Editorial and Editing
The editorial team are the members of the team who see those all-important manuscripts first, and get to decide whether or not a book is published! Once the decision is made it's all go! The team then keep the book on track during its time in the publishing house, edit the finickity parts of the manuscript, and prepare any metadata and additional information about the book!
SATURDAY 21st AUGUST
Editorial Gatekeepers Panel
12pm-13:30pm - (The Auditorium)
Presented by Vanessa Modley, Toby Jones and Kit Caless
This panel will give you an insight into the world of editors. Editors are usually one of the first people to see a manuscript when it is submitted to the publishing house, therefore they get to choose whether they want to pitch it to the rest of the team or not! Some people consider them the gatekeepers of the industry, only allowing few pieces of work to pass, but is this really the case? During this panel they will discuss how they make their decisions and how the process works!
Vanessa Modley is an executive editor at Little, Brown Group; having worked previously at PRH she has edited three winners of the Pulitzer Prize including Samantha Power's A Problem from Hell.
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Toby Jones is the Editorial Director at Headline. He has previously worked as the Marketing and Publicity Director at Simon and Schuster, and has also worked with presenters at Channel 4, Penguin and Fox.
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Kit Caless is an editor at northern-based publisher, Influx Press, making up one third of the team he also contrubtes to magazines such as Vice.
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Copywriting (A Lecture)
1:30pm-2:30pm - (Auditorium)
Presented by Rosanna Boscawn, Senior Campaigns Manager at VINTAGE
Rosanna Boscawen has worked on many campaigns whilst at VINTAGE, signing off on all of the copy associated with them, she knows how to target specific audiences with specific copy, and has won the Multi-title Award for her marketing campaigns on the Vintage Mini series.
Rosanna will talk all things copy-writing! For anyone new to the industry, copy-writing is writing for the blurb, or the online entry of the book, or the Amazon caption! This presentation will teach you all of the tips and tricks used by industry professionals! Copy-writing is often done by those in entry level roles, and is an important skill to learn upon entering the industry! These skills are also used widely in all departments of the publishing house and will be valuable to you which ever career path you choose to follow!
Building a Cohesive List (A Lecture)
5pm-6pm - (Auditorium)
Presented by Helen an Kevin Duffy, Bluemoose Books
An editor's list is the set of books they have recently published or are in the process of publishing. The list represents the imprint or publisher, from a list it is easy to see the types of books they focus on, the audience they are aiming to please! During this talk, Kevin and Helen Duffy will talk about the importance of having a focus and knowing what fits and what doesn't! They discuss how to distinguish your first theme and run with it from there on after!
Kevin and Helen Duffy are a husband and wife duo who set up Bluemoose books in 2006, they suggest they are a family of readers, and they wish to share brilliant stories from across the world.
SUNDAY 22nd AUGUST
Scouting a Bestseller (A Lecture)
11:30am-12:30pm - (The Great Hall)
Presented by Louise Moore, Managing Director, Michael Joseph
As managing director of Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random House who thrive with authors who exploit current market trends, or upcoming changes in the market in order to secure books which are frequently in the bestseller lists across the industry. During this talk, Louise will discuss the process of following and predicting these trends, and how to best use this knowledge to publish books that are likely to do well within the trade market!
Louise Moore has worked her way up the editorial ladder, beginning as a PA at Reed and later at PRH.
Entry-Level Editorial (A Lecture)
3pm-4pm - (Meeting Room 1)
Presented by Charlie Scribe, Editorial Assistant at Pan Macmillan Children's Division
Starting a job at any publishing house, in any department can be daunting, during this talk Charlie discusses the challenges and the rewards that come from a starting position in the editorial team. She talks openly about how her first year in her role went, and how she felt at the very start. A fabulous insight into a role many of you attending will have hopes of having!
Charlie Scribe has only been at Pan Macmillan for just over a year, but she is perfect for this talk for that very reason!