Landing the Editorial Assistant Position

I should have known something was up when the Vice President asked me in my first face-to-face interview what I thought about working for someone who is a bit weird. Was he implying that he was weird? Was this a trick question? It felt like he had been trying to intimidate and trip me up the whole interview. "Is your work deliberate or intuitive?" (I would later learn that intuitive was a staple term in the world of publishing. Our database was intuitive, our authors worked intuitively, we liked the design of a textbook because it was intuitive.) What answer was he looking for? I said deliberate...no wait intuitive... no wait it's both.

Grace under fire. I turned the original question back on him and asked, "What do you mean by weird?" He told me there were two different positions open for two different Acquisitions Editors (these are the editors who seek out authors and acquire book deals) for this textbook publishing company, which in keeping anonymity I will from here on out dub Company A. One of these Acquisitions Editors, he redacted, wasn't weird but perhaps more eccentric, you know... quirky. Well, it had been six months since I had graduated and although it wasn't considered the "recession" during that time it sure felt like one. I was desperate to land a full-time job and because my major was appropriately titled "Writing, Literature, Publishing," I felt grateful that I would be applying my degree. So, yes I can work with all types of people including the weirdos. Bring on your slackers, bring on the freaks, and bring me on board with Company A.

I did not get a call back. After a few weeks, I did my obligatory "hey, I'm pushy... I mean persistent" follow-up call. Nothing. About a month later I received a call from one of the Acquisitions Editors, the normal one. "Well, the person we hired turned it down, so would you still be interested?" Great, I was sloppy seconds for a job that was clearly too good for sloppy first. Still desperate, however, "Yes, of course I'm still interested." But it wasn't a job offer it was just another hoop. "Can you come in again to interview with the VP? By the way the position now requires about 10-15% of the time to work as an assistant for the VP."

I went into Boston a few days later for my second interview with the VP, which was my 4th interview for this position and my 6th interview for the company. (I had interviewed in the collegiate literature textbook division; however, while explaining my mock book proposal project for my Publishing 101 course, the Vice President of that division, who had a venti Starbucks on his desk, did not understand the title "Fair Trade Coffee.")

After this second round of interviews, I received a call back from the Acquisitions Editor. Not only did I get the job, but the salary around $26k got bumped up to almost $27k. Rejoice! I had a few extra hundred to budget my Boston living (landlords tend to require 1st, last, and one month for a security deposit before you move-in and sometimes a realtor's fee if you found the apartment through an agency.) As sarcastic as I may sound, I was thrilled to have a job and in a field that I sought out to be in based on my undergraduate studies. I was going to be the best Editorial Assistant to a math textbook Acquisitions Editor and assistant to the Vice President as I could be.

I actually received the most publishing experience in my two years at Company A, although somewhat by circumstance. One of these circumstances was a fellow Editorial Assistant, whose lack of clothing and administrative skills led her to be fired 9 months too late and led to me taking over her work for the other "eccentric" Acquisitions Editor.

Welcome to Delete or stet? (stet, a Latin term meaning "let it stand" is a publishing term indicating to disregard the edit previously marked.) This blog will introduce you to the colorful characters of the publishing world, more strange and awkward than you can possibly imagine, while providing incite to what an Editorial Assistantship actually entails, and what the deal is with these textbook publishing conglomerates.