I love reading books and I'm always reading. I was thinking recently since I read so much all the time anyway maybe I could be a reader as a job? How do you go about this path and what does it require?

Anyone have a take on what strategies the big 5 are putting in place with LGBTQ kids books given the incoming administration and what was proposed in Project 2025?

I ask this to literary agents here but anyone can give their opinion

I’m writing a fantasy novel in 3rd person, but I feel I could write more naturally and just overall better if it were 1st person

But do agents even look at 1st person fantasy? I feel like 3rd person is the norm and that’s all that’s looked at

Hi! I am a BBA Co-op student at a Canadian university in my second year and am searching for a summer internship related to book publishing operations. I would love to do something more creative with my business degree while assisting authors get their work noticed (especially women and lgbtq authors). I am open to working anywhere in Canada but would also love to consider London UK or France (to continue my French language skills).

Does anyone know of any internships that are out there that may be of interest (even if they are in a different creative field) and are open to students in different disciplines like business. I am available to start co-op in the summer of 2025 but am open to a later start and opportunities of 4-12 months.

Would appreciate any advice!

Both these women wrote books about their abortion. One cited the dad's name clearly, another changed the real name in the book but then in a podcast after the release for her book she told the real name of the dad (famous singer). How come they didn't have a defamation lawsuit ? When my own ex filed a defamation lawsuit cause i told his dad, sister and boss he made me abort ?

I’m curious, has anyone ever gone from a U.S. based location at a company to a U.K. one? I could probably ask my HR, but I only started recently. I just wanna know if, say, 5 years down the line, that might be an option for me. Who knows where the U.S. will be by then.

edit to add: I’m an Editorial Assistant!

Hi everyone,

I hear a lot about US salaries in publishing being low, I’m wondering if it’s the same for Canada too? I think I know the answer but thought it was worth a try to ask!

Sharing this post for an in-house graphic designer with a publisher in Edinburgh, UK:

https://birlinn.co.uk/2024/10/31/were-looking-for-a-new-member-of-the-birlinn-design-team/

So this is just a question about how I should word something.

I am adapting and illustrating a children's book, based off of Hans Christian Andersons story "Soup from a sausage peg". This story is Public Domain, so it falls under fair use to rewrite and publish.

However, I must ask how I should credit Hans Christian Anderson as he is the author. The story was written in 1858, however I adapted it to make it more appealing towards a modern audience. All the characters and story beats are the same as the original story, but I don't think children in the modern day would want to read a book that starts with the sentence : "We had such an excellent dinner yesterday,” said an old mouse of the female sex to another who had not been present at the feast.

So I need to ask, if I'm adapting a story by an author in the public domain, what do I write for the copyright?

Do I write "Adapted story by Hans Christian Anderson", "Original story by Hans Christian Anderson", or does this part not have any significance since it's an almost 200 year old story? Do i need to clarify I adapted the story?

I work for a small, non-profit publisher. I have been a librarian for many years, but I’m pivoting to publishing. Because of my background, I have mostly been managing metadata. I love it, and it’s a great fit for me.

I have recently been asked about working on an index which is great because they have a need, and I have had a desire to get into indexing for some time.

I have taken classes on indexing and indexed a total of one book for a class project. (A long time ago)

I guess I’m looking for tips and tricks on how to go about this the right way.

How do indexers usually start a project?

How do indexers interact with authors and publishers through the indexing process?

Also, are there any big time saving strategies you wish you knew when you started indexing?

Finally, is this the best subreddit for this kind of question? Are there other subs I should know about?

I've worked in academic publishing (editorial) in the UK for the last 15 years. I'm now Publisher for a list at a fairly large academic publisher and have been growing increasingly concerned about the long-term viability of a career in academic publishing, particularly in my areas (HSS). Funding for research and library budgets continues to dwindle, monograph sales are VERY down, and open access is causing a little consternation among academics and publishers alike. Anyone else have similar concerns? If so, what're your career pivoting plans when it all comes crashing down?!

Hey! New to the group here

I'm a first-year college student looking for summer internships in the publishing industry; would love to hold a creative position involving submission review/editing/whatever is available, but I'm stuck finding opportunities in my locations (ideally the DC area). Does anyone have any insight into finding internships as a freshman student? TIA!

Hey everyone,

I’m in a bit of a bind and could use some help or advice from anyone who's dealt with this before.

So, I submitted a paper to a Nature journal, and somehow it also got posted as a preprint on both ResearchGate and Research Square. I managed to get ResearchGate to take it down without too much trouble, but Research Square has been a different story. They told me that once a preprint is assigned a DOI, it stays up permanently and can't be removed, which is a problem because it’s affecting my ability to submit to other journals.

Even after I escalated things and mentioned a potential DMCA takedown, Research Square’s response was that they can only mark it as “Withdrawn,” meaning it’s still visible and can still show up in similarity checks. They offered several explanations for withdrawal, but none of them solve my problem completely.

I've attached screenshots of my communication with Research Square, which explain their policies and the options they offered.

Has anyone been able to fully remove a preprint from Research Square or a similar platform? Are there any legal or other strategies I might be missing here to push for a complete removal? I’d really appreciate any advice or shared experiences.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Here are the email exchange screenshots:

First reply from RS: https://imgur.com/a/2YmZzm4

My reply to them : https://imgur.com/a/ky2LRKi

Their second reply: https://imgur.com/a/yLjsxS5

FAO U.K. publishing hopefuls!

I've been invited back for a second sales interview with Hachette and just wanted to know what to expect. They said it would be with the hiring manager and director and would be some questions and a short task- does anyone have any experience of tasks in interviews or getting to the second stage?

Howdy y’all,

Going anon to talk about this here since PubTips is currently on mod lock, but an agent acquaintance who won’t be named for anonymity’s sake told me tonight that if the current vote holds, she will no longer be acquiring as many queer or POC fiction books as she used to because “they will likely not be as profitable anymore” and editors probably “won’t want them either”.

As someone who’s both of these things and is on the writer side of it all, this is really concerning to hear from a publishing professional who’s definitely got some experience under her belt.

Instead of spinning further about that I thought I’d ask some other publishing folks if they thought her words held any credence?

So I am currently illustrating a children's book based on one of Hans Christian Andersons lesser known fairytale, "Soup from a Sausage Peg". I finished making all the art aside from the cover and copyright pages, and I tried to print a mockup so I can visualize how to publish the book.

However I ran into a problem and I need some page layout advice. In total I have 20 pages, which will b3 printed onto 10 papers. The way I originally had it set up was the first page corresponds to the last page so when the pages are flipped it is seamless(seeing as each scene of the book takes up 2 pages each.

What I did was this: Page 1- Dedication page/ Pg 1 & 20 Page 2- Pg 2 & 19 / pg 3 & 18 Page 3- pg 4 & 17/ pg 5 & 16 Ect. Ect.

About half the pages in the middle worked as intended: making 4 scenes. But for some reason, the printer printed the Dedication page was printed on the back of page 10, aka the middle of the book.

The entire book is not only out of order despite labeling it, but 3 entire pages accidentally printed the accompanying pages meant to lineup with the book on the opposite side of the page.

What are some tips for page layout so this does not happen again?

Hi! So I want to get experience and testimonials to start living of editing. But as I don't have any proof of my capacity as an editor, I was thinking on reaching out in some way to new writers offering free developmental editing or beta reading. The thing is I don't how to approach it.

If you've done this at the beginning of your career or have any idea, could you please give some advice or a template to send privately or to post my intention on reddit so they reach out to me.

Than you!

Hi everybody.

So I am helping with a book that is a commemoration of a college's first 50 years.

It's being published by the college and for the college.

There is a lot of boring stuff that is being included in the very beginning:

Statement from the president, statement from the chancellor, the mission statement of the school, vision statement, values, etc.

These things are all written in bland corporate-speak, as if thrown together by ChatGPT or something.

And these bits of writing will almost certainly be skipped over by readers, who will apprehend right away that they are dull and sound just like every other mission statement published on any university's website.

My question is:

What can I term all these things in the table of contents?

I don't want them to be under Chapter One but I don't think that they all fit under "Preface" either.

(Do they?)

How could these various boring writings be described in the table of contents?

And would I be right in thinking that they would be paginated in Roman numerals?

And chapter one would be rendered in Arabic ("normal") numbers?

What do you guys think?

I recently left publishing for an academic staff role. It is more secure as it is an elite nonprofit entity.

I am itching to get back into publishing but with Trump winning I am concerned about tariffs and trade wars with China plummeting book sales and revenues. I cannot afford to get laid off.

What may happen to the industry under Trump as I make a crucial decision in coming months?

I'm working on a book based on the life of a real, now deceased, person. While technically a biography, I would categorise my story as narrative nonfiction, as it blends matters of public record, clearly fictitious (i.e. fantasy) subplots and my own original research. There is already a more straightforward book about the subject which was originally published in the 1960s; inevitably my book contains details first recorded there. The author of this book is now deceased. The book went out of print many years ago, but was recently republished, albeit in French.

My questions are:

• Where do I stand with regard to my book subject's estate? Do I need their permission/cooperation, would publishing potentially expose me to legal challenge?
• Where do I stand with regard to the estate of the author of the original book? As above, but also, might my use of facts (e.g. speech) presented in this book constitute plagiarism?
• Where do I stand with whoever now holds the rights to the original book? I have no idea who currently owns the rights, but I could contact the French publisher if necessary.

I'll try to answer any questions I can as I'm sure I've left out vital details/been unclear at different points in this post! Any help from those with a publishing and/or rights background, or authors for whom my situation strikes a chord, would be really appreciated!

Hi all!

I currently work for the civil service (I’m 23 years old if relevant) and I have a degree in forensic science so no relevant experience to the industry, however I’m realising that I made a mistake and wondering if there’s any way of making a move into a publishing role at this point of my life/career, even via volunteering/internships?

I have looked into roles like publishing assistant and editorial assistant however I’m hesitant as I know that it’s a highly competitive field and my lack of experience will be a big hindrance. If anyone could guide me to a good starting point, eg Facebook groups, or any first moves you could recommend that I make I would be extremely grateful

Thank you in advance!!

Has anyone worked at a hybrid publisher and made the switch to traditional? Just wondering what major differences you found in your work/ the company itself.

All my publishing experience (except a short internship) has been at hybrid publishing companies. I have finally snagged a job at a traditional publisher and was curious if anyone else made the same switch.

Hi all, I'm writing this to get some info and opinions from you. A couple of years ago, I wrote a book in my native language, which is not English. First, the book got published through an NGO (its topic is related to the NGO's mission), after which a proper publishing agency reached out to me, asking whether they could publish it too. At the time, I agreed without thinking too much about it, as I just wanted to see my book come out and get some reads, so I just signed the contract. It did not sell great, somehow through the NGO I got many more sales than through that publishing agency, potentially because the NGO actually did some marketing for it.
Nevermind, fast forward to today. I live abroad and my book partially talks about the country I'm local to now. A few people suggested to me, that I should try to get it published here in English. I reached out to my old publisher, because I know they have their main office here, so they could help me getting it published in English. I asked whether they help with the translation - no, they don't. I ended up doing the translation myself, and asked whether they can offer editing and once again, they do not.

So my question is, is this a normal practice in your opinion? It feels frustrating that I, as an author, have to do or pay myself for editing and translation and then give away a huge portion of my income to a publisher who does... what exactly? I asked them in an email, what exactly is their role in this process then, is it just contacting the printers? I never got any answer. What is your experience with this process? Thanks for all responses.

I could use some advice from an agent or a published author!

I’m a co-author of a nonfiction book that’s gaining a lot of traction. The lead author is the brains behind the project, but he needed help so he brought me on. We have a contract that says my name will be on the cover and I have a right to 25% of all profits (he wrote it, we both signed).

Last week, he received a contract from an agent who wanted to sign him. He had declined previously unless they also included me in the contract, but now he was fine with it. He said that it’s because we have a subcontract she doesn’t have to include me but he will still take care of me.

The screenshot is his reasoning for why we both aren’t being signed. Since this conversation, he has become really cold and standoffish as well which is only making me feel more anxious.

Is this normal? Should I be concerned or maybe put my foot down here? What precautions should I take?

If reviewers have provided positive feedback and comments to my submitted conference extended abstract, can I assume that then extended abstract (4 pages)can count as publication and then add it into my google scholar profile ? Is this reasonable ?

I had a job interview last Thursday (for an EA role with a major academic publisher), as they said they’d appreciate it if I could interview before my prospective line manager went on holiday this week.

I am in their talent pool and unsuccessfully interviewed for another role with them. They said my last interviewers had recommended me for this role. During the interview, they said they were only interviewing to confirm an idea they had, and must have only asked me one experiences-based question, the others were about what I knew about them, as well as rudimentary, housekeeping ones.

They said there’s still a few candidates who needed to be interviewed this week just gone - but that they’d get back by end of this week (so today a few hours ago - I’m in the UK). For the last role, they got back exactly when they said they would. I’ve checked online and they never ghost - why the delay? I’m thinking it’s cos they want to wait until the line manager’s back to feed back to him, but surely they could have anticipated this?

I am working on and almost finalizing the user equilibrium studies for electric bus scheduling and travel behavior analysis and consider publishing journal papers with my advisor, and other academic partnered collaborators (Post-doc and another cooperative faculty in other department in my university), and is electric bus and user equilibrium paper topic a good fit to be submitted and accepted into transport research part B or C journal or special issue ?