1. Can you tell us how you got into your current role at whitefox?
I graduated from University of East Anglia in 2019 with a 1:1 in English Literature. I had plans to travel for a year and was accepted onto the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) programme, but then the pandemic hit and everything went out the window. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure what I wanted to do when I graduated, travelling the world was going to be my time to figure this out, but publishing had always been a strong possibility. As lockdowns dragged on, I found comfort in reading and the bookstagram community, confirming that publishing really was the industry for me. I’d already got quite a bit of marketing experience, having managed the social media accounts of both Boiler House Press and Strangers Press during my time at university, so I decided to start applying for marketing roles that related to publishing in one way or another.
At the beginning of 2021 there were very few jobs available so it was really tricky finding any opportunities in publishing, nevermind at the Big Five. I found the role of whitefox Publishing’s Marketing Executive advertised on LinkedIn, sent over my CV and cover letter and was offered an interview a few days later. I’d never heard of whitefox before, so I thoroughly researched their interesting position in the industry as a creative publishing agency – something I never even really knew existed! I went through three stages of interviews, including preparing an in-depth presentation on how I would market our publishing services to podcasters who wanted to turn their content into a book. It was a really fun task and I enjoyed discussing it with my now manager Hannah, Head of Marketing, and John, whitefox CEO. I started my position as Marketing Executive at the end of March 2021 and have now been here for over a year and a half.
2. Choosing just three, what are the main skills you need to work – and thrive – in book marketing? You can expand your answers here, by giving some examples from your current role.
Creativity, organisation and communication skills are really vital. My role focuses more on marketing our publishing services to authors, thought leaders, brands and anyone else looking to independently publish their book, rather than the actual books themselves. This means being an excellent creative problem-solver, really thinking outside the box and making sure we are constantly engaging and communicating clearly to our audience who we are, what we do and what makes us different. I also advise our authors on how to effectively market their books and assist in promoting them across various whitefox channels, including our blog, monthly newsletter The Frontlist, marketing emails and multiple social media channels. Managing all these different mediums, while actioning campaigns and completing all my other tasks and responsibilities, means being super organised – setting yourself clear goals, prioritising and planning my time effectively. Of course, these are skills that can be helpful in any publishing role but I’d say they are absolutely essential for marketing.
3. whitefox is a creative agency and independent publisher. Do you find that your role is more varied than, say, a marketing role in a larger publishing company?
Definitely. My role is really varied, which I absolutely love. One day I’ll be researching and writing an in-depth think-piece for our blog and working on a lead generation campaign, the next I’ll be creating Instagram Reels, interviewing industry experts and putting together publishing proposals for potential new clients. Especially when working in a smaller company too, you are often involved in lots of different areas of the business such as editorial and sales, which is great as it gives you a much deeper understanding of the business and industry than if you were working in a big publishing house on completely different floor levels to other teams. You also have the opportunity to take on a lot more responsibility and have your ideas heard by those higher up in the company, and although it can be very busy and fast-paced, I’ve grown so much in this role and gained a lot of valuable experience.
4. What are the challenges and rewards of your role?
While it’s great to have variation in my role, it can be challenging to manage my workload at times. Keeping calm and ensuring you have a clear plan is essential to meeting deadlines and completing everything that is asked of you. As a marketing professional it is important to predict when it is best to output certain content or run a particular campaign, determining when the target audience is most likely to engage with it. Another challenge is constantly switching between the more practical, analytic side and the creative, imaginative side of my role – essentially the two opposite sides of my brain. It’s often helpful for me to block out certain times in my day that I will focus on tasks that fit into either one of these categories, for example, I may dedicate my morning to dissecting and understanding data collected about the self-publishing industry and use the afternoon to create and schedule our social media posts or brainstorm ideas for our next newsletter. Figuring out how you work best and maximising your productivity is really key.
There are so many rewarding aspects of my role. Building up a portfolio of articles I’ve written over time on so many interesting topics has definitely been something I’m incredibly proud of, as well as landing interviews with inspiring people like podcast creator and host of Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! Liv Albert, and chef and cookbook author of Bitter Honey and La Vita è Dolce Letitia Clark. Also, developing a social media strategy and growing our followers has been really rewarding, providing a platform to help promote our authors as well as whitefox’s publishing services and interact directly with our audience. Expanding our monthly newsletter The Frontlist and putting together lead generation campaigns have both been huge, recurring projects during my time at whitefox – seeing the response from our subscribers and those downloading our free resources is really rewarding as they truly appreciate the insight and helpful information we are sharing with them.
5. What advice would you give to publishing hopefuls applying for jobs in the industry?
Don’t give up hope. It’s a really tough industry to get into and there is so much competition but you will find a job that you absolutely love. My advice would be to explore roles and companies that are outside the mainstream – there are so many different and exciting types of roles beyond editorial and large traditional publishing houses. If you want to gain more experience then I’d really recommend following smaller companies and independent publishers, literary agencies and scouts. If working for Penguin or Hachette is your goal, that’s fine, just don’t expect to get your dream role straight away. And you might actually find that working for a company that is a bit smaller and more unique can be really exciting – growing alongside the business and being an essential part of its development.
6. What are you currently reading?
I’ve just finished Vintage’s White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht – a heartbreaking but powerful story that follows two Korean sisters, Hana and Emi, separated by World War II. It was a difficult book to read, but I’m so glad I did as it was such a beautiful tribute to Korean women who were taken from their homes during the Japanese occupation and forced to be “comfort women”. The author points out in her note that it also acts as a remembrance for all women that have and are still suffering from such horrific war crimes all over the world. It's a breathtaking piece of historical fiction that has taught me so much and opened my eyes to injustices of the past and those that continue to take place.
I’m now reading Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park which is slightly slower in pace…
Claudia Besant graduated from the University of East Anglia in 2019 with a First Class BA (Hons) in English Literature. Whilst studying for her degree, she initiated and managed a marketing internship for the UEA Publishing Project. Claudia is responsible for managing whitefox’s content and digital marketing, including the whitefox social media channels, campaigns, newsletter and blog. In her spare time, Claudia volunteers at Oxfam Bookshop in Hampstead and runs her own bookstagram account (@bookstagramofonesown).
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