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Pia Ceres is LEE & LOW’s summer intern. She is a recipient of the We Need Diverse Books Internship Program grant. She’s a rising senior at Brown University, where she studies Education & Comparative Literature, with a focus in French literature. When she’s not reading, you can find her watching classic horror movies from under a blanket, strumming pop songs on her ukulele, and listening to her grandparents’ stories about the Philippines. In this blog post, she talks about her first book fair with LEE & LOW BOOKS.

By morning, a sticky summer swelter had set in, but the anticipation was unmistakable, electric in the air. They would be coming soon. Across two blocks, along 135^th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard, booksellers, authors, and representatives from nonprofits fussed with tents and paraphernalia. Somewhere I couldn’t see, a live jazz band began to practice; its strident trumpet blared the beginning of a celebration. In moments, the hot asphalt would be teeming with families and lovers of literature from around the country gathering for the Harlem Book Fair.

The Harlem Book Fair is the largest African-American book fair in the country. With the aim of celebrating literacy within the Black community, the fair, held annually, offers a full day of presentations and rows of exhibition booths. Although it kicked off its 18^th successful year last Saturday, this was my very first time participating in a book fair. Helping Keilin and Jalissa represent LEE & LOW and sell some of our books, I was open to every possibility.

The challenge came early on: Someone asked me to find a book for her niece, then added, “She hates reading.” Yikes. Sounds like a tall order, but not surprising. Most of the educators and families who stopped by our booth were concerned that their kids didn’t see themselves in the books assigned at school. It reminded me of when I was a kid and had to read about primarily white boys and the wilderness or dogs or something. For this woman, I suggested The Hula-Hoopin’ Queen. Maybe, I hoped, this would be the book that would start to change things.

At a book fair, one sees firsthand that books, particularly children’s books, are a meaningful part of relationships – an aunt wishing her niece a story that reflects her. I spoke with a dad who wanted an exciting bedtime story; a soon-to-be teacher, eager to fill her first classroom with books as diverse as her students; a mom who wanted to share her native language, and her young daughter who wanted to read it. As I listened to people’s requests, the book fair revealed a striking truth: For a lot of folks, books are expressions of love.

Of course, the day ended with a sudden and cinematic downpour, with jabs of wind that caused our white tent to take to the air like a storm-battered sail and had Keilin, Jalissa, and I drenched, scrambling to protect the books! Because if any day reminded us that books are precious, it was this one.

If books bridge worlds, then book fairs are a space for bridging those connections. The Harlem Book Fair allows diverse stories to come into people’s hands and helps create a world-full of readers – reflected, interconnected, loving and loved.

 

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Kandace Coston is LEE & LOW’s summer intern. She is one of five recipients of the We Need Diverse Books Internship Program inaugural grant. She graduated from Barnard College where she majored in music and took every creative literature class possible. In her free time, Kandace pursues her other interests, which include American Sign Language, handmade jewelry, and composing cinematic adventures!

Intimate. Calm. Inviting. That’s the atmosphere of the LEE & LOW BOOKS office in New York City. Twelve floors removed from the noisy hustle and heat of the city streets, this diverse books publisher’s office is a small levitating oasis.

I first noticed the Quiet during my interview in late May for the summer internship position in Marketing and Publicity. I stepped off the elevator, opened the door slowly (in compliance with the instructional sign), and instantly noticed the cool and calm. Initially I found the Quiet unnerving like the eerie silence in a horror movie that cues a tragic event. But the inviting display of bright books put my nervously pounding heart at ease. They make children’s books. I thought to myself. They make magic. I gazed at the sunny, shiny titles and was instantly relaxed.

One month later I started my internship excited to be a small part of the magic LEE & LOW BOOKS creates. I was also excited to step over onto the other side of the Quiet. Now that I was an official member of this exclusive team I was sure my ears would tune into the buzz of the office like a radio tuning into a tricky channel. What I found instead was an immense Quiet accompanied only by the hum of a distant printer and the occasional disembodied sneeze. By July I’d surrendered. My ears stopped scanning for transmissions within the white noise that is the office’s Quiet.

As I ceased my mission for sound, I began my mission of getting to know the office. I made appointments with personnel in various departments to learn how the largest publisher of diverse books in the country operates. Everyone I reached out to was more than happy to oblige me which I was grateful for but not surprised by; the office is incredibly friendly and welcoming.

With each interview I learned new facts about children’s books and the publishing industry:

• Children’s books take over a year to create.
• Marketing a book entails intensely creative work.
• The difference between dystopian and post-apocalyptic.
• How to spell apocalyptic.

With each interview I also noticed a recurrence: every person I spoke to is excited about the work they do here. Their faces lit up as they eloquently, passionately, and patiently explained to me how they contribute to the LEE & LOW BOOKS message. Each person brings pride and a distinct expertise to their work that makes them invaluable. Many people in my life are not content with the way they earn a living. It seems the team at LEE & LOW has that life conundrum figured out. I found everyone’s enthusiasm refreshing and encouraging.

Nowadays when I enter the office I’m not caught off guard by the Quiet. Instead I’ve realized that within the Quiet is progress. The diligent staff members of Lee & Low Books are busy bettering the world through children’s literature. In this intimate oasis of an office the Quiet is a sound; the sound of focus and fulfillment.

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Going into this summer, I did not have much of an idea of what I wanted to do with my life. As a rising senior English major at Washington & Lee University, I knew I had options, but having too many options gives me a headache, so I tended to push them all to the side and ignore the looming presence of adulthood. After a month of interning here at Arbordale Publishing, I am still at a loss as to what I want to do with my future, but now it’s not because I haven’t thought about it – it’s because I love everything I have been exposed to here!

I have always loved books. I could read my collection of Dr. Seuss books alone by the age of three, devoured the first Harry Potter book in kindergarten, and tried my hand at writing a few (now embarrassing) short stories throughout my elementary school years. Imagine my delight when I eventually discovered that there is a whole industry dedicated to reading, editing, and publishing new books! I started looking more deeply into the publishing industry during high school, and entered college knowing I wanted to be an English major. When I got the opportunity to intern at Arbordale Publishing this summer, I was excited to be one step closer to a job I have dreamed about for years.

Working with children’s books for the past month has been a fun summer activity, as well as a great introduction into the world of publishing. I have done everything from the typical reading submitted manuscripts and editing those that are accepted to the more creative designing activities in the books’ For Creative Minds sections and choosing photographs to go into a book currently in production. I have seen the schedule of a book’s journey from manuscript submission to eBook design to final printing, and learned of the hundreds of tiny steps that must happen in between to make for a successful story. More recently, I have witnessed all the work that goes into the publicity side of things, from getting stories reviewed to working with authors as they attend events to promote their book. Even with children’s books, the amount of work is no joke!

Thankfully, I have one more year to figure out what I’m going to be when I grow up. Do I want to go into editing or publicity? Should I write on the side? What am I going to enjoy the most? I am grateful to be here at Arbordale Publishing this summer, where I can explore so many different options and decide which aspect of publishing fits me best. Working with children’s books has been a wonderful way to learn the basics of story editing, fact checking, and appealing to specific markets without being overwhelmed by lengthy novels or heavy facts. Will I eventually wander into the world of books for adults? Probably, but this internship is the ideal jumping-off point for that journey. Now I just have to figure out where it’s going to take me.

–Cara Scott, Intern

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ZOMG you guys! Technical illustrator James Provost has created his own robot-intern. “IT CAN DRAW!! IT CAN DRAAWW!!!” It’s a bit like Spirograph-meets-Frankenstein. Well, I saw the movie, I know this will all end in tears! (Don’t miss the short video!)

(via InternBot - a set on Flickr)

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Have you worked as an unpaid intern within the past six years? 
The National Union of Journalists say that you could be entitled to claim back the National Minimum Wage, regardless of the terms of your internship agreement. 
The union want to hear from any former journalism intern who would like legal support from the union to claim unpaid wages.  It could be possible to recover up to £232 per 40-hour week of the internship.

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Today marks my last day as an intern at Overlook -- I hope you've all enjoyed the wild ride as much as I have. After three months on Wooster St. I think I have enough experience under my belt to be qualified as an "expert intern." A few days ago Kate posted up an article on our twitter feed called Six Myths About Publishing, a post that debunked rumors and popular misnomers about agents, editors, and book sales. As my way of saying goodbye to Overlook and all of our blog readers I thought I'd share my version of the same article, "Four Myths About Interning."

1. Myth: Interning is for college students
Truth: Interning is for the unemployed and the pre-employed (or the plain desperate)

I think there might have been a time when internships were more or less restricted to the summer months and positions were reserved for aspiring professionals of college or recent post-graduate age. If such a time ever actually existed it is certainly a far-cry from today's internship pool. Nowadays interns run the gamut from the traditional care free summer undergrad to ambitious high school students seeking a leg up on their university admissions applications to degree-wielding post-grads unable to find paying work. These days no internship is too big or small, no applicant too qualified for work.


2. Myth: Interns are slaves
Truth: While some interns do certainly toil on pointless errands and latte runs, there is substantial work to be found in most offices

I can't speak on behalf of all interns because I'm sure there are positions out there that do resemble the dreaded "gofer" (as in, "go for some coffee") job, but in my experience most employers are looking for interns who can actually assist them in their day-to-day activities. Unfortunately this material work might mean some data entry or mass-mailing projects, but along with these boring tasks is usually an opportunity to learn something useful. An intern can pick up a lot of experience just by observing and asking the right questions.


3. Myth: Internships are unpaid
Truth: Most internships are unpaid (especially in publishing), but even unpaid experience can be valuable in the long run

I guess this doesn't really apply to those in dire need of a paycheck, because yes, most publishing internships are unpaid. For those who can afford it, an unpaid internship is a worthy long-term investment. At Overlook, for example, an internship is a great entry to a salaried career. At least three current employees are former interns and those interns who graduate and don't get hired often move on to other jobs in publishing.


4. Myth: Once they've left, interns are easily forgotten
Truth: Interns may come and go seasonally but their legacies leave a lasting impression

This last one might be more optimism than myth-busting, but I like to imagine that the other staffers at Overlook won't forget about me once I've left (see: Summer Intern Already Forgotten).

Leave a comment if you think I've missed

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Have you been craving more updates about the glamorous life of a publishing intern? Fear not--our wonderful publicity-and-sometimes-editorial Intern Michael is here to update you on his exciting 10-to-5 and take any questions you may have in the comments! Happy reading!

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Since I started working at Overlook earlier this summer, many people have asked me the obvious question: “What exactly does an intern at a book publisher do?” To many an asker’s disappointment, the innocent query can result in a somewhat boring discussion unless a conversant is duly prepared for a detailed rundown on the inner-functions of the website CisionPoint. The temptation to glamorize my position here can be a bit overwhelming and at times I’m tempted to exaggerate the truth about the less exciting duties of a publicity intern.

In a post last month I detailed some of those responsibilities, including the fulfillment of media requests and the collection of names and email addresses for contact lists. While I recognize and appreciate the necessity and value of tasks like these for any business to function, they never quite qualify as the most compelling explanation of the job I chose to undertake this summer. Don’t get me wrong, I love working in publicity. One thing I’ve discovered while working here is that there is a huge amount of fulfillment to be found in the marketing and promotion of meaningful literary works in an industry that is as competitive as books.

That said, there is still an incredible amount of work that needs to be done in order to bring those books to market, not all of which makes for the most thrilling of conversations.
Since starting here two months ago I’ve had the good luck to receive some jobs outside of the publicity department. While these odd assignments provide me with better fodder for making my job sound more important than it is, they also give me more insight and a better understanding of the way that Overlook functions overall as a publishing house.

At least once a week I try to sit down for a few hours and read submissions that we receive from literary agents and agencies. These submissions range from completed and bound books that have been published in foreign countries and are seeking North American distribution to incomplete manuscripts and proposals that desperately want a publisher’s interest and approval. I try to give them all as much time and attention as possible as I write reports which are then delivered to our editors for their input and opinions.

On several occasions I’ve had the opportunity to work with our sales team in the research and development of sell sheets, promotional tools which our staff uses to assist in the sale of our current or upcoming titles. Last week I created a sheet for the paperback edition of Return to the Little Kingdom: How A

2 Comments on Intern Adventures: Testing the Editorial Waters, last added: 7/28/2010

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Impressive location – check, best literature in the world – check, talented and passionate editors – check. Here I am, a languages finalist from Warwick University, at Penguin Publishers, coming to the end of two weeks work experience at Hamish Hamilton that has certainly been an experience.

As is the point of work experience, I came here unsure of what to expect – and even unsure if publishing in general was going to be ‘my thing’. Two weeks later and now I am sure. It is definitely my thing.

I had prepared myself to be doing mundane tasks such as photocopying and filing, things that are important, in their own way, but that don’t really matter. Yet, I am delighted to say I have not become acquainted with the photocopier or a filing cabinet. (I did spend a couple of hours alphabetising paperbacks after Penguin’s offices moved floors over the weekend, but the organising part of me secretly quite enjoyed that.) Instead, my days have been filled with what I love most – reading.

Kind of scary really, that a new manuscript falls first into the lap of a mere intern, but wonderful to be given such responsibility, and a privilege to be among the first to lay eyes on an author’s precious oeuvre. Some of the works I read have been stunning - others not so much - but all evidently a labour of love. I’ve felt honoured to be reviewing these manuscripts for the editors to then consider whether to publish or not. On top of the reading, Hamish Hamilton has invited me to several editorial meetings where mostly I just listened and learned how the company functions, but at other times was asked my opinions on a manuscript or a book title which really felt valued. 

It’s been a fantastic, albeit short experience, so thank you Penguin, and Hamish Hamilton in particular, for this wonderful opportunity. Two weeks – enough time to learn a little about publishing and Penguin, but a lot about where I’d love to find myself working in the future…

Nadia Bonomally
Editorial Intern at Hamish Hamilton

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Never let it be said that interns don't win.

Our intrepid, fearless, indefatigable intern, Ali, entered the Little Debbie Intern Hero contest and was featured today as one of their winners. (They called us a bookstore, but we won't split hairs with people sending us muffins.)

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Ammon Shea recently spent a year of his life reading the OED from start to finish. Over the next few months he will be posting weekly blogs about the insights, gems, and thoughts on language that came from this experience. His book, Reading the OED, has been published by Perigee, so go check it out in your local bookstore. In the post below Ammon looks at the role of interns.

I often spend some portion of the day looking through job listings, as I suspect do many people who are in the habit of attempting to make a living as a writer (or most other things these days). Two things have struck me – that I never get a response to the query letters I send out, and that the meaning of the word intern appears to have broadened somewhat.

Most dictionaries define intern as an advanced student, usually in the fields of medicine or teaching, who is receiving instruction through performing certain tasks under supervision in a workplace. If one were to write a new definition, based on the usage of the word as it appears in craigslist and various other sites, the meaning would perhaps be closer to ‘unpaid worker.’

I am certain that many of the internships advertised are being offered by individuals or institutions who have nothing but the best intentions in mind, and who want naught but to further the careers and opportunities of the youth of today, beset as they are by a difficult job climate. But what of the one I saw this morning that made no mention of such frivolity as ‘mentoring’ or ‘guidance’, and whose responsibilities included providing financial analysis, budget and strategic planning, and developing presentations for senior management, among other things. Is this truly an internship?

Perhaps I’m being naïve about all this, but while I’m sure that some employers have always looked for free or cheap labor I cannot help but think that it is getting worse. Several weeks ago there was an ad looking for an intern who could dress nicely, provide childcare, answer phones, lift some boxes, write and edit stories, and was fluent in French. And if this wasn’t too much to ask for ten dollars a day the writer of the ad further specified that the French must be of the Parisian sort.

There is a literary agency currently taking the rather imaginative angle of presenting their work as a chance to grow – “The position” (which happens to be an unpaid one) “also offers the opportunity to read and evaluate both fiction and non-fiction manuscripts”. I wonder if it also offers the opportunity to sweep hallways and empty trash bins?

This is all beginning to remind me of the scene form The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, in which Tom wriggles out of white-washing a fence by convincing all the boys who pass by that this is a great opportunity for fun. Taking the bait, the neighborhood kids end up offering to pay for the chance to paint the fence, and by the end of the day Tom has a job that has been done for him and has also managed to accumulate a great pile of goods, including, but not limited to, part of an apple, a kite, twelve marbles, a spare key, a bit of chalk, a one-eyed kitten, and “a dead rat and a string to swing it with.”

Which gives me an idea – the next time I send out my query letters looking for work I’ll remember to include the dead rat.

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Today is our amazing intern’s last day. Below are her thoughts on the experience. If you are interested in interning in the publicity department at OUP shoot me an email at [email protected]. Ashley, you have no idea how much you will be missed!

By Ashley Bray

My time at Oxford University Press has come to an end, and just when I was getting started! I may have only been at Oxford for a few short months, but I am walking away with a lot more knowledge than I walked in with.

To be honest, I happened upon this internship accidentally. I wasn’t planning on interning this semester, but a friend of mine recommended that I apply so I decided to give it a shot. My goal has always been to land an internship in book publishing, and since all of my past forays have been into magazines and newsletters, I couldn’t let this opportunity slide by. Obviously, things worked out in my favor!

My official title has been “Blog Intern,” but that is misleading because I’ve gotten the chance to do a little bit of everything while I’ve been here. What I’ve liked most about this internship is that I’ve done something different each day. There is always a new blog post to write or promote, a galley letter to write, or a press release to put together. I even learned about the editorial side of book publishing at a lunch I scheduled with an editor.

What was my favorite thing to do while at this internship? Why, update Publicity Assistant, of course (PA for short, we’re on pretty close terms, you all know how it is)! For those of you who can’t sense the sarcasm coming off that sentence in waves, let me clue you in— I’m joking. All jokes side, however, I am grateful for what I learned to do with Publicity Assistant; it’s an important program to know how to use and one more thing I can take away from this internship. Becca may think I’m lying considering she lived in daily fear that I would quit each time she gave me something to enter into PA, but really, I didn’t mind it.

So what was really my favorite thing about this internship? Getting the chance to work with a variety of books (and there’s not the least bit of sarcasm in that sentence!). I had the chance to read and write about books all day— it was almost too good to be true! From In Search of Jefferson’s Moose to From Colony to Superpower to The New Oxford Book of Literary Anecdotes (a personal favorite), I’ve gotten the chance to work with books in almost every category. For an avid reader and writer, there’s really nothing better.

One of the most valuable things I took away from this internship is a much clearer idea about the blogosphere. Bloggers were quite foreign to me when I first started, and I was a bit overwhelmed at first by this new world of posts, Technorati, and Blogrolls. This is embarrassing for a college student— someone who should be on the forefront of this kind of stuff— to admit. I am forever grateful to Becca for teaching me everything I needed to know about the world of blogs; it’s knowledge that I know I’ll be able to apply no matter where I go.

I’m sad to leave, but I’m thankful that I decided to intern at Oxford. I’ve learned so much, met a lot of great people, and had fun along the way. Thank you, Becca, for making this experience so worthwhile! And thank you to everyone at Oxford who helped me to feel welcome and get involved while I was here.

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The word “intern” evokes many reactions—most of which are somewhat unsavory. Before becoming an intern, I held my own prejudices: I thought an internship meant low pay, long hours, and repetitive work—a test of one’s motivation to become, in my case, an editor. As it turns out, being an intern at Stone Arch Books has been something entirely different.

I had scoured the SAB website for information about the company prior to applying. What struck me about SAB was the constant focus on getting kids interested in reading—something so important in the education of today’s youth. I knew that this was a special opportunity. Instead of near-crippling nervousness before the interview, I felt giddy, and any anxiety felt more like anticipation than worry.

Sitting down to interview with Stone Arch’s editorial director, Michael Dahl, was a unique experience. Rather than pose the regular questions that I’ve fielded elsewhere, Michael asked me about my opinions on the education of children, my favorite fields of literature, and how my inclinations in these areas would suit me for the SAB internship. We discussed James Joyce, graphic novels, and civic responsibility. A short while later, I was given the position.

My first day of work was actually Michael Dahl’s birthday. At our celebratory lunch that day, I had the opportunity to get to know the small, friendly staff. My supervisor joked that I shouldn’t expect every day at SAB to be as fun and exciting as my first, but she was wrong; my time here has never felt like a chore, even while I’m doing the occasional mundane, but necessary, task.

What, then, you might ask, have I worked on during my time here? A (very brief) list: I edited a fantastic series of 12 graphic novels (out next season—I’m certain it will be a big hit with fans of our other Graphic Sparks books), worked on spreadsheets, filled out applications for the Library of Congress, proofread hundreds of pages, created the additional information at the end of our books, attended graphic novel storyboard meetings . . . the list goes on and on.

Through it all, I’ve felt a sense of pride and purpose in my work. Stone Arch Books is the kind of company that is formed when you take dedicated, thoughtful, creative people and give them a task they can believe in.


--Sean Tulien
Intern, Stone Arch Books

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Here's the next book in my series of 6 Capstone poetry books.

After the fall poems, I headed into the weather batch of photos. This group was full of more stunning images. I was so glad I got to start with two subjects--autumn and weather--that really appealed to me. I love pictures of nature, and that's, of course, mostly what the weather pictures were.

I flipped through all the images and began making notes on them. Basically, I just wrote down whatever occurred to me, right there on the page. Sometimes it was a certain poetic form I thought the image lent itself to, but other times it was a thought about the topic or mood of a possible poem. On the lightning bolt image, I wrote "haiku?" For a boy playing on the beach wearing goggles and a towel cape, I imagined a poem about a superhero. For boys looking out a rainy window, I wrote, "magic of rain, how it softens everything." 

I did have a slight problem, though. There were a number of images with kids in them, and you could almost always see their faces. I found this really hard to work with! I was surprised by that. Actually, I don't know why I was surprised. I don't tend to like artwork with people in it, especially if I can see their faces. (That probably reveals some horrible psychological defect in me!) And with these images, I had a hard time imagining anything but the mood and thoughts of the kid in the image. So it felt very restricting to me. I wanted to focus on the weather phenomena, but I needed to work on the relationship between kids and weather, too.

And on top of that, there were kids of both genders and various ethnicities, and I needed to be balanced. Capstone did not want a book full of kids that all looked the same. But I had a few choices for most topics. Caucasian girl flying a kite. African-American girl with her hair blowing behind her. Asian boy with his hat blowing off. That kind of thing. So whatever image I chose for the wind poem, I needed to keep that in mind when I was choosing the rain poem, which also offered several choices of ethnicities.

So, it was a little tougher that Shrinking Days, Frosty Nights for me. More logistics to consider.

Also, I turned in a couple of poems that showed the fascination and even appeal of deadly weather. One was about a tornado, and it was kind of light-hearted. The other was about the deadly beauty of a hurricane seen from space.

From a Tornado (That Doesn’t Know Its Own Strength)  

My whirling funnel’s
a windy slide!

I’m a twirling jump rope—
Step inside!

I’m a monster
roller coaster ride!

I don’t know why
you’re terrified!

I knew this might not fly, because the book is for young kids, and tornadoes are scary things! But poetry for me is about seeing the other side of things, and I loved imagining the tornado's point of view. The editor apologetically passed on that this poem, though she liked it and so did the higher-ups, at first, didn't make the cut. They were worried about parents or some reviewers having trouble with it. And while I thought that was too bad, I could understand their point. I actually revised the poem somewhat and put it on my website. 

Here's the tornado poem I wrote on revision for the book. Please note: None of these images are from the book. I just wanted to add photos to give you a tiny idea of what they go with.



Wild Wind

Rushing wind
Roaring wind
     Whirling, twirling
          Warring wind

Ripping wind
Whipping wind
     Please release your
            Gripping wind

Nearing wind
Clearing wind
      Finally,
            Disappearing wind


I also placed the hurricane poem on my site.

So, those were a couple of issues I ran into with this collection. But I still loved writing these poems. Here are a couple more poems from this book.





Softer

Through a windowpane
Streaked with sliding rain
Outside world has changed:
Blurry, velvet stain

Every house and car—
Soft where edges are…
Waterpainting sky
makes each light a star 


 



Wind Is An...

Expert blower
Seed sower
Sailboat go-er
Hat thrower
And, best of all, a
Kite tow-er


And this one goes with a glorious image on rime ice on trees against a Parrish blue sky.



Winter Blooms

branches
blooming with ice
paint a shocking picture
of frosty white trees on winter's
blue sky

[cinquain]

Speaking of weather, we're dropping 30 to 40 degrees today here in Minneapolis. Yesterday it was almost 40--barely jacket weather--and today the high is 10, which is the temp right now and should be dropping all day. So I think I'll go read a few of the summer poems from my book now:>) Stay warm!

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