With less than thirty days left in my internship – and, therefore, less than thirty days left for Letters from the Porcupette — you may be wondering where else to turn for the dirt on publishing interns (and entry-level assistants), and the publishing industry in general. With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of blogs to keep you satisfied even after the Porcupette’s demise. (You may remember a similar list of blogs for writers, posted back in 2010.) Of course, there are a lot of blogs not included in this list, but you’ll find them if you look — and do not let this list convince you that strategic Twitter following is unnecessary! If you don’t have a Twitter account yet, or if you’re not following industry insiders yet, you need to get on it. I cannot stress enough how helpful it is!
But without further ado, here’s my list of blogs for publishing interns (and other people interested in the business) …
This blog is the Mama of All Intern Blogs. During its run it was the most popular blog written by any intern in any industry. Sadly for the rest of us (but happily for her), The Intern has moved on from her anonymous blog to bigger and better things (and jobs). The archives are chock-full of hilarious anecdotes, advice and info on her past jobs and career trajectory. There’s also a lot of info for authors, too!
Publishing Careers is a very helpful series of interviews with people in the industry and of opinion pieces on where the industry is going. If you’ve ever been curious about the very many and diverse jobs available in publishing, this is the place to visit. Although it’s infrequently updated (sometimes as much as a few months passing between posts), there’s already a significant archive of material for you to sink your teeth into.
ShelfTalker is probably my most favourite blog ever, anywhere. Run by two independent children’s booksellers in Vermont, it’s a friendly, heartwarming and lively commentary on life and shopkeeping and publishing and books. It’s also a much-needed alternative perspective on the industry’s future; too often I, at least, get caught up on the future of publishing houses, when the people selling books on the ground are just as important — probably more important — to readers’ experiences and choices. ShelfTalker is just such a wonderful blog and even if you’re not a publishing fiend, it’s worth a read.
The Book Oven/Bite-Sized Edits is a toolset to help groups of people collaborate on and improve manuscripts online. (It’s a little more complicated than that, but if you’re interested in details, check out the site.) I’ve never used Book Oven, but I love its blog, which is great place to keep updated on new technologies, digital culture and the future of the book — it’s very forward-thinking and challenging! One problem I’ve had is that the blog has a very tech-savvy readership, and for a beginner like me, some of the terms Book Oven uses fly straight over my head — but, on the other hand, that leads to a lot of Google searches and new understanding for me.
This is a great site to keep track of all the publishing-related stories and posts around the web. But it’s also a little American-centric, so …
Obvious, right? And also the online version of Q&Q often locks interesting or older articles so that they’re only available to (paying) subscribers. That said, I’m not sure it can be beat for Canadian publishing news. (Better yet, it has job postings.)
Do you have any other recommendations? (I’m always looking for new personalities to follow.) Or perhaps you disagree with mine? Whatever your beef, I hope you’ll leave a comment!
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