Hi Luna readers!
I’m Beth, a MSc Publishing student at Edinburgh Napier University and currently undertaking a placement with Luna Press Publishing.
As part of my degree I am required to learn first-hand the roles of a publisher through a placement module. We pick our own placement company: I approached, and was selected by, LPP because science fiction and fantasy are my favourite genres to read, and I wanted to learn more about smaller, independent publishers. I look forward to taking on responsibilities over the course of my placement and learn more about publishing whilst I work for Luna.
When picking Edinburgh Napier University, I was drawn to the sheer amount of opportunities and events we are encouraged to participate in. Our University course provides lectures by professionals from every sort of publishing careers possible, to enable the students to ascertain their own, more specific career path. I think it is this side of the course that has made me interested in smaller publishing houses and freelancers, because the lectures have opened up the industry and allowed me to see that there are so many more publishing roles out there. We are also encouraged to attend book launches and festivals, and many of us are travelling down to London in April for the London Book Fair. Many of these events are subsidised or even free for students and allow us to gain insight into our future career and feel part of the UK’s book and magazine industry.
Our course is balanced so that we learn software skills in our first semester along with keeping up with current industry trends and important information such as copyright law and current topics of importance to booksellers and publishers. One of the most interesting things I have learnt this year is how different sectors of publishing come together in the creation of each product which will be so crucial to my understanding of my job in later life and how it fits in with the life cycle of a book from concept to sales. This semester we are putting those skills to use and preparing texts for publication and creating a magazine as part of the course. I cannot wait to contribute to this process and to start my life as a publisher, and I think my degree has helped consolidate this dream in my mind and has given me the confidence that I have made the correct career choice!
I am very excited to continue with my placement at Luna Press Publishing and with the final stages of my degree and, of course, I look forward to all the events I will be attending later this year. In particular, I am eager to attend the Cambridge Literary Festival and SYP’s Conference, ‘Publishing vs the World’, in March. I love living in Edinburgh for my degree and being able to attend all of these events and get involved in Scotland’s book scene.