If you’re a lover of books and the literary world, you probably know the options for turning that passion into a career are limited. And no, not everyone wants to be an English teacher, so please stop asking every Literature graduate this question—it’s boring.
Many of us face the same dilemma: read or write, publish or be published. Publishing can look like a shining path to reading for a living. But it isn’t as easy as that. Nor is it as glamorous as the 2000’s romcoms that spark the dream of strutting through the streets of New York or London with an oh-so-perfect messy bun and ready-to-read entries of aspiring authors while sipping an overpriced latte. All irony aside, that dream in its less-than-glamorous fashion still exists for many.
In a day-and-age where everyone and their dog has an undergraduate degree, three years of studying books doesn’t exactly make you ‘qualified’ for a job in publishing. Writing academically about books barely scratches the surface. What really matters are skills that don’t always involve books; experience handling, selling, or promoting them can be far more valuable. A fun discovery at 23, especially when your undergrad time was spent overindulging in city life, and suddenly everyone starts dropping the word “grad scheme” like it’s a close friend.
Publishing feels impossible sometimes: London-centric, a shrinking market, and absurdly competitive. For Northerners, it seems like the doors are bolted shut. Where do you start when you’re told you should have been blogging, editing a magazine, working in Waterstones, interning every summer, all while maintaining a social life, earning money, and somehow snagging a first-class degree? Writing from the perspective of someone who hasn’t ticked all those boxes, I want to offer a realistic—and sometimes alternative—pathway for young people drowning in CV requirements. There are ways to gain experience and break into Northern publishing, even if you feel you’re already “too late”.
First: talk. Get involved wherever you can. Attend talks, conferences, events; purely for pleasure if nothing else. Knowledge of the industry is one of the most powerful tools you can acquire entirely on your own. You don’t need someone to hire you to acquire knowledge of the industry. Linkedin also becomes a powerfully performative tool; ‘I attended this talk and it taught me…’ to showcase how your knowledge about the industry is expanding. It can make application requirements less daunting when you simply know the sort of skills you need, and avoids the existential doom of ‘I’ll never catch up’.
Experience is one key aspect of demonstrating your talent, rivalled only by how you present yourself. Case in point: I recently secured an internship at Comma Press. Northern publishing spots are scarce, and my CV was modest—I had no editing experience beyond my degree. But I could talk. I managed to bag my way into a volunteering opportunity for them and worked up the nerve to email a team-member – I then got invited to a three-week internship. Unpaid, naturally, but I couldn’t believe my luck. All I could think was: finally, something on the CV. Turns out, that was the last thing I should have been thinking. This was only the beginning of understanding the industry, and within a few days, I was learning more than I expected.
Also, volunteering is gold. Whether it’s a literary festival, a film festival, a book launch, or even just helping to organise a talk, the skills you pick up are ridiculously transferable in publishing. You’ll gain experience beyond the page. Sometimes opportunities come from the smallest interactions, like complimenting someone’s outfit. Perhaps it sounds silly – but the more you put yourself out there, the more opportunities will arise. And even if nothing immediate comes of it, you’ll likely meet others in similar depths of despair as you, which is always a comfort.
For those in or near Manchester, the Manchester Literature Festival is a perfect place to start. I owe much of my own internship luck to getting involved there. Even if no jobs land at your feet, being part of the event process gives you insider knowledge and hands-on experience, which can easily lead to other volunteering roles. Yes, giving up your free time can feel like a drag, but in publishing, showing genuine commitment is noticed and valued.
Another opportunity of note is the Fly On The Wall publishing press, a Manchester-based press offering the Press Publishing Academy. Courses start at £19.99 per month and cover editorial skills, design, production, marketing—the works. A quick reality check: skills in one corner of publishing rarely get you the dream job right away. Being flexible and learning across roles is how you edge closer to your goal. For example, sales might not excite me, but understanding what sells is crucial for making smart editorial decisions.
Don’t sit around waiting for that dreamy internship at Penguin to fall at your feet. Though this might be the goal for many people, don’t disregard other publishing houses that can offer such vital and different skills. Comma Press, a non-profit, sharpened my editorial and proofing skills because profit wasn’t the focus. In my next role, I might focus on sales and marketing to round things out.
Next, a fun, independent way to show your knowledge? Write about books. Start a Substack, a book Instagram, a blog – whatever fits your style. Attend book fairs or host a book club. You don’t need 100K on Instagram to start one – just a genuine love for books and a couple of trusted friends you can count on to get going. You’ll find connections start to present themselves in these spaces even when you least expect it.
I know this may seem overwhelming, time-consuming, mostly unpaid — all for a modest salary in the end. But love for literature, for shaping a craft that’s political, cultural, and endlessly human, is what sustains people in this field. Money is a necessity indeed, but love for your job is a rare gratitude in a world full of digital nomads and finance bros (no hate). We’re all told the same steps to take, criteria to tick off – but publishing is full of diverse skills, many off-grid or unconventional. Writing a thesis/dissertation on an insightful take on the industry? That counts. Keep attending, writing, reading, hosting, talking. Opportunities will come, but not always in order. The North/South divide? Forget it. Manchester is brimming with literary resources—use them.
Read a previous interview with Comma Press from 2021 here.
