A non-profit and a
grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates
essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote
literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people.
Publicist at Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and Saga Press
When I was looking for my first job, I’d ask as many people as I could how they got their start in publishing. I would collect stories from internship mentors, interviewers, people I met at networking events, whoever, in exchange for bright-eyed enthusiasm. As I found out, there’s no single path to publishing, but rather a network full of detours, twists, and forks that make up our small (yes, small) publishing village.
On the surface, my path seems straightforward. My junior year at Columbia, I joined my college’s alumna mentor program as I began pondering life after college. Since I specified that I was interested in publishing, I was matched with the excellent and wonderful Juliet Grames, now associate publisher of Soho Press. Juliet was invaluable to me. At her advice, I did three internships before graduating in 2010: at an agency, in children’s editorial, and in adult trade marketing. She introduced me to other people in publishing, and I lived in her spare bedroom in Harlem while job-hunting in New York.
After graduation, I laid out my plan for intense networking: interviews both informational and professional, panels, coffee dates, lunch dates, Kid Lit Drink Nights and KGB Fantastic Fiction Nights, basically anywhere I knew publishing people would be. Five months later, I began working as a publicity assistant at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Part of partnering with cbcdiversity on our internship initiative means that there are chances for more diverse applicants like Faye Bi to enter the publishing world!
New York, NY – April 14, 2015 – The Children’s Book
Council (CBC), the non-profit trade association for children’s book
publishers in North America, and grassroots nonprofit We Need Diverse
Books™ (WNDB) today announced their partnership on educational
programming and resources for interns selected for the WNDB Internship
Program, launching this summer.
The program is designed to open
up the children’s book publishing industry to talented job-seekers from
diverse backgrounds, providing them with an invaluable opportunity to
learn about the industry through professional guidance and hands-on
experience.
As part of this effort towards creating a more diverse
children’s book publishing industry, the CBC will offer WNDB Publishing
Interns:
Exclusive educational opportunities, including a luncheon with the CBC Diversity Committee, comprised of children’s book editors and publicists at top publishing houses
Inclusion in the CBC Early Career Committee’s summer event, connecting the interns with publishing staffers in their first 5 years in the industry
Invitation to a CBC Forum, a CBC-member event which provides information and discussion on current publishing trends and issues
Invitation to a CBC Diversity Panel,
a CBC-member opportunity which brings together voices within and
outside of children’s publishing to communicate the challenges they face
in selling and promoting diverse books, and to work together to develop
solutions.
Tip sheets for getting jobs in the publishing industry and making the most of their internships
CBC-member exclusive multimedia content, including videos and recordings of educational programming
Access
to the CBC Early Career Committee’s ECC Newsletter, featuring
interviews with mid-level publishing staffers, industry job moves, &
member-exclusive news, opportunities, and invitations
Access to Diversity in the News, the CBC’s monthly newsletter rounding-up relevant news in children’s books and diversity
“The
Children’s Book Council has been a dedicated champion of diverse books
and voices since the launch of the CBC Diversity Initiative in 2012”
said CBC Executive Director Jon Colman. “We are excited to team up with
WNDB to further the work of creating an inclusive and representative
children’s book publishing industry.”
WNDB President Ellen Oh says
of the collaboration: “We are thrilled to be partnering with the CBC on
our pilot internship program. Not only do we need diverse books, but a
diverse and dedicated workforce.”
About the Children’s Book Council (CBC)
The
Children’s Book Council is the nonprofit trade association for
children’s book publishers in North America. The CBC offers children’s
publishers the opportunity to work together on issues of importance to
the industry at large, including educational programming, literacy
advocacy, and collaborations with other national organizations. Our
members span the spectrum from large international houses to smaller
independent presses. The CBC is proud to partner with other national
organizations on co-sponsored reading lists, educational programming,
and literacy initiatives. Please visit cbcbooks.org for more information.
Created in 2012, CBC Diversity
is dedicated to increasing the diversity of voices and experiences
contributing to children’s and young adult literature — encouraging
diversity of race, gender, geographical origin, sexual orientation, and
class among both the creators of and the topics addressed by children’s
literature. Learn more at cbcdiversity.com.
About We Need Diverse Books (WNDB)
We Need Diverse Books™
is a grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates
essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote
literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people.
How we define diversity:
We
recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to)
LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities*,
and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities.
*We subscribe to a
broad definition of disability, which includes but is not limited to
physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental
disabilities, chronic conditions, and mental illnesses (this may also
include addiction). Furthermore, we subscribe to a social model of
disability, which presents disability as created by barriers in the
social environment, due to lack of equal access, stereotyping, and other
forms of marginalization.
# # #
Contact:
Nicole Deming
Communications Director
The Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader
212/966-1990
nicole[dot]deming[at]cbcbooks[dot]org
If you hadn’t already heard everyone at WNDB is very excited about this partnership to make the internship program the best it can be!
