We are excited to welcome Margo Fitzpatrick to the fold of Market Partners International, Publishing Trends, and Publishing Trendsetter this summer as our intern! She comes to us from University of Chicago, and you can read more about her on our about page.
What aspects of Publishing Trends and MPI interest you most as you enter the internship?
Publishing Trends and MPI are attractive to me for their dedication to the ever-changing nature of the industry. As a work-community, MPI is comprised of seasoned professionals who are knowledgeable about the industry’s evolution. Working as an intern in this environment will facilitate my interactions with such professionals from whom I can’t wait to learn!
As a relative newbie to the industry, Publishing Trends interests me as an active source for information concerning the business’s evolution. Without access to such informational tools, getting up-to-date news concerning the industry would be considerably more challenging. MPI’s other book-business website Publishing Trendsetter also is especially helpful for me, because it offers beginners resources that I have already found incredibly helpful, such as “A Beginner’s Guide to Industry Newsletters.”
What “skill-sets” or areas of your knowledge would you most like to broaden with this internship?
Through this internship, I would like to expand upon my knowledge of trends in book publishing. Because this internship will allow me to do much research, I hope to acquire a more comprehensive understanding of how the publishing industry evolves and how it currently exists. Working on Publishing Trends and Publishing Trendsetter, sources of intelligence, should aid me in this goal. Overall, I would like to emerge from my internship able to speak intelligently with other professionals about current trends in the industry.
What kind of value do you think might be unique to a non-traditional book-business internship (as opposed to other more traditional internships with a publisher or agent)?
Working as an intern for a non-traditional book-business holds value in its capacity for broad teaching. This internship promises to teach many facets of the publishing industry, providing a more “macro view” of the industry than perhaps could be gained from a more traditional book-based internship. As a relative newcomer to the industry, I believe a more “macro”-focused internship is very valuable, as it will allow me to discover what aspects of the industry I am most interested in.
You’ve had other publishing internships as well, what makes you so drawn to publishing as a field?
When asked in childhood what I wanted to “do” as an adult, I would answer that I wanted to get paid to read books. How people laughed! But once I learned of the publishing industry, I rephrased my answer and began telling people that this was the business for me. In addition to the perks of being employed to read (and write, another dear past-time of mine), those working in the publishing industry are guaranteed to be interested in ever-continuing their education. After graduation from school, learning does not stop for those entering the publishing work force. I want to surround myself with other people who are as passionate as I am about literature and its innovation, and publishing is a career path that allows for this excitement towards literary achievement.
The post Internview: Say Hello to Margo! appeared first on Publishing Trendsetter.
