An Intern's Journey into Children's Publishing

We had the pleasure of hosting an exceptional editorial and marketing intern over June here at Hungry Tomato. We spoke to Brooke Smith , Ma Publishing student and bookseller, to get her insight on the experience, why she chose to intern with us, her expectations versus reality, and the memorable moments over her internship.

Why did you decide to do an internship with Hungry Tomato?

As a bookseller and Ma Publishing student my passion is children's books, so the chance to work in an environment that produces them was a huge opportunity for me. I was particularly interested in the fact that Hungry Tomato focuses on the non-fiction market because my experiences so far have focused on fiction and picture books. I was excited to learn about the childrens non-fiction process, from the conception of ideas, to production and how the books reach their audience, be it via bookshops or libraries.

Another reason I wanted to work with Hungry Tomato was the location. As an individual born in Cornwall and aspiring towards a career in publishing the fact that Hungry Tomato is a local company is really important to me. Their ethos of hiring and nurturing local talent is particularly unique, especially given the lack of companies outside the London-centric industry bubble.?

What were your expectations about working at an independent publishing company, and how did the reality compare?

One of the huge (but lovely!) suprises for me was how involved I was with the actual books. Coming up with ideas and producing content that will actually make it into the final product was not something I could have foreseen. It was a huge plus of the internship for me and the responsibilty it came with made me feel like a trusted and valued member of the team.?

The crossover between roles was another element that surprised me. Marketing having input into editorial and design and vice versa made for a collaborative approach that I'm not sure would be found at bigger publishers. The whole team is really involved every step of the way and as a result have put a lot of themselves into the books they produce, which was really lovely to see!?

Can you share a memorable moment or project you worked on during your internship?

I LOVED working on the Hair-Raising Predators?books! Personally I really enjoy learning new things so getting to research all those fearsome animals was so much fun, and then getting to write that up in a digestible and accessible was a completely new skill to me. I even learnt that tarantulas inject a venom into their prey that slowly dissolves them, they then suck this up through their fangs like a smoothie - yuck!

The Big Questions Answered series was also something I found very memorable. From the creative meetings, to new season ideas and seeing the extra digital materials come together, it was really exciting to see all the hard work the team have put into it. Getting to be a small part of that process made the internship for me.

Which is your favourite book that you came across at Hungry Tomato?

The Spectacular Lives of Sharks?is one of my favourites! The illustrations are beautiful and the whole book is layed out in a really thoughtful way. My favourite spread gets readers to flip the book 90 degrees so you can see the sizes of all the different sharks at different depths.

How do you feel that this internship has prepared you going forward in the industry?

My time at Hungry Tomato has given me a real insight into how small independent publishers work. The importance of collaboration and the emphasis placed on creativity is something I will carry forward into the future and is certainly something I hope a future work place can offer me. I won't forget the advice given to me by the editorial team: 'have the confidence to be creative and have conviction in your ideas'.