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So Long, And Thanks for All the Fish

Here it is: my last day interning at Beaufort Books. It’s been a surprisingly quick five months, and I’m definitely going to miss my thrice-weekly trip into Manhattan. Last week was my first-ever BEA, and it was absolutely the best ending to the best internship.

I went into this internship with very few expectations, and a very little knowledge of the publishing world. I knew I liked books, and I liked reading, and publishers made books, so that sounded fun; but I had no idea of the breadth of work that turned an idea in someone’s head into a completed book on a bookstore shelf. Now I do. And I’ve managed, in my small part, to contribute to that process.

I walk out now, having met and talked to authors, proofread manuscripts, helped arrange blog tours, cultivated relationships with reviewers and bookstores, learned publishing lingo, messengered books and press kits all over the city, and even designed my first book cover. I’ve experienced BEA in all its footsore, backbreaking, lack-of-sleep, starry-eyed wonder. And, what’s more, I still want to work in publishing.

Even with all the unexpected and sometimes monotonous tasks, the plethora of papercuts, and the long commute (where, let’s be honest, I got a lot of reading done), I would not have given up this internship for the world. I’ve gotten such a better understanding of the publishing industry and the place I want to have in it, and I’ve picked up and honed the skills I’ll need in my future career. I’ve met a lot of great people, interns and professionals alike, and hope to run into them all again someday, preferably when we’re all high-level publishing executives who have single-handedly courted a dozen best-selling and award-winning authors apiece.

So to Beaufort, I say so long, and thanks for all the fish.

-Placebeau

P.S. Incidentally… anybody in the market for an Assistant Editor? *winkwinknudgenudge*