Last September, I started a Digital Publishing MA at Oxford Brookes University. Whilst I was interested in publishing, I didn’t know how diverse and wide the industry really was.
If you are curious, or simply want to get ahead with what’s going on in publishing, here are some of the best resources. As a student, I make sure to visit all these websites as often as I can. I would also advise you to sign up to any available newsletters to receive very useful daily/weekly information.
Reading Material
The Bookseller @thebookseller
Publishing perspectives @publishingperspectives
Publishers Weekly @PublishersWkly
What's new in publishing @wnip
That Publishing Blog (currently SYP UK’s chair)
Book Brunch @BookBrunch
As a student liaison for the Oxford branch, I couldn’t not mention it. The organisation is doing a fantastic job to support student inclusion in publishing events in the UK; they have branches in Oxford, London, the South West, the North, Ireland and Scotland. Committee members come from various backgrounds and work in all areas of publishing. You can become a member (£18-30 a year) for some exclusive content, discounts, access to jobs board, networking opportunities and their Inprint Magazine.
@SYP_UK @SYP_Oxford
Publishing events (including regular webinars)
The Oxford Publishing Society @OxPubSoc
BookCareers @bookcareers
SYP @SYP_UK @SYP_Oxford
The Bookseller (Marketing and Publicity webinars) @thebookseller
The Oxford International Centre for Publishing @oxfordpublishing
Book Fairs
Always good to research ahead of your visit and/or watch back some of the previous editions’ highlights. It is also worth having a browse of their websites and social media channels as some are publishing exclusive online content due to the pandemic.
Networking Organisations
Book Machine @bookmachine
Byte the Book @bytethebook
YouTube channels
If you’d rather have video content, I recommend these booktubers who are also in the industry themselves. You might encounter them during various publishing events (Leena Normes came as a guest speaker at Brookes last year). I even had the chance to interview Sanne for a Children’s Publishing assignment.
Sanne Vliegenthart at BooksandQuills
Leena Norms (the queen of publishing in my opinion)
Podcasts
These are so popular nowadays, and I would recommend listening to a few of them to gain an insight into the industry. Most of them are available through your traditional podcast providers.
The SYP Oxford Podcast: conversations with publishing industry professionals
The Bookseller Podcast: author interviews, follow new releases and book recommendations
The Penguin Podcast: interviews with authors
The Waterstones Podcast: discussions with authors
What Editors Want: behind the scenes with editors
Inspired Selection Podcast: snippets from industry experts and advice to get into publishing
The SYP UK Podcast: publishing talks with industry professionals
The Slumbering SlothCast: insight into creative careers (books, publishing and more)
Groups and communities
Publishing hopefuls: A Facebook page run by Christina Storey and Emma Ronan for people hoping to work in the UK publishing industry one day. There, you will find book recommendations, news of online events and other useful tips, tricks and resources to boost your publishing skillset.
Keep coming back to this post, I might add some more later!
(The picture for this post was taken last October during The Frankfurter Buchmesse)
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