A Legacy of Mentorship: Supporting the Next Generation

A History of the SYP Mentorship Scheme

The mentorship scheme has been a cornerstone of the Society of Young Publishers for many years, providing invaluable guidance and support to emerging professionals in the publishing industry. Here’s a look at its evolution:

2008/2009: The Inception

• During our 60th anniversary, Jason Mitchell coordinated the launch of the first six-month mentorship scheme through the London Committee, with the support of the then SYP Chair, Jon Slack.
• This inaugural scheme supported 10 individuals, focusing on those at the early stages of their publishing careers.
• The scheme was dedicated to Gordon Graham, founding editor of the publishing journal LOGOS and former CEO of Butterworths.

2012: Expansion to Scotland

• Recognising the success of the initial program, the Scotland Committee began recruiting members for their own mentorship scheme.
• By 2021, the Scottish mentorship program had reached its 8th iteration.

2015: Connecting Within the Industry

• In 2015, group mentoring sessions were introduced, encouraging broader knowledge sharing among 5-10 participants.

2016: Removing Age Barriers

• The SYP reopened its mentorship scheme and removed the age limit, making it more inclusive.
• The scheme was targeted at young professionals already in publishing or agenting roles, requiring membership and the ability to attend meetings in London.

2020: Nationwide Expansion

• In line with the development of new branches over the years, SYP expanded its mentorship schemes to cover all areas of the UK and Ireland.
• SYP North and SYP South West launched their mentorship schemes for the first time, ensuring broader access to support and resources.
• To launch their first mentorship scheme, SYP Ireland partnered with Publishing Ireland.
• For those living outside the reach of the regional branches, they could apply to the SYP UK mentoring scheme.
• In a move towards greater inclusivity, the mentorship scheme was opened to both members and non-members.

You can hear from Carl Smith, the SYP UK 2020 Chair:

“The pandemic led to more open discussions on how restrictive working habits had become in the publishing industry – especially the London-centric nature of it and how it restricted entry. If the industry wants to claim to be inclusive, it needed to change.

This meant it was also a time to reflect internally at the SYP. The SYP’s objective has always been to make entry into, and progress in, the industry easier for everyone; however, our resources limited that reach. In order to truly achieve that goal, we knew we had to reassess things. Access to mentors or opportunities should not be limited by location or economic background. Therefore, working tirelessly to expand the SYP’s reach and open up the mentorship scheme to the whole of the UK and Ireland was a necessary step. As was making it available to non-members of the SYP so those who may not have been able to afford a membership could benefit.

I was so proud of the effort the UK and regional teams put in to make that reality possible; as I am of those taking it to new heights since. These incredible individuals – all volunteers! – proved they are the future leaders of the industry by going above and beyond by not only talking about change but enacting it. They are helping others. 

I hope what they achieved was a step to making the industry more inclusive and accessible to all.”

2024: Consolidation of Expansion

• The majority of branches recruit dedicated membership officers to develop best practices across the organisation for running the scheme and ensuring the initiatives supports as many people as possible.

The mentorship scheme has changed over the years; there have been years where SYP has been without a scheme, and years where specific branches launched their own individual schemes. The very nature of these schemes have now transformed- the majority of mentor-mentee sessions are held over zoom, there is a slack channel to further support mentees building connections within the industry, and mentors to discuss their roles, and the scheme now caters to three types of mentee- those looking to get into the industry, those looking to develop and those looking to go freelance or launch their own business.

All branch schemes, with the exception of Scotland, are open for applications in May with the scheme officially running from August- January. The Scotland mentorship scheme runs later in the year.

Our applications open until 16th June.  For more information on membership benefits, please visit our Membership page.

To find out more about our mentorship scheme and to apply, please visit our Mentorship page.

If you are an alumni and looking to share information about your SYP experiences, please get  in touch with us at sypchair@thesyp.org.uk.

References:

– SYP Mentoring Scheme Blog](https://syp-mentoring-scheme.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-04-18T08:46:00-07:00&max-results=7&start=35&by-date=false)

– SYP Mentor Scheme 2015](https://thesyp.org.uk/2015/02/syp-mentor-scheme-2015/)

– SYP Reopens Mentor Scheme 2016](https://www.thebookseller.com/news/syp-reopens-mentor-scheme-323844)

– SYP Expand Mentorship Schemes 2020](https://www.alpsp.org/news/syp-expand-mentorship-schemes-sep-2020)

– [SYP Mentorship Programme 2020](https://hub.londonbookfair.co.uk/syp-mentorship-programme-is-open-for-applications/)