DEMI
It is only natural to believe that after getting your degree – in my case, two – that you would apply to a handful of jobs at the top five publishers and immediately get in. You envision yourself waking up one morning a few weeks after graduation and seeing the words: Congratulations, we’ve seen your application and we have decided you are an excellent fit for [insert dream publisher here]. Then, a week later, you’ll breeze into the editorial department at Penguin Random House or HarperCollins in your loafers and chic Zara cardigan. You’ll waltz into an office, sit down for five minutes, make them one million pounds, and quickly get promoted. All in a day’s work.
Some may call this delusional, but I did believe that, after getting my MA and having a mentor who works in the industry, that my journey into publishing would be smooth. Instead, my journey began (and continues) with me staying up till 2am, scouring the internet for internships after numerous rejections from jobs that actually pay. Eventually, I came across VERVE Books.
LUCY
Finding VERVE was like stumbling into an independent bookshop that you never knew was there. I’d only ever thought of publishing on the large-scale, so to find out there was an indie publisher only a few towns over from me was a shock. I looked at their catalogue of books – dystopian fiction to contemporary romances, thrillers and more – and knew I had to send an email. When I heard back, I was ecstatic, and then terrified. I’d only ever had an image in my mind of working in a giant office, one tiny pawn among hundreds. Would I enjoy being visible in such a close-knit team?
Arriving for my first day, I again found myself at the indie bookshop comparison: the office is a terraced house that blends in with all the others on either side of it. But once you open the door, you find a treasure trove, every room brimming with books. I stepped inside, peering through every doorway, unable to contain my curiosity. Each room was like a scene from a novel in its own right – piles of boxes with new stock, bookshelves heaving with copies of each release and packaging supplies piled high beside the printer. I made my way up the steep set of stairs and into the VERVE office. There was no intimidation, no air of superiority upon walking into the small room, just a very warm welcome from a very small team.
DEMI
Interning at an indie publishing house was in no way glamorous. I balanced working at the office in the day with restaurant shifts at night; I used my outdated iPhone to create Tik Toks that would only garner a few likes; there was always more work to do. It had been a while since I’d had to concentrate like this. It was like running the London Marathon with no training and a bad lung, I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. Despite all the ways reality fell short of my delusions… I was happy. I was actually getting to work with books, and not in a distant or insignificant way where I could only see part of the process; here, I could see the entire journey. I was in the thick of it, down in the mud where I could work with each department. I got to see how PR campaigns are run, how the covers and layout themselves are produced. I got to go to the office, each day with the intention of learning something new and creating something incredible. Most importantly, I got to be a part of a fun and supportive team, with each member carrying ten times their weight, creating beautiful, insightful work, and helping me and other interns in the process.
I will always wonder why I got rejected from other companies, what it is about me that doesn’t stand out in the sea of applicants. I feel like no one can really give me a specific answer. But I do know that I found something incredibly special at VERVE Books and I am grateful that they let me be a part of it.
By Demi Echezona and Lucy Mowat