Harman, Jess, Josie and Marcuz were all staff members at Elephant Page Publishing, a publishing house powered by students but guided by a team of publishing professionals. They share their experience working in a student-run publishing house.
Harman was the design director.
Jess was the editorial co-director.
Josie was the director of acquisitions.
Marcuz was the marketing director.
How has Elephant Page Publishing helped you in your current career?
Harman: Elephant Page Publishing helped me understand the intricacies of publishing a book and skills like leadership and communication.
Jess: The editorial experience that I gained, the role that I had, was really important for the jobs I’m looking for now. I think it provided me with an opportunity that I may have never gotten before, and to work on real books, real manuscripts, which has been really helpful.
Josie: Elephant Page was really valuable in getting practical experience. At uni, it’s easy to just get a lot of the academic work, and you don’t really know how it will apply in practice. So it was good to see how publishing works in real time, working on real books, real authors.
Marcuz: Working at Elephant Page really helped provide me with industry experience. It enhanced my skills in marketing and communications, looks really good on a resume, and helped me build connections and network with a lot of amazing people.
What was the most important thing you learned in Elephant Page?
Harman: Just how much detail and effort go into the publication of a book.
Jess: The editorial skills that I learned were really important. Getting practice in that and learning on the job is important for editing, and so getting that was really great. Also, the teamwork environment was really important.
Josie: Collaborative teamwork skills because I’m pretty good at working independently. It’s a big team, it’s a big class, and you have to work well within your department and then also with the other departments as well.
Marcuz: This was my first time working with people in the industry that I want to work in. And, seeing the inner workings of a publishing house was really interesting.
What kind of work did you do for Elephant Page?
Harman: We designed the cover of Running Track, which has recently been published.
Jess: I organised meetings, assigned tasks, and oversaw all editorial tasks that were occurring. I also did my own editorial tasks, like copy editing and structural editing.
Josie: We were just going through all the manuscripts looking for the next book that we’re going to publish.
Marcuz: I was leading the marketing department in promoting the book we were working on that semester. I was delegating tasks to my staff members, mainly content creation for Elephant Pages’ social media websites.
What skills translated over from Elephant Page Publishing to your everyday life?
Harman: Communication, leadership, and teamwork. Elephant Page, being an actual publishing house, a lot of those skills are usable in so many different aspects of life, which I think has been really important.
Jess: Becoming a better writer, and that’s really crucial in the job market today for people graduating from this degree.
Josie: I feel like I have an understanding of all the areas of publishing, so acquisitions, editing, marketing, and design.
Marcuz: Mainly teamwork. You learn to work with a really diverse group of people. It really preps you for when you work in the real world, and you meet new people and learn to adapt to how they work.
What was the biggest surprise working for Elephant Page?
Harman: Actually working on getting a manuscript to publication and realising that there are so many different details that go into it.
Jess: The connections that I’ve made through it. I’ve made some lifelong friends with other directors and other people.
Marcuz: I never really expected how intense we’d get. It’s a fully functioning publishing house, and there are designated departments for doing different things, and you might not necessarily be doing publishing, but your work contributes to that overall goal of getting a book out.
What do you miss most about working for Elephant Page?
Harman: I definitely miss the friendships most, and also working with Per. His expertise is just incredible.
Jess: Being with like -minded people and working on real books with people that you get along with so well. The friends that I made as well.
Josie: I miss the people. I made really great friends. I miss Pear. Everyone’s just really amazing, and it was really good fun.
Marcuz: Definitely the people. I’m still lucky enough to be involved and connected with the people I worked with. And a lot of times, you end up connecting, and they basically become part of your network.
What advice or recommendations would you have for future students?
Harman: Absolutely make the most of it; the experience you get here is almost unparalleled.
Jess: Have fun with it. I feel like it can be stressful, and it’s like a lot of pressure when you’re getting thrown into this environment that you’re not sure about. Pick people from the other departments and try other stuff as well.
Josie: Don’t procrastinate too much. I know students love to procrastinate, but get the work done as if you’re actually working a real job.
Elephant Page Publishing has given so many students rewarding experiences working in publishing. As Harman, Jess, Josie and Marcuz show, their Elephant Page experience will be one to remember.
