SYP LDN Career Cafe – Tips & Tricks for your first 5 years in Marketing and Publicity

Posted on August 28, 2020 in London

Getting a foot through the publishing door can be tricky. Entry-level positions can be few and far between and knowing how to put yourself in the best stead to get your teeth into a role can be daunting. Thankfully, London’s #SYPCareerCafe series is deciphering all that confusion and asking publishing professionals at every level what we need to know to start our careers in… Marketing and Publicity.
 
A #SYPCareerCafe revision session for you today so get out your highlighters because we’re heading back in time…
On the 16^th July 2020, chaired by SYP London’s very own Aoife Datta ( @AoifeDatta ) who works as a Publicity and Marketing Executive at Scribe, we gathered around our Zoom screens to listen to all things Marketing and Publicity.
 
So, let’s meet our amazing panellists:
We listened to the advice and experiences of Rose Wolfe-Emery ( @rosewolfeemery ) who works as a Publicity Assistant at Oxford University Press, specialising in trade non-fiction. She also works as Communications Officer for SYP Oxford and previously worked as a bookseller.
 
Ammara Isa ( @AmmaraIsa ) also gave us her insights into working in Marketing and Publicity. Isa works as Trade Marketing Manager at HarperCollins UK and oversees booksellers’ communications, marketing and strategy for titles across the company. While she began her career in the Children’s division, she is now co-chair of HarperCollins’ BAME network, Elevate.
 
Hilary Bell ( @Hilary_Alison ) works as a Publicity Executive at Egmont, HarperCollins. She oversees publicity and events across children’s books. She was previously Head of Events for SYP LDN and has worked at The Bookseller and independent publishers.
 
Jamie Norman ( @Normantweets ) works as a Campaigns Executive at Canongate Books. He works across fiction, non-fiction and their Black Thorn paperback crime list. He started his career working remotely for Vintage (PRH).
 
So, what were their top tips for working in Marketing and Publicity?

• Everything’s on Twitter! #BookTwitter can be exhausting at times so make sure you give yourself time to switch off too. But, used sparingly, #BookTwitter is an invaluable resource for industry professionals to network, to keep up to date on industry news, to read reviews, find new booktubers or bloggers, and see all the latest job opportunities.
• Check out online courses for relevant entry-level skills. For an entry-level job, you by no means need to know it all. But if you want to stand out, hunt for those Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Premier Pro tutorials online.
• Network! Whether you live right beside the Thames or a million miles away, your local SYP branch will be running virtual and hopefully soon (fingers crossed, COVID behaves) in person events. You can meet other people looking to get into the industry, pick their brains and make some new connections. You never know, they might end up your colleague at some stage.
• Know the media landscape. Knowing what is selling well, or selling badly, is a skill. Knowing why some campaigns work and some fall flat is too. Notice what grabs your attention online and in bookshops. Why? Remember it. It might pop up in your next job interview.

 
 
Is there anything else you’ve like to ask about Marketing and Publicity? Send your questions to @SYP_LDN with the #SYPCareerCafe and we’ll get back to you!
 
As of last night (27^th August 2020), we have seen the last of our #SYPCareerCafe events for now! But don’t worry – if you missed anything, check back here over the next few weeks for a round up of our panellists’ advice.
 
Take care!