Today it’s my pleasure to welcome my talented, super awesome, intern, Katie Puckett to Under A Paper Moon. Katie is from Arkansas and a senior at Belmont University located here in Nashville, Tennessee.
This past fall, when I approached the department head with a request for an intern, I have to say I didn’t quite know what to expect. But after reading her impressive resume, I looked forward to working with her. I knew, as a millennial, she understood the ins and outs of social media in a way this baby boomer never would – even though I’d spent years using Twitter and Facebook. ?
When I first met with Katie, I had a list of marketing ideas and several other specific objectives I’d hoped to accomplish with her. After brainstorming and hearing some of her suggestions, I encouraged Katie to view me as her client and to use and apply whatever methods she’d learned or was currently learning in class to tweak my brand and most importantly to create a campaign for my upcoming book release. She jumped to the challenge, took that list and ran with it creating a campaign I’ll be able to use as a template now and in the future.
Now that her internship is nearing an end, I thought you might want to get to know her a bit. So, I invited her to share some of what she learned and enjoyed about her time as an intern.
So Katie…
Tell us where you’re from.
I was born in Peachtree City, Georgia, raised in Bentonville, Arkansas (home of Wal-Mart), and currently reside in Nashville, Tennessee. I spent a majority of my childhood in south Arkansas, climbing trees and acting a fool in nature.
What exactly is your major at Belmont University and why did you chose this field of study? Was there anything in particular that drew you to this industry?
I am in the Publishing major, in the marketing track (there is also an editing track). This is the only specifically book publishing major of it’s kind in the U.S.
My freshman year of college I studied fiction writing in Chicago, but soon realized I would much prefer making books, not writing them.
Reading is my absolute favorite thing to do. I have always read like a monster ever since I was a kid and I have a small closet full of elementary school reading awards.
Describe your dream job after you graduate. How do you see yourself using your degree? Is it publishing, marketing or a combination of both? Do you have a particular publishing house you’re interested in?
My dream job is to open an independent bookstore/tea bar with my family, I’ll buy the books, my mom will be the store manager, my 6’9” brother will shelve the books, and my dad will take care of the math.
But before that I want to work somewhere in the industry. I’m very interested in the distribution and physical creating of books. I also would love to continue working with authors as a literary agent. So I’m interested in a combination of areas of publishing.
As for publishing houses I’m interested in Disney Hyperion, they’re the publishers of my favorite book series; Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Also. Europa Editions, they publish foreign contemporary books, I would love to learn more about foreign rights and translations. I am also interested in Ingram, which is the largest book distributor in the the country.
Can you share something you’ve learned or an area in which you grew during this internship? In other words, how did the internship benefit you? Educationally? Personally?
I learned a lot about what it’s like being an independently published author. In my schooling I mostly learned about how to market from the perspective of a publishing house, so it was a real great opportunity to adapt my knowledge to a different angle. I gained some great hands on experience working one on one with an author, learning about Joy’s experiences and how I might be able to better help any authors I work with in the future.
Any advice you’d like to give to future interns?
Brush up on your WordPress skills! Google is your friend when you can’t figure out how to update a WordPress cite.
How about for those looking for an intern?
Again, Google is your friend. Talk to your professors and friends. Sometimes there are internships you’d never thought to try (like being an author’s assistant).
What would you like your future employer to know about you?
I am very passionate about books and publishing and in the words of ABBA:
“Gonna do my very best and it ain’t no lie,
If you put me to the test, if you let me try,
Honey I’m still free, Take a chance on me.”
What was the most enjoyable aspect about interning with a romance author? And the least, if any?
The work environment. I loved being comfortable enough to ask questions and give suggestions. It was a joy working with Joy, and I look forward to having a few more months with her this summer!
“My name is Katie Puckett: Gemini, ISFJ, Daughter of Apollo, Book Dragon, and Publishing Student. I am a college student at Belmont University, learning the ins and outs of the book publishing world. Reading, hiking, and yoga enthusiast. I drink an unhealthy amount of sweet tea and read an unhealthy amount of books, despite what the size of my TBR pile would suggest…I can’t help it if I re-read Lord of the Ringsfor the hundredth time. I love fantasy and contemporary novels”