Hardly a baby anymore, and I’ve still not finished it.

Then there are some I just can’t let go, like THE MITFORDS – it’s an 800+ page beast and I’m only a few pages from the end but I’m not ready to say goodbye yet and actually finish it.

There are some that have reappeared on my pile, like THE EYES OF KAREN CONNORS, which I salvaged from my dad’s loft before he took what’s left of my childhood library to the charity shop. (I hope the people of my home town are ready for some good 80s book covers.)

Gone are the days of my regimented rotation. Now I pick up the on-the-go book that I feel most in the mood for. I’ll give full-time attention to any book I’m on the brink of finishing, because it feels good to actually complete something. So there is method to my madness. Not that my boyfriend thinks so.

Anyone else up for #showyourbooks ? Anyone with odder reading habits?

An Ode to Sara OC (inspired by Carly Rae Jepsen)

As some of you who follow us on Twitter, or have been in to see us recently, will realise – Sara O’Connor, our queen of digital, and editor-extraodinaire, is leaving us today, to have her second baby. Since we started Hot Key, she will officially be the first person to leave us – albeit temporarily – so needless to say, we are finding it hard to say goodbye. So, Amy and I thought, what better way to say goodbye, than in the form of song. And what better song, than this take on last year’s classic pop song…so enjoy, Sara and all, here’s “Go have your baby!” (Click play below, then scroll through the lyrics)

You are our digital belle
You’ve got a story to tell
We look to at the helm
And now your on your way

Can you stay just one more day
Blogs and iBooks are OK
We aren’t trying to say
But please don’t go away

Your stats are glowing
Story Adventure growing
Ebooks in the knowing
Where you think you’re going Sara?

Hey, we will miss you
And this is crazy
But don’t you worry
Go have your baby!

It’s hard to think about
Hot Key without you
But don’t you worry
Go have your baby!

Hey, we will miss you
And this is crazy
But don’t you worry
Go have your baby!

All the work you’ve done
Will keep us busy
So don’t you worry
Go have your baby!

You take time over your books,
Authors love the way they look,
You gave more than you took,
You’ve such a key role to play

Your videos are fun
You’re always on the run
It’s like we’ve only just begun,
But you have to go away

You are always knowing
Which way the winds are blowing
We’ll try to keep things going
Where you think you’re going Sara???

Hey, its like we just met you,
And this is crazy,
But we’ll be okay,
So go have your baby.

It’s hard to say bye,
To you lady,
But we’ll be okay,
So go have your baby.

Hey, its like we just met you,
And this is crazy,
But we’ll be okay,
So go have your baby.

And all the Hot Keys,
Will miss ya digitall-y,
But we’ll be okay,
So go have your baby.

Until you come back into our life
We’ll miss you so bad
We’ll miss you so bad
We’ll miss you so, so bad

Good luck Sara! Come back and see us soon with cute baby in tow. It’s been amazing.

Telling Stories…About Stories

Amy Orringer blogs about attending The Story Conference, a day-long conference all about telling stories. Here’s a quote from their website, “The Story is not about theories of stories, or making money from stories, but about the sheer visceral pleasure of telling a story.”

I think I heard somewhere that your brain really likes being surprised. Not scared-suprised, but delighted-surprised (it must’ve been RadioLab, as that’s where all my knowledge of neuroscience comes from). And when your brain gets all delighted-surprised, it absorbs more, enjoys more, and ultimately leaves you with that warm fuzzy feeling.

So even though my day started off quite badly last Friday (see boot zipper malfunction below, that was on the bus, with no emergency shoes in sight), I definitely drifted away from The Story 2013 on a pink fluffy cloud of happiness.

Full disclosure — I had no idea what I was walking into. I did check the web site for details after I purchased my ticket, but at that time, there wasn’t an agenda posted. Even if there was, I’m not entirely sure it would have prepared me for the day. The agenda we did receive as we walked in was printed on the opposite side of a bag of high-quality Witches Brew, a special blend of tea specifically commissioned by The Story from the Hoxton Street Monster Supply Store. Proceeds from the day went to benefit the Ministry of Stories, the secret organization behind the Monster Supply Store, so it was fitting that we’d be greeted by their products.

It’s hard to talk chronologically about the day, because it wasn’t really organized in any linear fashion (that I could discern anyway). It was just a bunch of really talented, interesting people telling stories about how they tell stories. So to make sense out of my jumble of notes and taking a cue from this brilliant blog, I’m just going to give you my top five moments of the day:

1. Laura Dockrill – So this woman walks up on stage, with her crazy colourful hammer pants, and her black tied-up collared shirt, and shiny stars stuck on her face, and her hair doing something which can only be described as messy-chic. She has a book in her hand, and I think, yay! A reading! She gives us the speil to bring us up to speed on the plot, throws the book down, and starts “reading.” Only she’s not reading her book, she’s acting it out, with all the requisite voices! She gave a great interview afterwards as well. She said that the reason she approaches her readings with so much, let’s say, “energy,” is that she wants to show kids that they can be writers too! Writers don’t have to be old and wear glasses. She also said it was important for kids writers to make kids feel like they are important and listened to (we all fully agree with that one here at HKB).

2. Alecky Blyth — There’s really no good way to describe the kind of thing that Alecky has created. It’s basically a new way of putting on a play, one where the actors are basically fed their lines via earphones — but they’re not regular lines in a script — they are recordings of actual people, responding to a police incident in their neighborhood. Here’s a little taste:

I am so glad this production is doing another limited run at The National Theatre. This is obviously something best seen live!

3. Ben Boucquelet — One of the things that always annoys me about listening to artists speak is that it always feels like they just woke up one day and produced something brilliant. Ben however, did not downplay the blood, sweat and tears which went into making his ridiculously funny cartoon show The Amazing World of Gumball. He made it clear that Gumball was, and continues to be a labour of love. He showed us different phases of the process, even side-by-side with the final product at some points. He encouraged us to embark on our own absurdly difficult creative endeavors, just as long as we really, really love what we’re working on.

4. Michael Please — I might be a bit biased towards anything to do with stop-motion video, but I think even the average visual arts appreciator was awestruck by Michael’s work. Michael is a brilliant stop-motion animator who made a film about the relative value of time. Take a look:

5. Fiona Romeo — Before last Friday, if you’d asked me about the top 10 museums to visit in London, the National Maritime Museum wouldn’t have made the list. But after listening to Fiona Romeo, the director of the museum, explain how she approaches the exhibits, I’m putting in the top 3. She talked about how museums are inherently about telling people stories, and exhibits should be designed accordingly. OK this is not a shock, but what was fascinating is the way Fiona described designing exhibits so that people could experience the narrative the the way they felt most comfortable. Whether you want to take a deep dive or just dip your toe into the information, you could still walk away with a story.

If you can believe it, this is only a teeny tiny taste of the amazingness of the day. I walked away feeling excited about the stories we could tell at Hot Key Books. Not just the ones that our authors write, but the stories behind, beyond, and beside those stories. What I realised is that even though we (as in, humanity) are incredibly practiced at storytelling, there are always new ways to do it, just as long as we are willing to put on our crazy pants, stick earphones in our ears, play with clay, animate the inanimate, and redesign the regular.

(And here’s another blog about The Story conference, comparing it to attending the Brit awards… verrry interesting.)

Want to Work in Children’s Book Publishing?

Last week, we did A Day in the Life… video series featuring all our fantastic assistants and what they do. We’ve had an amazing response – mostly people wanting to know how they can break into the industry. If you missed it, see yesterday’s round up check it out here (or below).

I’ve already blogged about my top tips in this post.

Eight years ago, I was hunting for a job in children’s publishing, after a couple of years in New York. This is what I did:

First, I bought a notebook with a cow on it, as you do. Then, I stuck in a calendar.

Then, I harassed as many people whose names in children’s publishing I could for “informational interviews” to fill up slots in that calendar.

For any number of reasons, internships aren’t always possible, but a carefully-worded, well-researched letter/email asking for half an hour of their time was generally positively received. (And if you do get a meeting, MAKE SURE you stick with just half an hour!)

At each meeting, I had a set of questions that I asked, and I was always listening out for other names and companies mentioned.

Sara O’Connor’s list of questions to ask on children’s publishing informational interview.

At two of my meetings, I heard about the fantastic editorial team at Working Partners, and so chased that lead up. I ended up with a two week internship there, and at the end of that… a job!

So my big tip for this blog is to look at non-traditional ways in. Find the smaller, more flexible companies: book packagers like Working Partners or HotHouse, new independant houses, think about interning with agencies (I know Eve White runs a scheme) or with literary scouts. You’ll get an excellent overview of the market.

Also consider digital start ups – having digital experience will be so valuable in the very near future.

Send an impassioned letter to people/companies of your choice, volunteering your time in exchange for experience.

But most of all, don’t give up! Keep trying…

We’d love to hear any other success stories… how did you get your job in publishing?

(In all my rush to post the blog (yes, yes, I know, I was late posting!) I forgot to add in my favourite thing from those weeks back in 2004… I’ve got all the notes from those meetings, including the notes from when Emma Matthewson – the newset Hot Key-er – agreed to talk to me. Click on the link below for the PDF. The frowny face is because I was naughty and talked to her for an hour, instead of half an hour. But that was because she was just SO NICE and lovely and helpful. )

EmmaMatthewsonNotes