fbpx

Tag: Editorial

Top Ten Terms: Editorial in Publishing

Posted on by brittany.willis

Happy new year! We’re excited to continue our Peek into Publishing posts in 2022 with more exciting content to help you at the start of your publishing journey. As our first post this year, we’re looking to demystify the jargon used in publishing meetings and around the office. We’ve asked our editorial team to name and define the Top Ten Terms they wished they’d known when they first started in the industry. As they thought of so many important editorial terms, we’re making this a two-part special, with a second list of terms coming soon. 

These terms are useful for anyone looking to work in publishing, or for someone who has recently started out in their first publishing role, whichever department it’s in. They are mentioned in meetings with all departments, so we hope you’ll benefit from learning them! 

If you want to look at terms used in other departments, take a look at our previous Top Ten Terms posts by our rights, sales and marketing & publicity departments.

1. Prelims

This includes all the content that appears in the book prior to the introduction or the first chapter. In Watkins’ books this can include:

  • List of endorsements 
  • Title page
  • Imprint page
  • Contents page 
  • Dedication
  • List of author’s previously published titles
  • Foreword
  • Preface

2. Endmatter

This refers to all the content that appears in the book after the final chapter ends. In Watkins’ books this can include:

  • Notes
  • Appendices
  • Glossary
  • Further reading list
  • Bibliography
  • About the author
  • Acknowledgements
  • Index

3. Extent 

Extent is a publishing term for the page count. Printers will require the extent to be a certain number. The printers we use need the extent to be a multiple of 8, (the paper is bound in multiples of 8). So, if our book comes to 198 pages, we will add two pages at the end to make our extent 200 (a multiple of 8). This means we could add content to the end or have these as blank pages (if you’ve ever wondered why some books have blank pages at the end – this is why!)

4. Folios

Folios is another publishing term that has a simpler word – page number. If someone asks you to check the folios are correct, they are asking you to check each page has the page number at the bottom and the numbers are correct. By this, I mean that we don’t skip a number. 

5. Running heads

Running heads normally appear at the top of the page. At Watkins, we put the part name on the left page and the chapter title on the right page. If the book isn’t split into parts, the book title will appear on the left instead. 

6. Title page

You’ll notice I included the title page in my list of content that appears in the prelims. The title page will be one of the first pages you see when you open the book – it has the book title, subtitle, author name and company logo in the exact position as the cover. In fact, it is almost a replica of the cover, sometimes with the design details removed. In black and white books (known as mono books), this will be the cover in black and white. See below for an example of a recently published Watkins book and its title page. 

7. Overmatter

Overmatter refers to content that won’t fit on the page. If you’re working to a strict extent, and the book cannot be over a certain number of pages due to costs, then the designer will set text as overmatter rather than running it on extra pages. So, if a chapter has 3 lines running on a new page, the designer might instead mark this as overmatter at the bottom of the page. The editor would then have to cut the previous page by 3 lines to make sure this text fit. 

8. Heading levels

You may often hear editors and designs talking about A heads and B heads and C heads and … you get my drift. Each heading level will have a certain design to indicate that the A heads are the larger, more important heads and the B heads come under the A heading. For example, an A head in a fitness book could be The Gym and a B head that falls under this could be Treadmills. The headings in the manuscript are labelled clearly so the designer knows the level of each heading and can design them correctly. This will look like the following:


<A head> The Gym <A Head>
<B head> Treadmills <B head>

9. Serial comma

This is a contentious piece of grammar in publishing – everyone has an opinion as to whether you should use one. Also referred to as the Oxford Comma, it’s the comma that appears before and in a list: I want a dog, a cat, and a rabbit. In Watkins, our style dictates we don’t use the serial comma, but this will differ across publishers. 

10. Pre-press check

You might be asked to perform a pre-press check as an Editorial Assistant. This is the final check that the editorial team performs on the book before it goes to press. You are generally checking the contents page is correct, the folios and running headers are all correct, a spell check has been performed to pick up any remaining pesky typos, there are no double spaces or pages with missing text and scanning each page for a final time to make sure no weird design elements catch your eye – for example, an A head isn’t in bold. 

That’s all for this week! We hope you gained a little more knowledge of the editorial terms that get used a lot. We wish those of you seeking a job in editorial (and in publishing in general) the best of luck!

If you want to learn more about upcoming Peek Into Publishing projects, follow Watkins on Twitter. You can see all our previous Peek into Publishing posts on this page. 

A Peek into Publishing: Editorial and Audio with Daniel Culver

Posted on by isabelle.panay

Welcome back to the latest Peek into Publishing! We love showing you around our departments and offering insight into a wide range of roles. Take a look at our Peek into Publishing page for more posts. This week we’re delving into the worlds of editorial and audio in publishing and how those overlap in Daniel’s role.

Daniel Culver, Editorial and Audiobook Manager

How did you get into the industry and into your current role?

I began my career in Education and Youth Work before I took a break in my mid-twenties to raise my daughter. Being a single parent, I was able to get a grant that allowed me to study Publishing with Creative Writing at Middlesex University.

During my final year, I found a temporary role as an Editorial Assistant at Pearson Education (whose offices happened to be very close to where I lived at the time). I worked for two weeks in Pearson’s schools department (which was also my first foray into audiobooks) and I was then offered another two week placement in the Vocational department, where I did some market research.

My role was due to come to an end when I saw an advert for a Senior Editor in the trade professional department, whose imprints included the FT, Prentice Hall and Longman. Being both extremely naïve and hugely inexperienced at the time, I applied for the job. To my surprise, the Editorial Manager asked to meet with me, and while she told me that I was clearly not qualified for that particular role, she was about to lose another Editor to maternity leave so wondered if I might like to cover that vacancy instead. Of course, I said yes and that was how I got my start in the industry. Part perseverance and part dumb luck.

I ended up working at Pearson for several years, first as a Desk Editor, then I moved departments and worked as a Senior Editor on the International Schools list which was very much cut and shut publishing (making books from bits and pieces from other books). I hated it so much I decided to leave publishing altogether (at least for a while), working instead as a designer.

I returned to books a couple of years later when I got an Editor role at Hodder Education and then moved to RIBA where I worked a Project Editor on architectural books.

I joined Watkins in 2019 as a Managing Editor and have since become the Editorial and Audiobook Manager.

What does your day to day look like as Editorial and Audiobook Manager?

I begin by clearing my inbox, dealing first with the smaller tasks just to get them out of the way. Usually there are questions from freelancers about any number of books I might have sent them to edit, or an author requesting something. Perhaps the studio might have questions about an audiobook we’ve commissioned.

Once the smaller tasks are out of the way, I will work through the list of books that are currently in production, checking our schedule to make sure nothing is going to slip. I might have page proofs or audio files to check; maybe I’ll have to book something in with a freelancer as well.

Then there are invoices to process, or advance copies to sign off on. More emails and small fires to put out. Then meetings. Lots and lots of meetings.

This month I’m juggling an Asian cookery book, a book about martial arts, two self-help titles and a number of audiobooks, also.

What were you most surprised to learn when you started in editorial and audio in publishing?

How little time I actually have to sit and read. My first role in publishing was all reading. Reading and checking proofs. Whereas now, much of my job involves overseeing other editors and freelances, while ensuring everything comes together on time and within budget.

What is the best thing about your job? 

Being able to use everything I’ve learned over the last decade in one role – incorporating editing, design, typesetting, audio and project management.

Working on audio I get to work across several of the Watkins Media imprints as well.

What is the most challenging part of your role?

Publishing new books and audiobooks every month. We produce a constant cycle of new titles, somewhere in the region of 30-40 printed books and maybe 30 audiobooks a year, so my job is a juggling act of sorts. I couldn’t do it without such an amazing team of colleagues.

What would be your top tip for people applying to work in publishing?

Every route into publishing is different, so work on getting your foot in the door – any door (and either foot) – and then work on anything and everything that you can.

I worked in several departments, first as an Editorial Assistant and then in market research. I also worked in design and copywriting before I found my way into the industry. The experience I gained across those roles has all come into play in my current role.

What’s one Watkins book you’d encourage everyone to read?

The New Heretics by Andy Thomas and The Cabinet by Un-su Kim, they’re both fantastic in their own ways.

Tell us about a project you’re currently working on

I’m currently working on a new imprint – something completely new which is very exciting but I’m not sure I can say any more than that, keep your eyes peeled!

That’s all for this week! We hope you gained a little more insight into our editorial and audio departments. We wish those of you seeking a job within editorial and audio in publishing the best of luck! If you want to learn more about upcoming “A Peek Into Publishing” projects, you can follow Watkins on Twitter. 

A Peek into Publishing: Application Tips from Hiring Managers

Posted on by isabelle.panay

We’re very aware that publishing hopefuls often write hundreds of cover letters and CVs, and can never hear back about the publishing applications they submit.

Our senior team have hired two entry-level positions within the last year and we thought we’d ask them to sit down and offer application tips, feeding back on the good and the bad throughout the process – what stood out, what not to do and what they were specifically looking for. 

Fiona Robertson is Publisher here at Watkins and she hired a new Editorial and Audio Assistant last October. 

Laura Whitaker-Jones is our Marketing and Publicity Manager and she recruited a new Publicity Assistant in January. 

Collectively, they looked through more than 1,500 applications across the two roles, so we asked them how they narrowed down the pool from application to interview. We hope you find some insight below that helps you with your own publishing applications. Remember, each hiring manager is different, as shown by Fiona and Laura’s answers, but some tips are universal.

Can you tell us a bit about the application process you created.

Fiona: I was looking for an Editorial and Audio Assistant to fill the gap created when the previous employee moved on in their career. We advertised for the position last August on LinkedIn, the IPG website and in The Bookseller, leaving the advert open for one month.

A huge number of applications came in – almost a thousand! Our Sales and Marketing Director (now our Deputy Managing Director) did a pre-filter of the LinkedIn applications, and the Editorial & Audio Manager and I did a pre-filter of the rest. This involved scanning for a number of things which I mention below.

Laura: In October 2020, I advertised for the position of Publicity Assistant on social media, the Watkins website and LinkedIn. I found the most impactful way we reached candidates was through the post being shared in the Publishing Hopefuls Facebook group. Unlike when I hired my Marketing Executive the year prior, I didn’t use an agency because I didn’t have a specific candidate in mind. Instead, I was just looking for a new, innovative voice who was willing to think outside of the box of a traditional book campaign.

I received over 500 applications for the entry-level role and screened and read the CVs and cover letters for each one myself. I immediately rejected the applicants I knew I wouldn’t progress and saved those I wanted to take a second look at once the closing date had passed.

How did you narrow down the applications?

Fiona: We created a longlist, then narrowed this down further to the interview shortlist. Initially I scanned each application looking for any obvious ticks, as well as – and this was much quicker and easier so beware – anything that stood out as negative for the role. For example:

  • Typos: a huge no-no in publishing applications for an editorial job. If the would-be Editorial Assistant can’t spot a typo in their own CV, how can they spot it in a proof?
  • Unprofessional layout: our list includes lots of beautifully presented illustrated books, so a good visual sense is key.
  • Relevant experience: We don’t require previous publishing experience for entry-level roles, but any relevant experience, such as working as a bookseller or in an office, is great.
  • Evidence of interest in books: It’s a cliché but you need to be into books to make a good book editor.
  • Evidence of interest in our field: applicants who showed some personal interest in wellbeing and mind-body-spirit (MBS) immediately stood out. Some people seemed to be applying to every job they saw (for some reason this role had a lot of applicants who, reading between the lines, actually wanted to become fashion journalists!).  

If there were any immediate red flags, I moved onto the next CV. With so many applications, it was important to get on quickly with identifying the top candidates.

Laura: I created a longlist, then narrowed this down further to a shortlist. Any person with a cover letter who didn’t even mention the job opening (which clearly indicated that they were applying for any generic job, rather than the specific one on my team) was immediately rejected. Also, if an application had a misspelling, I immediately rejected it — you can’t imagine the number of applications I received that had misspelled words in them.

Always check and double check your applications for grammatical errors!

What do you expect to see from a good CV?

Fiona: A short CV is a wondrous thing. When you have to look through nearly a thousand CVs, one page is ideal, two is just about OK, but three is definitely too much. Be clear and brief. It’s such a long process and everyone is busy – try to make it easy on the hiring manager reading your application.

Sometimes people over-design their CVs in an attempt to stand out. Don’t do this unless you’re applying for a job as a designer. Hiring managers don’t want to have to waste time trying to extract information or figure out what the graphics mean. We just want to grasp the key info as quickly as possible. Make sure the layout is clean and tidy – no misaligned paragraphs, uneven tabbing or inconsistent mix of hyphens, en-dashes and em-dashes, for example. And, I’ll say it again, definitely no typos!

To help the hiring manager, I’d recommend highlighting your relevant skills and experience. It doesn’t matter how you do that, just make sure it’s clear and easy to understand.

Laura: I also looked for CVs that presented qualifications in a very easy-to-digest manner. While a highly designed CV is always attention-grabbing, if I can’t easily find the qualifications that I’m looking for, then I’m going to disregard the CV quickly. 

I also looked for candidates to share a bit about themselves in their CV – for example, listing “hiking the Grand Canyon” as a personal interest – as it always makes them stand out. Remember, hiring managers are looking for specific elements in your CV, but when you take the time to add a bit of personality, you become more memorable. I cannot tell you the number of times I saw two CVs that expressed similar levels of experience, but I chose to progress the person with a CV that listed something interesting personally about themselves over the candidate who did not. 

What makes a cover letter stand out?

Fiona: I believe there’s such a thing as a natural editor, and it’s rare to find. When I was reading the cover letters of the applicants who’d passed the CV scan, I was looking for someone with instinctive self-editing skills, who could write fluently, concisely and intelligently – if you can write well, you’ll be able to assess other people’s writing.

I was also looking for people who were interested in working in wellbeing publishing and specifically in working at Watkins, rather than just wanting to get into any old sort of publishing.

Laura: While I look through CVs to see what kind of experience a candidate has, I’m much more interested in their cover letter. I feel that one’s cover letter is an opportunity to stand out from other publishing applications, and I strongly urge anyone reading this to really put the time and effort into making a cover letter personal to the job you are applying for. For example, cover letters that cited recent books from the Watkins/Nourish list made it to my “interesting potential candidate” pile, whereas cover letters that were clearly formulaic were put in my “pass” pile. 

The successful candidate had a great cover letter, which was personally addressed to me and not to “the hiring manager”. This is such a small piece of information you can find out online that makes the cover letter more personable (most publishers will respond on social media if you ask who to direct the cover letter to). Our newest Publicity Assistant discussed her interest in women’s health and how she was particularly excited that we had recently published The Happy Menopause. She engaged with our list and spoke to how different MBS non-fiction titles had made a big difference in her life, and why she was eager to work at Watkins and Nourish specifically.

What made you reject an application on the first round of looking at it?

Fiona: As I said before, the big ones were typos and design laziness. Attention to detail is key in everything an Editorial Assistant does, so I expected the CV and cover letter to be perfect. I’d definitely recommend asking multiple people to proofread your application before sending it off.

A lot of applications also weren’t specific to mind-body-spirit books, or even non-fiction. It was very clear who had cut and pasted content from other publishing applications.

Laura: Similar to Fiona, I immediately rejected any application that didn’t mention Watkins or Nourish. Several applicants didn’t tailor their CV or cover letter to our company, which made me think they’d used the same application for multiple different companies. There were also a few CVs that came in without any cover letter at all, which I immediately rejected.

When you’re applying to so many publishing jobs, it’s hard to read a book for every imprint. If applicants haven’t read a Watkins book yet when writing their cover letter, what do you recommend they do to show company research and knowledge?

Fiona: Of course you don’t need to have read a book by the publisher in question every time you apply for a job. If you’re trying to break into the industry with multiple applications, you’ll end up with no time for reading the books you genuinely want to read. Look at the website, social media accounts and Amazon listings to see what we’re publishing and what’s selling and reviewing well. Then you’ll be able to talk about, say, the jackets, content or authors that appeal to you.

I also loved it when candidates said they practised yoga or mindfulness, which showed they’re engaged in the areas we’re publishing, even if they haven’t yet read our yoga books.

Laura: I agree with Fiona. Another great way to see the books a company is publishing is by looking at their recent catalogue on their website – most publishing companies will have one. It’s very important and very easy to download and read. Folks can easily show company research and knowledge just by spending some time looking around a publisher’s website. 

I also recommend visiting your local bookstore and looking for what books from an imprint or company are carried in store versus online. Anything carried in store is usually a lead or very important title to a publisher, and always worth mentioning in an interview. 

A publisher’s social media feed is also a great resource for quick and easy research for a job interview, especially for a marketing or publicity role. Recent releases are highlighted alongside bestselling titles, and it’s a great way to get a feel for a company’s internal vibe. 

Do you have any additional advice for applicants?

Fiona: It’s great to come across as collaborative, helpful and easy to work with. If you send a very long email, or can’t edit your cover letter down to one page, I might worry you’re going to be long-winded at work!

The successful candidate took the trouble to get in touch with the person who was leaving to ask them about the role. It showed they were genuinely keen to work at Watkins and made a great impression. It also showed they valued themselves enough to find out about what doing that job would really be like.

Laura: I recommend finding out who the hiring manager is and connecting with them on social media and/or LinkedIn. In smaller companies, they won’t have a dedicated HR team going through your application – it will be the manager of the department you’re applying for. A few applicants connected with me on LinkedIn and messaged me to emphasise their interest in the role. I immediately called them for an interview.  

People on social media also asked …

A lot of companies say you don’t need publishing specific experience. What other types of jobs have looked good on a CV for a publishing job?

Fiona: I like it when applicants say they have bookselling experience. It usually means they love books and also have some sense of how competitive the market is. If you’ve previously worked in an office, you can talk about paying attention to detail, or prioritising competing requests, or managing a busy workload.

Laura: Promotion or marketing within any specific field. We look for ingenuity and delivery of KPIs. If you show me that you grew a brand or a person over expected numbers, I’m immediately interested. Similarly, if you demonstrate that you are an outside-of-the-box thinker, you are interesting within any field.

Does it make a difference whether the content of the cover letter is included in the body of the email / as an attachment?

Laura: Please, please put it in an attachment. It’s okay to take a few core elements of your cover letter and put it into your introductory email, but I personally prefer applicants to attach their cover letter and CV as separate documents.

Fiona: I disagree with Laura, I’d rather have it in the body of the email so there’s just one attachment to open! But I wouldn’t mark anyone down for sending the cover letter as an attachment, of course not.

I was wondering how often you get publishing applications from non-native English speakers (but with a degree in a similar field) and what are the odds for a foreigner getting in?

Laura: I have interviewed several non-native English speakers for positions throughout my career and it’s never a disadvantage. As long as you can demonstrate that you are proficient in English and a creative thinker, I’m very happy to interview you. 

I am a foreigner to the United Kingdom – a 16-year American publishing veteran living and working in the UK – and I believe (and I know Fiona would agree!) I bring a tremendous amount of expertise and innovation to my leadership role and to publishing within the UK because I provide a fresh perspective. 

And does years of experience in completely different field put one at a disadvantage for entry level roles?

Laura: That depends on how you tell your story in your cover letter and CV. If you can clearly demonstrate how your skills and experience within one field will translate into publishing, then a disadvantage does not exist. 

Does it make a difference if you apply straight away or 2 weeks after the advertisement has been put up?

Fiona: I’d say it’s helpful to get it in straightaway. We waited until the window for applying was closed before starting to assess the applications, but not all hiring managers do this. Some only keep the window open until they find enough great candidates to interview.

We hope you found this useful – a huge thanks to Fiona and Laura for taking the time to talk us through their hiring processes and offering their publishing application tips!

As you can see from some of the varied responses, hiring is a situation very individual to each publishing house and each member of staff, so there is often no right or wrong answer. Nonetheless, we hope you gained some insight into the individual perspectives and found some top tips to use in the future!

If you’re an aspiring publisher, check out our regular Peek Into Publishing posts – where you can find insights into a number of departments, what the staff do and some useful key terms. Coming up, Fiona and Laura have also answered some of your interview questions, which we’ll share on our blog in a few weeks.

Feel free to reach us on Twitter if you have any questions, and we wish you the best of luck on your publishing journey!

A Peek into Publishing: Editorial with Ella Chappell

Posted on by brittany.willis

Welcome back to a Peek into Publishing! We love showing you around our departments and offering insight into not just entry level jobs, but a wide range of roles. So far we’ve shown you sales, marketing and design. We thought it was about time we dove into the most popular choice for Publishing Hopefuls: editorial. We asked one of our amazing Commissioning Editors to share how she worked her way up to commissioning level and what she gets up to on a day-to-day basis within editorial in publishing.

Ella Chappell, Commissioning Editor for Watkins and Nourish Books

How did you get into the industry and into your current editorial role? 

I knew I wanted to work with books from quite an early age, ever since I did a work experience placement at Penguin when I was in secondary school. I then studied English Literature at the University of East Anglia, and followed that with a Masters in Creative Writing. During the summer of my final year, I did a six-week internship at A P Watt literary agency (now part of United Agents). 

After I graduated, I sought out as many internships as I could, doing stints at Carcanet in Manchester and volunteering at The Poetry Society. I eventually secured a three-month internship in the editorial department at The British Museum Press. It was so much fun and allowed me to see what an editorial role was really like.

From there I moved to a full-time position at a digital publishing start-up, and then to Editorial Assistant at Titan Books where I worked in genre fiction. I worked my way up through Assistant Editor, Desk Editor and Editor roles, gradually learning on the job how to commission and acquire. 

After a year as Editor at Unbound in both fiction and non-fiction, I found the Commissioning Editor job I’d always dreamed of at Watkins!

What does your day to day look like as Commissioning Editor? 

The average day is usually an equal split between looking after current projects and acquiring new books. My day begins with reading through emails and responding to author’s queries, requests from other departments and admin. I’m always keeping a lot of plates spinning – I might be doing final checks on the proofs of one book, finding the right freelance copyeditor for another and editing the early sample text of a different title. Another big part of the job is writing copy – whether that be for covers, sales points, online descriptions or finding the perfect title and subtitle. 

When it comes to acquisitions, this part of the job demands a switch in pace. Much of the work of acquisitions is simply thinking, reading and absorbing – whether it be a submission, related newsletter, looking at recent sales figures or checking out the work of emerging voices in mind, body, spirit or food writing. One of the best parts of the job is finding a new writer who is really exciting and reaching out to them. At that point, the hard work of developing a concept and presenting it to the rest of the company starts!

For example, today I spent the first hour responding to emails from over the weekend. I attended a production meeting, where the production department shared updates on schedules for forthcoming books. The rest of the morning was spent writing a cover brief for a designer. The morning ended with a short meeting with the wonderful editorial team, where we discussed the progress of each book in the pipeline.

In the afternoon I added some newly acquired books to our shared schedule, drafting and circulating copy for AI (Advance Information) sheets with other departments for their feedback. At 3pm I had a meeting with one of my authors and the marketing and publicity team, in which we discussed the marketing plan for their book leading up to publication. I ended the day by reading through a proposal document that a potential author had put together. I made notes and suggested changes to the planned chapter structure and did some research into the sales of similar titles in that area.

What were you most surprised to learn when you started in editorial in publishing? 

I didn’t realise before I started working in editorial roles to what extent you require the skills of a salesperson. I think the idea of being an editor can be quite romantic to introverts like me, who imagine pretty much being left alone to read and edit. In fact, being a commissioning editor requires you to constantly refine and repeat your elevator pitches for all of your books, to be an enthusiastic champion for them both in-house and to the public.

What is the best thing about your job? 

The best thing about my job is working with people who are truly in love with their topics, who are true experts in their fields. Being the one helping them to communicate their passion, their wisdom, their recipes, often their life’s work, is pretty magical.

What is the most challenging part of your role? 

I think the challenging part comes from the best part I mentioned above! Sometimes writers and content creators can be so close to their subject that they can be, understandably, nervous about having their words edited. I see the editorial process as collaborative, and so it only works when there is trust between the editor and the writer. Sometimes part of the job is simply building that trust, getting to know their topic deeply and empathetically, and finding the way that you are going to best work together to transform a manuscript into a book.

What would be your top tip for people applying to work in publishing?

Although this has been a little hard over the past year of lockdowns, my top tip would be to go into bookshops at least once a week, every week. Take note of which books are in the windows, on the tables, face-out, what topics and trends the booksellers are identifying. Take a look at the most prominent titles in the areas you are interested in and consider the titles, the main publishers in each space, the cover designs, the blurbs on the back. This kind of awareness of the market is essential. When you’re in interviews you can speak with specific insight about competitive titles and publishers, which will make you stand out.

What’s one Watkins title you’d encourage everyone to read? 

I am biased, since this was the first book I commissioned at Watkins, but I am very proud of Potions, Elixirs & Brews by Anaïs Alexandre. This is a beautiful little book of delicious cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks that also function as magical spells. Take a look at the book’s TikTok for a selection of the drinks if you are curious!

Tell us about a project you’re currently working on? 

I’m particularly excited to be working with Melinda Salisbury on her non-fiction book: The Way Back Almanac, a modern city-dweller’s guide back to the rhythms of nature. Publishing in August this year, the almanac takes you through 2022 month-by-month. Full of gorgeous illustrations, with tips on stargazing, windowsill gardening, seasonal vegan recipes, crafts and rituals, folklore and wisdom from contemporary writers and thinkers, it is a gorgeous little guide for anyone feeling disconnected from nature.

That’s all for this week! We hope you gained a little more insight into what it’s like to work in editorial in publishing, both for publishing hopefuls as well as editorial assistants seeking insight into higher up the editorial chain. We wish those of you seeking a job in editorial the best of luck! If you want to learn more about upcoming Peek Into Publishing projects, follow Watkins on Twitter.

You can also follow Ella on Twitter!

Watkins Media Limited
Shepperton House unit 11
89 Shepperton Road
London, England
N1 3DF

View our latest catalogue
Google-plus-g Facebook-f Twitter Instagram Youtube Meetup Rss Tiktok
View our latest catalogue

Watkins Media Limited
Shepperton House unit 11
89 Shepperton Road
London, England
N1 3DF

View our latest catalogue
Google-plus-g Facebook-f Twitter Instagram Youtube Meetup Rss
Shopping cart0
There are no products in the cart!
Continue shopping

Home

Events

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get a FREE eBook when you subscribe to our newsletter, and be the first to know about our new releases, exciting events and all the latest news!

"*" indicates required fields

Find out more