Tag Archives: publishing

Byte the Book: Publishing Networking at the Groucho Club

Get tips from industry professionals and have the opportunity to network with authors, agents, publishers and suppliers to the publishing industry.

This event will be at the Groucho Club. Byte the Book and Groucho members get in free. Non-member tickets are £20. If you are keen to join Byte the Book please sign up here.

Members and non-members need to sign up for a ticket to reserve their place.

Are you attending this event? Let us know!

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Guest Post: What will defy, embrace or become a disruption in scholarly publishing?

We are thrilled to bring you a guest post on our blog from Jessica Edwards, as she reflects her thoughts on the BookMachine’s recent event, ‘Scholarly Publishing: Crossing the Rubicon’.

What will defy, embrace or become a disruption in scholarly publishing?

Thoughts from BookMachine’s latest event

‘Scholarly Publishing: Crossing the Rubicon’

By Jessica Edwards

The Jam Factory, Oxford, 7 September 2017

Image courtesy of Michael Belcher, Marketing Manager at Ingenta

Image courtesy of Michael Belcher, Marketing Manager at Ingenta

Last Thursday, as I trundled slowly towards Oxford (kicking myself for accidentally catching a slow train – who knew there were quite so many stations between Reading and Oxford?!) I wondered what was in store at BookMachine’s latest event, ‘Scholarly Publishing: Crossing the Rubicon’. Arriving at The Jam Factory, I scanned the room of busily-networking people and took a deep breath. Although I’ve now worked in publishing for over 2 years, and always enjoy chatting to inspired publishing-types, a few seconds of panic always descends when, turning from the table of beverages, glass in hand, the reality hits that one must shuffle into a group at random and strike up a conversation. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to approach two lovely individuals from Atwood Tate – Claire Louise Kemp and Alice Crick. Not only were they extremely friendly, our conversation (and Claire Louise spotting me scribbling notes during the panel discussion) led to the suggestion, offer, and composition of this blog post!

My name’s Jess Edwards, and I’m currently Marketing Executive at Gale, a Cengage Company. Gale creates digital resources (from journal and eBook databases to digital archives) for academic, special, school and government libraries worldwide. Consequently, when the advert for BookMachine’s scholarly publishing seminar popped into my inbox, it not only looked interesting but extremely relevant to my current position, and I quickly purchased an early-bird ticket!

There were four engaging speakers on the panel. Phill Jones, Director of Innovation at Digital Science, a company who invest and nurture research start-ups creating software to aid scientific research; Charlie Rapple, Sales & Marketing Director and co-founder of Kudos, a platform which increases research impact by driving discovery and facilitating the sharing of academic work; Byron Russell, Head of Ingenta Connect, a publisher-facing content management system that enables publishers to convert, store and deliver digital content; and Duncan Campbell, Director of Digital Licensing and Sales Partnerships at John Wiley & Sons, ranked ninth on the Publisher’s Weekly list of the world’s 50 largest publishers, 2017. Bringing together speakers (and an audience) from both large, established publishers and newer, often technology-based start-ups, led to some interesting discussion on the relationships between the two; the responsibilities of each; and whether one or the other is best placed to cope with the disruptive forces in publishing – or themselves be disruptive.

The discussion generated by the panel was wide-ranging and insightful, broadening my understanding of the challenges, relationships and roles in publishing beyond my own. It made me think more deeply about the hugely influential and clearly disruptive issues looming over the industry, as well as the ideas and innovations which currently exist around the edges of the industry, meeting niche requirements today, but which could, in time, disrupt, engulf or evolve the whole publishing landscape.

Insights and topics of discussion that I found particularly intriguing include:

  • The symbiotic relationship between start-ups and established publishers

The opening discussion about innovation in publishing included the suggestion that it is more difficult for established companies to innovate – something easier for new-comers. However, there was also an agreement that innovation is a necessity at every tier of the industry. The conversation moved on to the common practice of publishers supporting innovation elsewhere; encouraging and funding the technological start-ups often responsible for floating fresh new ideas. The arguments were put forward that these start-ups rely on funding and support from the publishing establishment, who had a responsibility to nurture them. Yet the establishment in turn rely on the innovation of the start-ups for their own development and evolution – often acquiring them down-the-line as part of their innovation strategy – thus the relationship could be described as cyclical or symbiotic.

  • Piracy V. Green OA

Although I was relatively familiar with the term ‘Open Access’, I was not with ‘Green OA’. (This was one of the things I was inspired to google following the event, and consequently am now aware of both green and gold OA!) Reference to green OA was made in discussion of the threat and disruptive nature of piracy in the publishing industry. There was also consideration of how attitudes towards sharing have changed over time – and where the fine line now sits between piracy and OA. It was suggested that in the past, if one academic was to email an article to another based elsewhere, it would have been seen by publishers as an infringement of copyright. Now, perceptions of sharing have evolved, with the industry instead taking an observational approach; monitoring such behaviours with the intent to better understand the market. The distinction was made, however, and agreed upon unanimously by the panel, that sharing on a need-to-know basis remains different from mass-uploads by networks such as Sci-Hub. Yet it was also recognised that such ‘dark’ enterprises are also examples of innovation forcing the publishing industry to evolve. The disruptive impact of such ‘dark’ innovation was nicely summarised by Phill Jones: ‘It has forced the agenda, but at the same time, it’s not the solution.’

It’s testament to how packed, insightful and content-rich the discussion was that I could go on…! However, this blog post is already heading towards classification as a tome, so I won’t elaborate on the other interesting discussions, though will squeeze in that these included the impact of new business models such as ‘Netflix for journal articles’(!), how a trend towards trans-disciplinary research and developments in research evaluation will affect publishing, and the future of Discovery Systems.

All-in-all, I highly recommend anyone interested in learning more about a particular area of publishing, or the industry in general, goes along to a BookMachine event. Absorb what the experts have to say – it will almost certainly come in useful in the not-so-distant future – and meander your way into a conversation during the networking drinks – who knows what connections you’ll make, you might even end up writing a blog post for somebody!

A little like Where’s Wally…spot me in the stripey top! Image courtesy of Michael Belcher, Marketing Manager at Ingenta.

A little like Where’s Wally…spot me in the stripey top! Image courtesy of Michael Belcher, Marketing Manager at Ingenta.

Nb. All views are my own, and not those of Gale, Atwood Tate, or BookMachine. If I have misrepresented any of the discussion or speakers’ arguments, this is down to my own misunderstanding.

Twitter @Jessica2Edwards

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicaedwards1/

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International Literacy Day

Today, 8th September, is International Literacy Day, a day observed by UN member states to internationally recognise the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies, and aims to increase literacy around the world.

You can read more about the aims of this international day here on the UNESCO website: http://en.unesco.org/themes/literacy-all/literacy-day.

This year, the focus is on Digital Literacy, and how the changes in technology and the move towards new digital environments is changing the understanding of what literacy is, and how a lack of digital literacy skills could further marginalise those without basic literacy skills.

To mark this day, some of Atwood Tate have thought back to those books which were formative in helping us learn to read initially; books which are often forgotten but are hugely important first steps.

Andrew Willis

The first  books I can remember reading were The Magic Key series, which followed Biff, Chip and Kipper, created by Roderick Hunt and published by Oxford University Press. As part of the National Curriculum, a whole generation must have learnt to read, thanks in part to The Magic Key.

Alice Crick

I still remember my parents reading the very first Harry Potter books to me as a child. It really instilled the joys of reading in me from an early age.

Claire Louise Kemp

I don’t remember learning to read, but some of the first books I remember loving were books by Beatrix Potter and the Mr Men books.

Helen Speedy

I loved the Usborne Book of Wizards and the Usborne Book of Witches.  The illustrations by the late Stephen Cartwright take me right back to childhood when I look at them now and I’m so pleased to see that they are still in print, even if it’s in a slightly different format.  I also used to spend hours looking through The Usborne First Thousand Words trying to spot the little duck in each picture. My Mum, a German teacher, also bought us a copy of this in German in the hope we’d also become linguists…

 

Atwood Tate support the charity Beanstalk, who do fantastic work providing one-to-one literacy support to children who struggle with their reading ability and confidence.

 

 

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BAME in Publishing: One Year On

We are very pleased to bring you a guest post from Sarah Shaffi and Wei Ming Kam, founders of BAME in Publishing, a group which aims to support and encourage people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds in the publishing industry.

Last year, they wrote a blog post for us about why they set up the group and provided some advice for working in the industry, which you can read here.

One year on, they reflect on their experiences of the group, and if anything has changed:

Five things we’ve learnt in a year of BAME in Publishing…

A year ago we set up BAME in Publishing – a networking group for people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds working in publishing, or wanting to break into the industry. Here are five things we’ve learnt from running the group.

  • BAME in Publishing fills a gap

When we set up the group, we weren’t sure if anyone was going to be interested, but even a year later we’re still getting new members, and all our meetings are full. It’s shown us that there is a real thirst for a group and a space when BAME people can form relationships, get career advice, and feel like they belong.

  • Don’t be afraid to ask for help/favours

We’ve turned to a lot of different people for help with various things and have been surprised how many want to support us in any way they can. We’ve been offered venues to host meet ups from publishers and bookshops, and it’s been heartening to know that much of the industry supports the work we do.

  • There are BAME people in the industry

Sometimes it feels like there are hardly any people from BAME backgrounds working in publishing, but running BAME in Publishing we’ve seen that this isn’t true. Our members come from all kinds of companies – big, small, trade, academic, publishers, agencies and so one. BAME talent is out there, which is encouraging, however…

  • There is a long way to go

It’s clear from our membership that a lot of the BAME talent are in junior positions. There are definitely some great senior role models out there (Ailah Ahmed from Virago, Natalie Jerome and Perminder Mann at Kings Road Publishing to name a few), but more needs to be done to make sure junior staff rise up the ranks quickly so that they can affect real change when it comes to the ethnic diversity of the industry. However, we do think that…

  • The future is bright

One thing we see at meeting after meeting is that there are so many talented people coming into publishing who want to make a difference, publish brilliant books, and be the leaders of tomorrow. We have no doubt that today’s bright young things will be heading up tomorrow’s publishing houses.

Wei Ming Kam and Sarah Shaffi at the BAME in Publishing 1st Birthday Party

Sarah Shaffi is online editor and producer at The Bookseller and tweets @sarahshaffi . Wei Ming Kam is sales and marketing executive at Oberon Books and tweets @weimingkam.

For more on BAME in Publishing, visit bameinpublishing.tumblr.com. You can also check out the #BAMEinPublishing hashtag on twitter and follow them on Instagram.

The group meets regularly, mostly in Central London. If you are interested in joining, please email bameinpublishing@gmail.com with your full name, email address, company you work for and your position (if applicable).

BAME in Publishing has been shortlisted for the #HClub100. Vote for them here!

 

 

Atwood Tate Limited embraces diversity and aims to promote the benefits of diversity in all of our business activities. For more information visit our policies page https://www.atwoodtatepublishingjobs.co.uk/policies/

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Book Machine: Reinventing Culture: How the Arts Worlds Collide in the Age of Technology

Reinventing Culture: How the Arts Worlds Collide in the Age of Technology

This is a Bookmachine event, run by the Bookmachine.

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A Day In The Life Of . . . A Temporary Rights and Permissions Assistant

Today, we have another of our temporary workers, breaking down their role as a Rights and Permissions Assistant for us!

What was your role and how long was the assignment for?

I started on a six week placement which extended to three months reviewing permission logs.  This then progressed to the current temporary contract and I have been in this role for 2 ½ years.

Were you interviewed for the role?  Yes

What were your key duties?

Reviewing published books to check any third party items such as images and quotes had been cleared for use.

Processing incoming permissions queries, preparing licenses and invoices

Processing incoming translation and other rights requests, negotiating the terms and fee payable, preparing the contract and invoice

Some marketing of titles for rights selling

Tell us about the culture?

Everyone at the company is very friendly and helpful (which has been great given how many questions I have asked of people).  Everyone is keen to produce the best books they can.  Many roles include foreign travel and even if you stay in the UK you are always working with people around the world both inside and outside the company which gives a real multi-cultural flavour to the role.

What did you like best?

There are so many things, among them I really enjoy being able to tell authors that their books are being translated. Seeing the translated books when they arrive is always a great pleasure as you never really know how they will look until you see them.

What did you learn?

Everything!  I had never done this role before and so it has been a real baptism of fire as I have learned how to use new systems and databases, copyright rules as well as refining my negotiation skills.

How did you find your experience with Atwood Tate? Great, Kellie, Michael and the team have always been very supportive and helpful at every step.

How did Atwood Tate approach you for the role? Atwood Tate’s database, job board?  I first contacted Atwood Tate after seeing the role on The Bookseller website and then spoke with Kellie about it in further detail.

Interested in temporary opportunities? Please contact Atwood Tate’s temps team administrator, Michael Lawlor michaellawlor@atwoodtate.co.uk

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How technology can make reading Fun – Bookmachine Event

If kids are glued to their devices, where do books fit in? How can we make sure they keep reading for pleasure? Our expert speakers will look at different ways to engage young people online to make reading fun.

BookMachine is an informal event series. You are guaranteed to meet someone interesting and learn something new.

Are you attending this event? Let us know!

Buy your tickets here! 

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Job Sectors in Publishing

Today, we wanted to do a brief breakdown on the different job sectors in publishing for you. A lot of graduates are interested in working in publishing but are not always sure exactly what sector they would like to work in. It’s good to keep an open mind but to also have an understanding of the fundamentals of each sector and whether it might suit you:

Business Publishing (B2B): B2B stands for Business-to-Business and means producing specialist publications and media for businesses and specialist consumer markets. Sales and marketing roles are prevalent within this sector and editorial positions will often call for journalistic qualifications like NCTJ.

Academic Publishing: This sector is responsible for the distribution of academic research and scholarly, peer reviewed articles. It suits details-oriented people, often with an academic background.

STM Publishing: STM stands for Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishing and they report on scholarly research. Like academic publishing, it suits candidates motivated by research as well as a demonstrable interest in scientific reportage.

Educational Publishing: This sector covers a variety of educational publications, from ELT (English Language Training) to creating accessible fiction for struggling readers. It can often suit candidates with a teaching background and a working knowledge of the educational system.

Professional Publishing: This sector is geared towards management and administrators within business, finance and legal industries. Like B2B, it can often require journalistic qualifications and a comprehensive knowledge of one’s subject from finance, government or law.

Print/Production Services & Library Suppliers/Distributors: This sector involves large-scale production of reading materials and is a strong area for technical-minded production assistants and controllers and candidates with an interest in logistics and operations.

Digital/Emerging Technologies: This sector is for the tech-savvy out there, candidates who have a passion for digital products, who can write about them, market them or develop them from inception.

Charity Publishing: This sector contains charities who predominantly publish their own list of titles, to increase awareness about the work they do. Candidates with an interest in local and global issues as well as a desire to make a contribution generally lean towards this area.

Publishing/Rights/Licensing Jobs: This sector covers agencies who cover copying and re-use of previously published content. They also collect licensing revenue for publishers. Candidates interested in rights and legal compliance can excel here.

Trade Publishing: Finally, Trade, one of most popular sectors for publishing graduates. This covers fiction, non-fiction and children’s publishing. It is a natural fit for creative types and, with trade editorial being perhaps the most applied for role in the industry, one might consider opting for an alternative job type within this sector, such as sales, marketing and operations.

There’s more information on our website for each sector and you can always get in touch with your questions. Once you know the direction you want to move in, you can start your journey! Contact us in London at london@atwoodtate.co.uk and in Oxford at oxford@atwoodtate.co.uk.

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Creative collaboration & the future of publishing

Writers, agents, publishers and institutional brands are all grappling with the same dilemma: how to produce high-quality books and state of the art digital content whilst at the same time judiciously managing their costs. Project management includes multiple internal and external connections and skillsets.

Take a glimpse into the crystal ball of publishing with three experts and understand how the ever-evolving role of creative collaboration will affect all of us in the future.

whitefox are 5 years old this Spring and will be celebrating with drinks for everyone after the talks.

Free for Bookmachine members, £5 before 30th April and £8 from 30th until the event date: 9th May 2017.

Buy your tickets here! 

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What I’ve Learnt from working at Atwood Tate as Administrator & Social Media Coordinator

Working at Atwood Tate
What I’ve Learnt working as Administrator & Social Media Coordinator at Atwood Tate

In July 2016 I joined Atwood Tate as a maternity cover Administrator. In October I was made permanent as the Administrator and Social Media Coordinator. Sadly I am now leaving the company which I have absolutely loved working for, for an exciting opportunity working as a Marketing and Publicity Executive at a Trade publishing house.

As Administrator, and later Social Media Coordinator, I have learnt a lot during my time at Atwood Tate! From the different publishing sectors to the true cost of London commuting!

Upon leaving University in May 2016 I hectically began applying for numerous jobs and work experience placements within publishing and had first-hand experience of the difficulty of breaking into this industry.

Publishing is an increasingly competitive world to enter into and often candidates requires a lot of experience to get an entry-level job. With work experience placements often over-subscribed and most not covering more than expenses, it was sometimes difficult to add extra work experience to my CV. Instead I developed my skills within blogging, social media and coding which eventually led to me gaining a few interviews.

If you want to learn more about how blogging, YouTubing and Coding/HTML can help make your CV’s stand out take a look at our blog posts on these subjects!

I was lucky enough to come across a vacancy at Atwood Tate and attended an interview for the role. I was later offered the position of Administrator and jumped at the opportunity to be working within the publishing industry on the recruitment side of things.

Working in recruitment is a great way to learn about the industry and to network with a lot of people working within it.

Ultimately, I’ve decided to return to my roots within publishing, but during my time at Atwood Tate I have learnt many things about this industry and have had a great time doing so:

What I’ve Learnt Working at Atwood Tate:

  • There are more sectors in publishing that just Trade, Academic and Educational. This includes: B2B (Business to Business), STM (Science Technical and Medical) and Professional publishing. These sectors are just as exciting as the three I knew about prior to joining, and are a great place to build experience and learn more about publishing.
  • Also, there are a lot more roles within publishing than just editorial. A lot of people are looking to enter Editorial positions when they first apply for publishing roles, but Publicity, Sales, Rights and many other job roles are just as engrossing and immersive within the industry
  • Recruitment Companies, such as Atwood Tate, are a great resource for job-hunters, both experienced and entry-level. Even if Atwood Tate have no available roles for entry-level candidates we have created resources for entry-level candidates across our social media and on our website. This includes fortnightly Q&As, a work experience resources page, quick email responses to inquiries and regular helpful blog posts on job applications, temping and skills development.
  • Publishing Recruitment is just as immersive as working in a publishing house. When I first joined Atwood Tate I wanted to meet people within publishing, and develop my networking abilities. Since starting I have gone to numerous Society of Young Publishers event, attended the London Book Fair and LBF seminars, gone to the Borough Book Bash and generally communicated with publishing houses and publishers via our Social Media accounts
  • And last but not least, one of the best things I’ve learnt from working at Atwood Tate: helping people to find a job within publishing is a fantastic feeling.

Not only have I met some great people outside of the office but I have also made some fantastic friends within the company as well – mostly from bringing in copious amounts of cake!

One of the best bits of feedback we can receive from candidates and clients alike is about how friendly they find the staff at Atwood Tate, and it’s true! I may be biased but the main aim of everyone at Atwood Tate is to get our candidates their dream jobs, and clients their dream employees. And to give advice during the times that we’re waiting for those jobs to come in.

I’m leaving Atwood Tate in the full knowledge that if I ever need a new job in future I will be in safe hands when coming to them.

I also leave behind our new social media which I have had the great responsibility and joy of developing, including our YouTube Channel and Instagram. I leave this in the capable hands of our new Administrator and Social Media Coordinator: Andrew Willis.

You’ll be hearing more about Andrew in the coming week! So watch out for that.

For now I leave Atwood Tate with huge thanks for the wonderful opportunities and experiences I have had. And best of luck to our new Administrator Andrew, who’s going to do a wonderful job!

 

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