What have you been working on at SUP?

I’ve been working on a variety of wonderful activities: writing alt text, typesetting in InDesign, planning marketing calendars and social media posts, crafting nonfiction indexes, to name a few. They offered to let me dip my fingers into every pot and I have taken full advantage of that opportunity!

What has been the best part of the role? How about the most challenging?

The best part of the role has been working with the incredible team at SUP, as well as the wider library and university staff; there is such a positive, productive atmosphere within their space that I felt immediately welcomed and appreciated, even as a newcomer. The most challenging part has been realising I will have to stop working with them all!

Has anything surprised you about SUP/scholarly publishing?

Yes, actually - I was shocked by how much slower the pace of scholarly publishing is compared to trade publishing! After multiple semesters learning about demanding expectations of profit and efficiency in commercial publishing, it was a relief to find that those are not the only options out there for graduates. I’ve never been enamored with corporate economics and I was so glad to discover publishers like SUP who value their books over their ROI.

What skills have you used most during your internship?

Dr Agata would be so happy to hear that the technical skills I learned in the classroom were immensely helpful during the internship, even indispensable; being not only familiar with InDesign but confident with it is not just a massive leg-up, but several legs! Having the tech theory already lodged in my mind before applying it practically left me feeling well-prepared to hit the ground running.

What was your dream job when you were twelve? What is your dream job now?

When I was twelve, I wanted to be Monet, living in a gorgeous cottage in France and painting the same bridge over and over again. As an adult, my dream job is less a specific position than a general desire to do something that allows me to help artists bring their vision into the world without sacrificing that incredible post-covid work-life balance we all dream about. Books are my favorite artistic medium, so book publishing is my chosen avenue towards that goal.

You have to take a week-long road trip with a fictional or historical character. Who do you choose and why?

I will cheat slightly and choose two historical characters, as I would love to take a week-long road trip with Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud; together they radically altered how we view human consciousness, and I would thoroughly enjoy hearing their original ideas debated within the confines of a car, without the trappings of twenty-first century psychoanalysis. I (personally) find Jung brilliant and Freud batshit, so it would be awesome to argue with them both!

What are you planning to do next?

Now that I’ve finished my degree, I plan on taking it as slow as I can - I moved to Sydney three years ago and only now feel settled enough to branch out of my home suburb. I hope to find a job doing editorial work, but I’m in no rush to leave my current gig playing with babies in a gym creche; living in Australia is itself a joy and an immense privilege!

Katy Maas is a nearly graduated Master of Publishing student living in Sydney with her partner and two cats.

What have you been working on at SUP?

Some of the things I’ve been doing at SUP are proofreading manuscripts, writing blurbs and blog posts, promoting SUP’s books on social media, and metadata entry.

What has been the best part of the role? How about the most challenging?

The best part has been getting to know the team, and how willing they were to show me what they were working on and how things worked. I also really enjoyed getting to copyedit and proofread part of a manuscript on government policy – who would’ve guessed?

The most challenging thing has been learning a new technology for manuscript editing. SUP uses the digital publishing system Infogrid Pacific for typesetting manuscripts and it was difficult but incredibly rewarding to figure out. It involved a lot of trial and error!

Has anything surprised you about SUP/scholarly publishing?

The broad range of books they publish. Before my internship, I’d been under the misconception that scholarly publishing was mostly quite dry academic research. I can’t stress enough how untrue this is! SUP and scholarly publishing more generally are full of compelling stories and interesting perspectives covering a range of vital subject areas. The accessibility of the language used in their books surprised me, too.

I was also pleasantly surprised by how welcoming and forward-thinking the team at SUP is!

What skills have you used most during your internship?

While I’ve used my copywriting and research skills, the most important skill I’ve used at SUP was communication. It’s been critical to making the most of this experience that I’ve asked questions about what was expected of me, what other people’s roles were, and how different processes functioned. I’ve also had to be self-disciplined in order to work productively from home and complete detail-oriented tasks like proofreading.

What was your dream job when you were 12? What is your dream job now?

I think I told everyone I wanted to be a writer, but what I really wanted was a job that would pay me to read all day! Although that’s definitely not what publishing is, I love that it gives the opportunity to be involved with books all the way from manuscript acquisition, to design, to sales, to post-publication exploitation of rights.

My dream job now is in editorial. I enjoy the idea of being able to see the ideal shape of a manuscript, particularly memoir or creative nonfiction, and help an author make their work the best it can be.

You have to take a week-long road trip with a fictional or historical character. Who do you choose and why?

Strangely enough, I’d love to go on a road trip with Basil Hallward. Not only would we be able to talk about aesthetics and philosophy, but I think he’d appreciate the value of taking in our surroundings quietly. Hopefully he’d stick to painting the landscape and not me, though.

What are you planning to do next?

Apply for jobs in publishing! I’m really excited to keep doing some of the things I’ve been lucky enough to learn at SUP. I’m particularly interested in editorial, but also really open to working in production or marketing.

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Cherie Baird is a graduate of the Master of Publishing at the University of Sydney. She has published various poems including ‘Passer-by’, which was a winner of the 2021 Ultimo Prize.

What have you been working on at SUP?

I spent my time at SUP learning new skills and applying ones I gained from my previous work experience. I created three book covers, a press-release template, bookmarks, a catalogue, a Mailchimp newsletter and a social media guide. The new tasks I got involved in or was introduced to were mainly editorial, ­such as proofreading a manuscript in parallel with an editor to compare edits, indexing and basic HTML and XML.

What has been the best part of the role? How about the most challenging?

Getting introduced to the operation and process of academic publishing was my favourite aspect of the internship. I became acquainted with several platforms like Consonance, which holds the books’ metadata; Asana, used to manage tasks and coordinate deadlines; and Instagantt, where the production process of the books is tracked. It was great to get a glimpse into IGP and how typesetting works outside Adobe InDesign, which has been the main software I have used for layout.

The most challenging aspect of the experience were the days I had to work from home because of the lockdown. Given that my motivation is highly driven by teamwork and interaction with colleagues, working from home would work for my favour if I had been an employee for years in a certain organisation. During an internship, it took away from the experience.

Has anything surprised you about SUP/scholarly publishing?

I am fascinated by the level of professionalism and how smoothly the five employees handle the operations of the press. I found the collaboration and involvement of the team to be quite inspiring, especially with the workload. Also, the couple of manuscripts I worked on were entertaining and less ‘academic’ in tone than I expected. This has completely changed my idea of academic books having inaccessible language and being written for a particular reader only.

What skills have you used most during your internship?

Given my design background, it was easy to slip into doing tasks that involved having that experience. I would say I spent most of my internship being a designer, but I was introduced to new aspects of publishing regularly.

What was your dream job when you were 12? What is your dream job now?

I wanted to be an architect until I enrolled in an Architecture and Design degree and discovered that I was more interested in being a graphic designer. My dream job now is to be an agent for illustrators and travel around the world to find talent. My dream project is to improve a publisher’s visual brand and help them win Bologna Book Fair awards.

You have to take a week-long road trip with a fictional or historical character. Who do you choose and why?

Frankenstein’s monster would be an option. He is the only being who was born as an adult with the capabilities of an infant. I find the process he went through to acquire language and become familiar with the ways of mankind curious. His perception of the world would be interesting to have insight into. I am just hoping he’ll have some sense of humour, otherwise the trip might be a little too intense and filled with daddy issues.

What are you planning to do next?

I am looking to get involved with the Australian book industry as much as possible – finding a job with a publisher, an association, interning and freelancing are ways for me to gain knowledge and experience in this new market.

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Diana Chamma has been working in design and publishing for 10 years across various positions: junior graphic designer in production, senior graphic designer and art director. At the end of 2018, her interest in copyright got her involved in foreign rights. Diana decided to do a Masters in Publishing at the University of Sydney in 2020 and currently lives in Sydney and works as a creative director at Sweatshop.

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What have you been working on at SUP?

The degree has a heavy emphasis in editorial so I’ve used the internship to delve deeper into other aspects of publishing. I focused more on marketing and communications: compiling media contact lists, writing a few press releases, posting content for SUP’s Instagram, and devising questions for author Q&As. On the more production side, I’ve also had a hand at managing metadata for backlist titles, indexing and proofreading.Ìý

What has been the best part of the role? How about the most challenging?

I don’t think I could’ve gotten this breadth and depth of knowledge anywhere else. SUP is a smaller, tight-knit press, so you really get to experience firsthand how a book goes from an idea to a physical product, which has been surreal and incredibly rewarding.Ìý Ìý

Because SUP tends to publish quite niche, academic books, it was sometimes challenging to translate or summarise them for a broader audience. Converting a dense text that is someone’s life work, into a caption or three dot-points in an email pitch, is not that straightforward. This is especially the case when dealing within academia. In saying that, the challenges make it all the more rewarding when a deserving but lesser-known author gets more exposure, or simply when you find the perfect, punchy quote for social media.

Has anything surprised you about SUP/scholarly publishing?

I was surprised about how much roles overlap but I quickly learned the beauty of smaller presses means everybody pitches in. Whoever worked closely with a certain book will probably do the indexing, everyone does a bit of social media, books get passed around for different stages of editing or typesetting. As mentioned, it’s been one of the best parts to see and try a bit of everything.

What skills have you used most during your internship?

My writing skills have definitely developed with a greater focus in marketing and liaising. I’ve had a hand at news writing, academic, and purely creative writing but the conventions for all these forms differ greatly from what I’ve done at SUP. For example, you can be writing a press release that needs to incentivise people to readÌýandÌýreview the book. Simply summating the text or arguing key points does not do this - highlighting what is special and an appeal to emotion is key!Ìý

What was your dream job when you were 12? What is your dream job now?

I wanted to be a teacher, author, or a vet. I quickly realised being a vet wasn’t the job for me if you had to put dogs down.ÌýNow, I’m not certain as I have so many interests but something that’s fulfilling and potentially lets me travel for work, sounds like a dream to me. Teaching (and writing) is never fully off the table!

You have to take a week-long road trip with a fictional or historical character. Who do you choose and why?

Most of the books I’ve read happen to be about some pretty terrible protagonists who would make even worse road trip companions (Raoul Duke I’m looking at you.) Maybe Samwise Gamgee? He’s reliable, loyal and our trip would be a lot less stressful than the quest to save Middle Earth.

What are you planning to do next?

I’m excited for where the publishing industry takes me! Foreign rights has peaked my interest but anything that allows me to continue reading, writing, or working with books would be incredible.

Elizabeth JoÌýis a graduate of the Master of Publishing at the University of Sydney.ÌýShe has previously completed a Bachelor of Arts with a major in English Literature and is currently working at HarperCollins Australia.

What have you been working on at SUP?

A bit of everything really, but mainly jobs within editorial and marketing. I’ve been working on unpublished manuscripts, sometimes proofreading or editing, other times reading them and providing my feedback about the overall structure. I’ve also done a bit of promotional work, writing blog posts, composing author Q&A questions, and helping identify book quotes to attract potential readers. What else? I wrote a media release, came up with potential book titles and blurbs, and even helped move boxes of books around – who would’ve thought!

What has been the best part of the role? How about the most challenging?

I’ve learnt so much in my short time here, so I’d have to put that down as the best part. Not just new skills, but all the fascinating information contained in each of the SUP titles I worked on. Now I’ve got a sound knowledge of so many topics that I wouldn’t have given a second thought before starting this internship.

I’ve found making editorial decisions while proofreading and copyediting to be the biggest challenge. Sometimes a sentence is grammatical and has nothing necessarily wrong with it, but you still don’t like the way it sounds. It’s a fine balance to respect the author’s words, while at the same time ensuring clarity of expression for the reader.ÌýÌý

Has anything surprised you about SUP/scholarly publishing?

I suppose I had a bit of a preconceived idea that scholarly publishing would be old-fashioned and conservative. While I can only speak from my experience at SUP, I’ve found that it’s a very modern and forward-thinking press, both in terms of the books they publish but also in the ways that their content can be accessed.

What skills have you used most during your internship?

While nearly everything I’ve done has involved reading or writing, I’d say it was my communication skills that I had to draw on most. Everyone at the press has so many jobs going on at once and having to organise and communicate where you’re at is crucial. Plus being able to communicate effectively is key when writing and deciding what to edit.Ìý Ìý

What was your dream job when you were 12? What is your dream job now?

I’ve repressed most memories of my 12-year-old self, but I do remember wanting to work at KFC when I was six or seven, thinking it would provide me with an endless supply of free fried chicken. I was pretty chubby back then.

My dream job now is anything that involves words, and hopefully something that helps make a positive or meaningful difference to society.

You have to take a week-long road trip with a fictional or historical character. Who do you choose and why?

Definitely someone normal if I’m going to spend a whole week with them. Maybe Toru Okada from The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. We could talk about our shared love of music and pasta (provided I brush up on my Japanese). I also think we’d be able to go for long stretches without talking to each other, and it wouldn’t be awkward. He spends most of his time sitting at the bottom of a well anyway, so I doubt he’ll mind if I don’t talk to him for a few hours or so. ÌýÌý

What are you planning to do next?

It’s almost lunch time so I’m planning to go for a walk to Broadway and see what the food court has to offer. Maybe it was the memory of KFC, but I feel like something unhealthy.

Caitlyn Radice has been part of the SUP team from September 2020 to February 2021, working remotely. She is a Master of Publishing student with a love for YA fantasy and manga. She currently lives in Sydney and is hoping to travel as soon as she can.

What have you been working on at SUP?

I have taken on a number of editing and proofreading tasks with SUP, including Animal Welfare in China and other forthcoming books. I created alt text for Djalkiri, a book about Indigenous Australian art, which was really enjoyable. I also worked on a few social media tasks for the , and learned how to use IGP, an XHTML-based layout platform.

What has been the best part of the role? How about the most challenging?

The best part of working with SUP has been discovering how much I enjoy non-fiction books (I usually only read fiction) and developing my skills. I also got quite attached to some of the books I worked on. The most challenging part was working from home. I didn’t expect, when I began this degree, that I would complete this internship entirely from home.

Has anything surprised you about SUP/scholarly publishing?

Nothing really! I guess I was mostly surprised about how much I enjoyed scholarly books when I didn’t have to read them for a class. There are a number of books I’ve seen in production that I want to buy or recommend to others.

What skills have you used most during your internship?

I have used a lot of my editing and proofreading skills. I didn’t expect to use practical writing skills, but I did! I was able to use some design skills as well.

What was your dream job when you were 12? What is your dream job now?

My dream job when I was 12 was to be a marine biologist – this was before I realised I was terrible at maths and exceedingly bored by science. My dream job now is to do some travel writing (though given the current state of the world, I don’t see that happening any time soon!) and work in publishing.

You have to take a week-long road trip with a fictional or historical character. Who do you choose and why?

I spent probably way too much time thinking about this, but I would choose Karou, the protagonist from Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Karou has access to wishes, which I think could be fun to use. She has also been reincarnated, lived two lives, and fought in a war through multiple realms, so I imagine she would have a lot of stories to tell, keeping us entertained on the road trip. She can also fly, so that’s cool.

What are you planning to do next?

What have you been working on at SUP?

A range of projects! Working with a small academic press, I’ve really had a chance to try my hand and gain experience in a multitude of areas ­– from editorial to marketing, with a hint of design. The area where I’ve gained the most experience (and had the most fun!) is with formatting and converting eBooks. Formatting and converting the 2018 Sydney Uni Student Anthology was a cathartic and rewarding experience for me, as I’d worked on this publication as a designer and editor the previous year. I’ve dabbled in designing Australian Book Review banners, writing and sending review copy letters and proofreading. I’ve learned so much about the publishing process through these tasks and have gained practical and valuable knowledge concerning academic publishing.

What has been the best part of the role? How about the most challenging?

I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but it would have to be the flexibility and variety of work available at any one time. I was given a different task in a different area of publishing every few weeks, so there was never a dull moment. I feel like I’m coming out with a range of digital, editorial and marketing skills that I didn’t have before, along with a concrete knowledge of how to apply these skills to book publishing.

I think the challenges I faced regarding this role concerned a lack of practical experience. Having (almost) completed a Master of Publishing, I really thought I had a grounded understanding of the processes and skills necessary to succeed and excel, however, theory and academia can only take you so far. I’ve really learned the value of being able to think on your feet and asking questions when you’re unsure about something.

Has anything surprised you about SUP/scholarly publishing?

How much knowledge academic editors need to have in regards to referencing systems/conventions and the amount of work they put in to tidying up extensive reference lists. There was a copy of The Chicago Manual of Style on every desk – and I definitely flicked through it more than a few times. I seriously wish I had completed this internship prior to my degree(s) because my referencing would be impeccable!

What skills have you used most during your internship?

Those skills would definitely have to include patience, an attention to detail and problem solving. When proofreading a manuscript, it is so important to be precise and thorough but efficient. Making sure commas are where they should be, correcting any miniscule errors and making sure that conventions are adhering to style guides – you don’t want that stuff printed!

What was your dream job when you were 12? What is your dream job now?

That’s a hard one! At that age my dream job would change almost daily! I was just entering a gymnastics phase at that point in my life so probably thought I was going to be a famous Olympic gymnast or something. Now, my goals are much more realistic – I would be over the moon to be working on young adult fiction/fantasy at a publishing house … hopefully in editorial, but I’d be happy to even just touch the books for one minute.

You have to take a week-long road trip with a fictional or historical character. Who do you choose and why?

Frodo Baggins. I reckon he’s got his step count up way past the standard goal of 10,000 steps and I’m desperate to go on that journey to peak fitness with him.

What are you planning to do next?

My kingdom for a clue! A.k.a. I haven’t planned anything yet. In my mind it goes something like this: take some time off and go travelling; look for dream job in editing young adult fiction/fantasy at a publishing house; get aforementioned dream job in editing young adult fiction/fantasy at a publishing house; live happily ever after; the end.

What have you been working on at SUP?

I’ve been lucky enough to work on a range of projects and tasks throughout my internship. From the editorial side of publishing I’ve been able to proofread manuscripts, provide corrections using mark-up symbols, take in corrections, write blurbs for completed texts and give summary notes for style issues in manuscripts that have been submitted. While I’ve completed various editorial tasks over the course of my internship I’ve also been able to work on aspects of marketing in publishing through drafting email templates on Mail Chimp, sourcing contacts/publications for a new release text, specifically a Chinese-Australian book, The Poison of Polygamy by Wong Shee Ping translated by Ely Finch, and identifying key selling points for these new releases. I’ve also worked on aspects of design throughout my internship by using InDesign to draft flyers and create book covers.

I’ve also had the chance to work on ebooks, both the production and distribution of them by examining the layout and identifying any errors before uploading these corrected versions to the appropriate outlets. Volume 3 of Letters to Australia by Julius Stone was one ebook I uploaded to both Google books and iBooks. Ìý

What has been the best part of the role? How about the most challenging?

I’ve just loved being able to gain practical experience that is relevant to what I’m currently studying. Being able to proofread unpublished manuscripts and provide corrections has been the best part for me as I’m passionate about editing and have loved being part of this particular process in publishing. The most challenging part would have been gaining an understanding of IGP (the software that is used at SUP to format both their print and ebook text) as it was a software that I was not previously familiar with. However, with the help I’ve been given at SUP I am now comfortable using IGP and have found it extremely beneficial in learning how to format a text and get it ready for publication!

Has anything surprised you about SUP/scholarly publishing?

I think just witnessing the amount of work that goes into the production of a scholarly text has surprised me. While I have learnt about the publishing process, it’s extremely different to actually being in the environment and beginning to understand the importance of deadlines and co-operation in a publishing team in the workplace. It has opened my eyes in that way, and the whole team has been amazing and patient in teaching me about each element in the publishing process.

What skills have you used most during your internship?

I have probably used my editing skills the most during this internship, from picking up on grammatical errors to identifying any inconsistencies in a text, these skills have aided me the most throughout this experience. I was also able to use some of the skills I’ve gained recently with InDesign which has helped me more in terms of the creative side of things.

What was your dream job when you were 12? What is your dream job now?

I wanted to be a chef! While I still love to cook, my ambitions have definitely shifted over the years. My dream job ever since I was 17 has been to work as an editor in trade fiction. However, this internship has broadened my mind to consider pursuing a career in the field of scholarly publishing. Either way, whether trade or scholarly, my dream job is to contribute to the publishing of books.

You have to take a week-long road trip with a fictional or historical character. Who do you choose and why?

Might be slightly embarrassing but I’m a massive Harry Potter nerd so probably Fred and George Weasley (I think they practically count as one!) There’d never be a dull moment which I believe is a requirement when going on a week-long road trip.

What are you planning to do next?

This was my final semester in my Masters of Publishing so I’ll be graduating soon which is exciting! I’m moving to London since I’ve finished studying and plan on travelling around Europe and the UK before settling in London. After researching the book market and with the knowledge I’ve gained in my degree, I know that the book publishing industry in the UK is quite large so I’m eager to try my luck and hopefully get some experience in that market!

What have you been working on at SUP?

Writing a reader’s report on the manuscript titled ‘Singing Bones’ by Samuel Curkpatrick has been my biggest project while at SUP. I’ve also researched ideas of how to best market this book. I also proofread volume 4 of Letters to Australia by Julius Stone. I learnt about the email marketing platform Mailchimp and created new release emails for several recently published and upcoming books.

What has been the best part of the role? How about the most challenging?

The best part about this role has been to gain an insight into the skills needed in the publishing industry. I’ve particularly enjoyed the marketing and editing side of publishing. I’ve developed my research skills, learnt proofreading marks and how to write alt text, and got an insight into what’s involved in indexing. The most challenging part of the role was to juggle this internship with both working and having to attend university and complete assignments etc. I’ve been getting by on about five hours of sleep per day, yay for coffee!

Has anything surprised you about SUP/scholarly publishing?

What surprised me is how welcoming SUP was, I’ve heard about how supervisors can treat interns in the work industry, but all the staff were really welcoming and patient. They answered my questions and accommodated my interests; I was never bored and always had something to do that helped me acquire a new skill such as proof reading. What surprised me the most about scholarly publishing was the variety of fields that the books are published in. I’ve looked at books from animal studies and archaeology to politics and Australian literature.

What skills have you used most during your internship?

The skills I’ve used most are the ability to critique and analyse texts and identify errors in punctuation and grammar. I have also used marketing skills extensively, to identify strategies on how to promote new titles online. Interpersonal skills were very important too. I appreciate how important they are in order to work and communicate in a team environment and contribute ideas.

What was your dream job when you were 12? What is your dream job now?

My dream job when I was 12 was to become an archaeologist and specialise in Egyptology. I don’t know what my dream job now is. I have a lot of options: from working in a publishing company in the editing or marketing division to being a producer in the film industry, to working in the theatre, to being a writer … the list could go on.

You have to take a week-long road trip with a fictional or historical character. Who do you choose and why?

Ahh, there’s so many options! I would probably take all my favourite writers such as Emily and Charlotte Brontë, Mary Shelley, Christina Rossetti, Sylvia Plath and Patricia Highsmith and just drive in a big Kombi van. It would be fascinating to watch them all converse with each other and share ideas.

What are you planning to do next?

I am going to Melbourne for my 21st birthday very soon. It’ll be my first time and I’m very excited to see the sights and try the food.