Name: Barnaby Jones
Job Title: Editorial Assistant
Age: 29  
From: Edinburgh
In London: March 2006
________________________________________

Why did you come to London?

Having been in the Army for over 7 years, it is time for a career move and London offers a world of opportunities.
 

What did you hope to achieve?

Get a new job, and experience a varied social life I haven’t been able to have before.
 

What were you doing before this?

I was a military man, an officer in the British Army.
 

What does your job involve on a day-to-day basis?

Providing administrative support to the new books production team.  It is so varied that there is never a typical day.  Some days I spend reading manuscript after manuscript others giving my opinion on the first and final drafts of book covers.
 

What responsibilities do you have?

We work from a list of books that are to be published.  Editorial assistants provide an interface between departments, making sure the book is moving in the right direction, and providing clerical support.
 

What are the best bits?

Reading new writing, following a project from inception to completion, and the creative elements of the role.
 

And the worst?

Administrative mundane tasks.
 

What is the typical package for your job?

£18k is a typical entry point into the world of publishing.
 

Do you have to have prior experience?  If so, what helped get you the job?

Yes it certainly helps, I did some work experience and this proved vital.
 

How did you go about getting it?

Coming from a very different background I wrote to everyone I knew in the publishing world, before I got my break.
 

Any tips you could give our readers?

Do some unpaid work experience!  It is so competitive to get into publishing, this is the only way to get your foot in the door.
 

With this experience, what do you plan to do next?

I’d like to be an Assistant Editor, developing my own list of books to be managed.