Continue reading »]]> Some of you will be pleased to hear that we are currently planning the bookcareers.com salary survey 2012. In this survey we analyse the salaries of UK book and journal publishing and literary agents. We are unique in that we gather information from you – the people on the ground doing the jobs – instead of asking the Human Resources Directors what they think they are paying you.

There have been several reasons for the long gap in between surveys, two of which are:-

1. Between 2008 and 2011 so many companies had ‘pay freezes’ (we know some still do) and we know from many conversations that salaries did not change much in that period.

2. We now need to take into account digital book publishing and find a way to incorporate this into the survey without losing the feel or sight of print book and journal publishing.

One of the things we want to do in the Salary Survey 2012 is incorporate some new questions, so that we can identify from the results the major areas of concern about salaries and rewards in book publishing. These include new questions about whether you did work experience, may have a second job, or a private income, a mortgage, or are renting. We also intend to look more closely at career paths and choices.

We are now asking you to contribute to the questions. So if you feel that there is a burning question that must be asked on this survey, aside from the points we have mentioned above (and the bog-standard how much do you get paid/size of company/location/ethnicity etc.) please either comment below or email us. You have until 28th February before we finalise the survey.

We are also looking for 6 volunteer testers, who are already employed in full time jobs in publishing to help test the questionnaire before it goes live. Again, please email us if you’d like to be considered for this.

Many thanks for your help.

Continue reading »]]> Are publishers born or made? Was the question asked at an insightful symposium at Kingston University where Course Directors, Lecturers, Publishers and Trade Associations (including the Publishers Association – Richard Mollet gave a brilliant presentation) and interested parties discussed the relevance of publishing degrees and education to the publishing industry. This was the first forum of its type and it was great to see it so well supported.

There are now 11 Universities offering publishing at graduate or postgraduate level and it was encouraging to hear how hard they work at ensuring the content of their respective courses was relevant to the industry. In particular, the universities consider an MA the equivalent of six months experience within the industry. Whilst on the other hand one publisher present said that they would prefer their employees to have a first degree in a discipline that wasn’t publishing, to give them a varied life experience. One University stated that they always told applicants to their MA course that ‘the MA will get you an interview; once you’ve got the interview it is down to you ^[1] but it is no guarantee of a job’.

Skills were discussed heavily and it was interesting to hear that according to Skillset‘s research ^[2]51% of publishers have separate digital departments, rather than integrating digital skills into everyone’s job. I questioned whether it wasn’t a matter of time before all these skills are merged with our daily publishing functions? The key skills and areas that need to be addressed are:-

1. Digital. For a number of courses digital publishing is an option rather than a compulsory subject. Should this be the case?
2. Better grammar, spelling and punctuation. These skills are essential for a successful career in publishing, yet so many graduates are not of the standard required for publishing. (There are a number of courses available, one at Kingston and one at the Publishing Training Centre).
3. Sales skills. More emphasis needs to be given to sales skills and techniques, particularly as every department in publishing involves selling and negotiation – Editors have to sell titles to their colleagues at commissioning meetings , Rights is a selling job, Publicity have to sell titles to the media etc.
4. Publishing finance. This is addressed on all courses but it needs to be re-emphasised through and through: that publishing is a business; it is an industry and its main aim is to make money.
5. Bookscan. Students would gain an instant advantage and increase their employability by being trained in analysing complex Bookscan algorithms as part of their degree. However, the cost of Bookscan makes it prohibitive to the Universities. One delegate commented ‘the cost of Bookscan is more than the whole Department library budget’.
6. Student dissertations. A lot of work and thought goes into the student dissertations and a number contain information that could be valuable to the industry. The Association for Publishing Education are going to research how these dissertations could be shared.
7. Group/Teamwork. All courses encourage students to work as a group on a project or presentation. A number of students do not seem to like this but this group or team work is essential, as all publishing projects are a collaborative affair.
8. Networking. Networking is essential to anyone seeking a career in publishing. The Society of Young Publishers offers the best networking opportunities to anyone considering a career in the industry.
9. CV and Career Advice. That some of the students CVs and covering letters are not up to scratch. (We go to a number of universities and societies already to help address this problem. If you’d like us to come to you, please contact us, if you have already graduated we currently have mini-consultations available.)

Throughout the day we discussed internships, work experience and work placements and several employers presented to the audience details of their differing schemes. It was felt overall that an unpaid work experience placement should last no more than two weeks, during which time the student should be reimbursed for travel expenses and given a contribution towards lunches. Any placement that is longer should be paid. (In an ideal world all placements would be paid!) Hachette receive over 800 emails a year requesting placements, and throughout the year they offer 100 placements across the group, and the company does a lot of preparation for each placement, ensuring an official confirmation letter is sent, the manager and department are on board, they are brief on health and safety, and there are enough tasks to keep them occupied. One of the things that disappoints and frustrates Hachette most is that the students coming on placements have not researched the company, in particular the imprint they are assigned to.

Diversity continues to be a major problem within the industry, (Bobby Nayyar from Dipnet was present, but many of us raised the diversity issue) and one publisher mentioned that they continue to attract white middle class females.

With so many companies irresponsibly requesting unpaid work experience over paid experience in other industries, this is surely set to continue. It was also raised that a graduate degree is now a prerequisite for the industry, and with the cost of education rising and the low salaries within publishing, that perhaps the industry needs to consider either paying staff more or looking outside the graduate workforce. I mentioned that I didn’t have a degree but had received almost 7 years ‘on the job’ training at one publishing house, and the concern must be that a number of unpaid placements are being used instead of employing salaried staff – no company employs office juniors anymore.

All in all, it was a thought provoking and interesting day and I hope that there will be more events like this in the future.

*you stand a better chance at interview if you’ve taken our interview coaching!

1. ^[1] (you stand a better chance at interview if you’ve taken our interview coaching! ↩
2. ^[2] http://www.skillset.org/uploads/pdf/asset_14113.pdf?3 ↩

Continue reading »]]> Over the years I have worked with a number of freelancers, from those starting their freelance careers to established freelancers whose work has dried up. These are the nine deadly sins that I’ve found most freelancers make:

1. Not managing your time.
There are a million reasons why you chose to go freelance,
and one of them was probably to be in charge of your
own day and able to fit your work around your life, not
the other way round. But there comes a time when all time
management goes out of the window, and you are either
spending too much or too little time at your desk. As a
freelance, you are running a business. You need to plan your
day and stick to what you planned (with obvious exceptions);
you should be controlling your email and workflow, not the
other way around. If you find, regularly, that you wrongly
estimate the time it takes to do a project, then learn from this!
Don’t keep making the same mistakes.

2. Not managing your clients
It is very easy to let clients rule the roost: you depend on
them for work so that you can pay the bills. However,
freelances often fail to put their foot down when they should.
If a client is messing you around with deadlines, demands
and interruptions, then manage them. Make it clear at the
start what format you’d like work in and when you can talk
on the phone or answer emails. If they suddenly ask you to
do something different, which was not agreed before you took
the job and will take a lot of extra time, tell them there may be
an extra charge. If it is a regular client, you might not charge,
to keep them happy, but remember you are a business not a
charity – you must be paid for the work that you do.

3. Not setting fees correctly
You’ve failed to set your fees at the appropriate rate, or, more
importantly, you’ve charged a fee for a job and not per hour.
The SfEP issues fee guidelines, and you should stick to them.
If you are told ‘your fees are too high’, don’t feel you have to
drop down to compete. If you follow the points above, you
should have lots of clients who will pay the going rate for your
work. There’s no guarantee that the cheaper person will be
better for a company. Many times I hear of publishers going
for the cheaper option and then returning to their established
freelance.

4. Not looking for work when you’re busy
You took on a project and focused on it 110 per cent without
allowing any time to market your business. You didn’t update
your leaflets/marketing materials, and may have turned work
down. Now the project has ended, and you’re twiddling your
thumbs wondering what to do. The answer is to keep on
looking for work, and to subcontract: find other freelances
whom you know and trust and whose work is of the same
high standard as yours. Let the quiet times be their quiet
times, not yours. At least 10 per cent of your time should be
spent looking for work.

5. Not networking
You get too busy or, even worse, your work dries up and
you’re too embarrassed to go to any networking events to
keep in touch with your peers. You have to put yourself out
there. People will think you’ve stopped working if they no
longer hear from you or see you around. Networking counts
as part of that 10 per cent in point 4 above. You are likely
to get good speculative approaches if you keep up your
networking – try ‘I don’t know if this is the kind of project you
work on but …’

6. Not keeping up with new technology
Like it or not, traditional book publishing has changed. This
won’t kill your work but you need to fill the gaps in your
knowledge and learn new skills to open up new opportunities.
Both the SfEP and the Publishing Training Centre (www.
train4publishing.co.uk) have introduced new courses to help.
You may be able to apply for a training grant from The Book
Trade Charity (www.btbs.org). When a company doesn’t
have in- house skills they will ‘freelance’ them out, and there
are many gaps in in-house knowledge at the moment. If
you want to know which publishers are investing in digital
and what they are doing, then sign up for @thefuturebook
(http://futurebook.net), the digital publishing email from The
Bookseller, and for updates from @publishingtalk (www.
publishingtalk.eu).

7. Not doing social networking
When I mention Twitter, I expect you to say that you hate
it! But if I told you there was a huge and vibrant publishing
community on Twitter, would you hate it so much?
Likewise, LinkedIn. Publishers often search for people by
job title, eg ‘freelance copyeditor’, and if you are linked to
someone they are linked to, you should appear higher in the
search rankings. There are also many publishing groups that
post job vacancies or opportunities for freelances. But there
are some clear dos and don’ts. Get Up to Speed With Online
Marketing by Jon Reed is the book you need to walk you
through every stage. Jon Reed also organises training courses
in using social media for publishing (www.reedmedia.eu).

8. Acting like the world has ended when you’ve lost a
major client
A number of freelances spend 60 per cent of their time
working for one company. Then something happens (usually
the company is acquired by another), and they are left
floundering. What to do? Take a step back and look at what
you are doing in point 1. Don’t put your head in the sand:
chasing after lost causes won’t bring you in money.

9. Getting precious about publishing
You say that you want to work only on books and you do
only one kind of editing. Yet your skills are universal. Every
company outside book publishing now has a website and
produces marketing materials, brochures and leaflets. How
many times has a flyer come through your door with errors
on it? Companies need your skills and your experience, and
often the work can pay better than the traditional work you
are doing. In quiet periods, or when it feels as if publishers
are providing less work, this is an area where you might find
your back- up plan. Most freelances who work for companies
outside their usual remit comment on how much they
‘enjoyed doing something different’.

If you are a freelancer who is struggling and none of the above are helping or you need some professional advice to get back on track, don’t forget that all our career services are applicable to you too.

Continue reading »]]> In the past year I have had to help an increasing number of clients through work-related stress, caused by juggling their personal and professional online lives, so I was intrigued when a copy of The Digital Diet landed on my desk.

It describes itself as ‘the 4-step plan to break your tech addiction and regain balance in your life’ and throughout it Daniel Sieberg uses personal experiences as to illustrate how he got lost in the online social world and jeopardised relationships with his friends and family. During Sieberg’s own Digital Diet, he deleted his Facebook profile and detached himself from other social media before gently re-immersing himself back in the online world with certain restrictions and caveats, building up to spending no more than 90 minutes a day online, including email.

Sieberg talks about your ‘Virtual Weight Index’ where you score points for each type of mobile phone, computer or tablet that you own and the total is your VWI – and the aim is to reduce this score, but loses slight credibility with me when he adds in electricals, such as the coffee machine. Sieberg also mentions that his online life had no substance and that he was ‘friends’ with people who weren’t really his friends, and that his friendships broke down through social media; that he stopped phoning people and having real-life meetings, whereas most of the people I meet have had their relationships enriched by their use of social media but struggle to manage it all – so perhaps his problems ran deeper than just ‘technical overload’?

The book repeatedly says that ‘it’s just an introduction; you need to find your own way’ and it is just that: a book that will give you suggestions, including a 28 day detox plan and ideas – some workable, some unworkable- to overcome your obsession with your Smartphone, Facebook profile, Twitter, etc. and how to reconnect with people in the real world.

Overall, I would recommend this book to someone whose hands never leave their smartphone; or someone whose family is about to disown them because they always give priority to their ‘online friends’; or someone who always texts or tweets through a restaurant meal; or someone who is facing self-esteem issues by the ‘fabulous lives’ their Facebook or Twitter friends have (judging by status updates). It is a starter manual, designed to get you thinking about your online time, and ways in which you can regain your life offline, but sadly it doesn’t take you further than 2nd gear, when most tech-savy addicts really need a book which teaches them how to drive on the motorway.

The Digital Diet by Daniel Sieberg
Souvenir Press £10.00 ISBN 978 0 28564 053 5

Continue reading »]]> We are delighted to announce that at an awards ceremony last night, Women in Publishing honoured Suzanne Collier with the Pandora Award ‘for a significant and sustained contribution to the publishing industry’.

On being given the award Suzanne said:

“If you know the story of Pandora, you will know that when she opened her box she let evil and chaos loose in the world and the only thing left in the box was hope. I would like to share my box of hope with every woman in publishing in that I hope that you are doing a job you love, that your career aspirations are fulfilled and that you are paid the salary that you so richly deserve. This is very significant today, when the unemployment figures show that there are more women unemployed than at any time since 1988; I would like to share my hope with those women, in that I hope that they too will find a job that they love.”

Suzanne commented later “Winning the Pandora award is such a great honour. As a young girl in publishing, and through the years, I have stood at the WIP awards, and watched as many great names in publishing, such as Carmen Callil and Judy Piatkus have been awarded this prize. To know that my name is added to that list means more to me than any words can say. Thank you to all those who nominated and voted for me.”

Continue reading »]]> Given the support on twitter in the USA for the former Border employees, it makes sense for us to link here to an interview that Suzanne Collier gave to Vicky Elmer, (a professional journalist based in the USA), when Borders first filed for Chapter 11.

http://workingkind.com/2011/02/borders/

Written some time ago, but published widely in The Bookseller, and many other publications Suzanne’s article on Surviving Redundancy we find is always of some help to anyone who has just lost their job.

http://www.bookcareers.com/difficulties/survivingredundancy.htm

Continue reading »]]> As with all social networking, when it comes to job searching there are some big ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’. Twitter on its own is unlikely to find you a job: you may see jobs advertised (and you’ll need to respond quickly if you do), but it should be used as the means to finding a job, and your personal marketing tool.

1. Do choose your username carefully. To be part of your true job search brand use your own name. Then when you then start sending in speculative enquiries or job applications, as soon as your email or application lands on the recruiter’s desk or inbox you are instantly recognised by your real name – the one on your CV / resumé. Twitter has a unique way of making complete strangers feel like they know you. People repeatedly come up to me at publishing events and introduce themselves saying ‘I follow you on Twitter’ and then launch into a conversation about something I have tweeted or discussed with them on Twitter.
2. Do interact with people. I don’t auto-follow, but aim to respond to all @messages directed to me. Do this with the person who has advertised the job – make them feel like they know you, because you have responded to a tweet, or interacted with them.
3. Do use a real photograph of yourself as your profile image. When you walk into a recruiter’s office for an interview or meet them at a networking event there can be that moment when the recruiter instantly recognises you. ‘Ah, you look exactly like your profile pic’, can be a great start to an interview.
4. Don’t leave your biography blank. If you are in a position to state you are looking for a job then do so in this field. If not, see if you can add your current job title and add something personal too, maybe even some slight humour ‘loves coffee’ ‘loves cake’ are two of the most popular things I read on Twitter biographies. At all times keep your biography professional. If you follow someone and they don’t know you and your biography is blank they are unlikely to follow you back. And remember if you are tweeting for yourself but mention the name of your employer in your tweets then do add ‘all tweets are my own’ to ensure no one believes you are tweeting on behalf of the company.
5. Don’t protect your tweets. Yes, it means everyone can read everything you tweet or Google your tweets, but the whole point of Twitter is that it is an open network. Unless there is a very good reason for protecting your tweets, then make them open. Many people on Twitter are unlikely to follow back someone who has protected their tweets, and your tweets cannot be retweeted. Either participate on Twitter or don’t be on Twitter at all.
6. Do follow people you want to work for. Follow publisher accounts, and people who work for the publisher. Check out who they are retweeting or recommending for a #ff (Follow Friday) – very often it is their ‘own’ people. If you want to work in editorial, for example, see how many book publishing editors you can find on twitter, not so much for you to tweet ‘give us a job’ to them, but so you can get an insight to their job and the work they do. This will help you if you are so fortunate to get an interview with them. There are some very good lists of publishing people who are on Twitter, plus a number of people who have their own Twitter lists. One of mine, for example, is @suzannecollier/recruiters, a great resource if you are looking for a job. As soon as I know someone is tweeting publishing vacancies continuously I add them to the list, so you don’t miss out.
7. Don’t look desperate. Even though you are looking for a job, don’t keep tweeting several times a day that you are looking for a job, as aside from appearing desperate (it is okay – we know you are), it is also dull, boring and unattractive.
8. Do proofread all your tweets before sending. Don’t use swear words or text speak and don’t tweet about things you don’t want your mother to read (my mum is following me on Twitter – that keeps me in check!) The best thing to do is to follow others and watch their lead, or ‘lurk’, before stepping out into the big wide twitterstream.
9. Do look professional. It is imperative that you don’t tweet things that could backfire on your job search and at all times you tweet like the professional person that you are. It is okay for you to say you have lots to do, or are very busy, but if you tweet you are exhausted at 3pm in the afternoon, why would someone want to employ you, if you can’t fulfil a day’s work? Don’t be disrespectful to people on Twitter who don’t reply or offer you an interview, or people who have offered you an interview and you didn’t get the job. Why on earth would someone else then want to interview you if you tweet only bad things about people?
10. Do not tweet between 12 am and 5 am on a weekday unless you are in another time zone, or people know you are stuck somewhere. Again, why would someone want to employ you if they think you are not getting enough sleep? This might sound like something from the dark ages, but in a competitive job market you have to remember that recruiters want to employ people who will give their best. And you are someone who can give their best, so show it.

There are no hard and fast rules about what to tweet; you need to find your own ground, but remember, your future employer may (or may not) be reading your tweets.

This post by @suzannecollier, originally appeared on www.publishingtalk.eu and is an extract from The Publishing Talk Guide to Twitter. Find out more and download a free chapter at http://www.publishingtalk.eu/guides/twitter/

Continue reading »]]> Whoever you are, you need this book. Whether you are someone who is planning a full-blown social media strategy for a business or an individual who wants to know how to learn the right way to use online marketing.

Each element (linkedin, twitter, email, blogs, facebook etc) has its own unique chapter so you can use this as an ongoing reference tool or as a daily workbook as you build your social media profile.

With lots of short cuts and checklists Jon Reed’s no-nonsense style makes this book the ultimate reference guide for all those with an online footprint.

Continue reading »]]> We’re always being asked if we can help people on an adhoc basis, with questions about all manner of things regarding careers advice, working in publishing and job hunting and we’ve responded to your requests.  You want answers that relate directly to you and your situation, whether you are looking for a job, starting a new job, or thinking about a career change and something perhaps more indepth than our FAQs.

So, we’ve set up our own bookcareers.com careers advice line, where we will aim to answer all your quick questions and queries. This will be the confidential, independent advice that you know and love us for.

(We’re also modifying all our other services to make us more accessible to you – including introducing mini consultations – further details will follow shortly).

The times the line will be in operation will vary from week to week, but as with all our services, we work around you, so you can usually find us open at evenings and weekends.

The number to call is 0911 7505601 and the times  we are ‘open’ can be found here. All calls will be charged at £1 per minute.

We’re really looking forward to talking to you sometime soon.

Continue reading »]]> UPDATED – CHANGE OF HASHTAG Following on from the twitter advice, there are some great hashtags # on twitter if you are looking for a job:-
#jobs  #hiring   #vacancies  #recruitment
yet none for jobseekers.

What I’d like to suggest is a jobseeking hashtag.  Once a week, (not more, twitter’s search function is very good) send out a tweet with the hashtag #bookcareers and a bit about you and your skills, and let’s see if any of those who are hiring or recruiting will start searching for you.

e.g. #bookcareers English graduate, can use Indesign, looking for first publishing job, anything considered, but likes publicity.
Marketing Manager, 7 years exp, worked in trade and academic publishing, digital and print #jobseeker

What I’ll do in return is if you shout @suzannecollier with #bookcareers and say you are looking for a permanent job in publishing and have
1. unprotected tweets
2.a bio which does not contain swearing
3.an avatar or picture
4.and are following @suzannecollier (so I can send you DMs)
I’ll add you to my public bookcareers jobseekers list.

This is designed for people who are actively jobseeking for permanent full time jobs within publishing in the UK.  Not those who are seeking temp or freelance work or who ‘aren’t sure’.  I want to help those who need the help the most – e.g. this year’s graduates who are coming out into the world of work at one of the most difficult times.  Or those who are still being laid off, as it seems there are still a great number of redundancies.

No guarantees, but I’ll sometimes remind the @suzannecollier/recruiters list that you exist.   If things work, I might expand it, but give this time to trial for the next few weeks.

And don’t forget – as soon as you have a job – let me know!

PS -
TO MAKE IT CLEAR -
You should be doing this in conjunction with these guidelines
 http://www.bookcareers.com/blog/?p=335   in particular, point 7 ‘do not look desperate’.  Twitter’s search facility is exceptionally good.  The best way to check whether you need to retweet your #bookcareers tweet, is to search for #bookcareers and see if you can find yourself; I think you’ll find once a week should be enough. You are not wanting to look desperate, you want it to look professional.  Tweet your #bookcareers more often than this and you’re likely to bore the pants of your followers.