The work of OSU Press is supported by a rotating cast of bright, ambitious, capable student interns via the George P. Griffis OSU Press Internship, which supports students who are interested in pursuing careers in the publishing industry. Last year Jace McPherson joined the Press in this role and shares the experience with us here.
Tell us a little about yourself and why you wanted to be an intern with OSU Press.
I did not start out at OSU with the goal of working in a career (even loosely) related to liberal arts. It wasn’t until a few years in that I started seriously considering the idea. I spent my writing classes trying to learn the paths my instructors took both for their personal writing and what led them to teaching. I spent a while looking into MFA programs both to improve my own writing and consider teaching at some level.
I don’t remember why I started looking into publishing, but the process of publishing and marketing a book was a fascinating mystery to me and I slowly realized that I wanted to explore publishing as a career simply because I loved the idea of helping a book get published and be accessible. Especially during a time where it feels like print is becoming less and less popular, it’s important to me that it doesn’t disappear entirely (which I don’t actually think would happen but sometimes that fear is there).
What did you learn during your time as an intern?
I feel like I learned so many different things at OSU Press. I learned about the general steps a project goes through from proposal to the marketing after it’s on shelves, how to prepare a manuscript during transmittal (primarily reformatting in Word and creating art logs), what to look for during EDP proofreading, the different steps taken for university publishing vs. other publishers, and a little bit about the peer review process (among other random tasks as well–quite honestly, I think we’d be here awhile if I listed out everything I got to work on and learn about).
Mainly, I learned how interconnected each part of the publishing process is and how, even though there are clear steps that need to be taken, a project doesn’t always go as planned and can require a lot of back and forth and reworking.
What was a highlight during your time at OSU Press?
It’s really hard to pick a single highlight in the past year at OSU Press. I obviously enjoyed being able to go to AUP [the Association of University Presses annual meeting] to get a deeper insight into field-wide practices and collective concerns. But I also really enjoyed the daily tasks in the office. What I found most rewarding were the few times I was able to see most of the project develop from when it got pitched to sending copies out. It was really cool to see how the manuscript changed throughout the year and how much detail goes into a single book both from the author and everyone at the Press.
What do you think you’ll be taking away from the internship as you move toward graduation and onto the next chapter of your life?
For an immediate impact, this internship has helped me figure out next steps for how best to gain relevant experience and market myself when I graduate and attempt to find a job in publishing. It’s helped me figure out what skills I already have that are useful and what experience I should be attempting to get that would help me in the future.
From talking with Kim and other professionals in publishing, I have gained more confidence for whatever I do next. One topic that came up a few times was having an interest in certain areas of publishing but not feeling like I could do well with it (one example being an interest in acquisitions editing but not being confident in my ability to network and acquire new projects through conferences and cold-calling/meeting). Everyone I talked to was very open with their personal experience and reassured me that these were skills that could be worked on. I even got advice on different methods of acquiring that might be more fitting for my comfort level.
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Are you a current Oregon State University undergrad or graduate student? OSU Press seeks highly qualified and motivated students to fill our annual internship position. This paid internship provides an outstanding introduction to scholarly book publishing, an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the general operations of a university publishing house, and the opportunity to work with publishing and library professionals. For information on how to apply, contact Kim Hogeland, acquisitions editor, at kim.hogeland@oregonstate.edu.