Hello everyone,
I’m a new intern for the fall term, and I go by the pen name J.R.R. Beaulkien.
To introduce myself a bit, I am a grad student working on my second (and final) year of my M.S. in Publishing degree. My interests in this field are editorial, design, and publicity.
Therefore, interning at Beaufort Books is a great opportunity for me as I get to do a little bit of everything. As someone who is still fairly new to the publishing industry I think it’s good to have a nice solid foundation to build off, and to learn how smaller publishers work and function.
It is true that at a larger publishing house you would work alongside other departments, but at a smaller house you might work in two departments or help out with a third. That’s why I wanted to intern with Beaufort as I knew it would provide me with this experience and help me learn to be adaptable. It’s also good to know how all the parts of a publishing house come together and work to produce books. Overall, this is a chance for me to widen my horizons and find a niche of my own within this fascinating industry!
So far, I have helped out with a lot, which is super exciting—from entering metadata to crafting publicity posts for the Kindle Monthly Deals. There’s still much to learn, and every day is a chance to pick up something new or refine a skill you are working on. This has become my motto with my internship here and to apply it to school, too. A lot of work goes into making books, even after it hits the shelves, and I’m learning to appreciate the hard work that goes into it and how rewarding it can be as well. After all, fellow book lovers have gone to great lengths to create and share even more books with the world.
Speaking of sharing, this week is Comic-Con in NYC, and this is a great place to share one’s love for books, graphic novels, comics, and manga. I will be attending on Thursday to briefly meet different publishers and take in a different side of publishing. After all, this is an event where you can see the rewards in the forms of devoted readers and fans in person.
As a fan myself, I am excited to learn what I can and enjoy my first time at a Con. It would be so much fun to dress up, but I don’t have any costumes ready to jump into. So I will be admiring the handiwork of fans and I might try to pick up some merch or get a signing or two in. I am a manga fan, and that means I will at least be scoping out those booths—I will be keeping a sharp eye out for my favorite series like Fairy Tail and Horimiya.
Take care and happy reading,
J.R.R. Beaulkien