‘I wanted to make a meaningful impact’: Reflections from the 2023 Open Book interns

First run as a pilot program offering two internships in 2022, the Open Book paid internship program is a joint sector initiative that aims to foster cultural and linguistic diversity in the Australian publishing industry. This year, it expanded to offer three paid internships, with one an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander identified role. Enchinea Close-Brown, Keerthana Ravindran and Isabelle Webb were chosen from over 200 applications for this year’s internships. As the 2023 internships concluded last month, Books+Publishing spoke with the interns about their experiences in the program, and their future aspirations.

Tell us a little about yourself and what brought you to apply for the internship.

Enchinea Close-Brown: Before starting the program, I was working in hospitality and studying. However, there is only so much you can learn in a classroom, and I didn’t have a set career path, so exploring seemed to be the answer. That is how I came to apply for Open Book.

Isabelle Webb: For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved to read. Every second I could steal was spent with my nose in a book. It borders on obsession, but there are worse addictions, right? So naturally, when it came time to embrace adulthood and consider my future career, books were always in the back of my mind.

There were a few knock-backs—including a huge interstate move from Tasmania and a failed attempt at a librarianship course (due, in part, to the ruler of everyone’s lives these past few years: Covid-19)—but like magic, the universe (or the algorithm) sent me a sign: an Instagram ad for the Open Book internship program. At this point, all I knew of publishing was romantic notions from early-2000s sitcoms and films, with their glamorous Vogue offices and scary Miranda Priestly–like bosses. Books shaped the person I am today, and if this was the universe showing me the way to foster that same love in our next generation, who was I to tell it otherwise?

Keerthana Ravindran: My family owned a small printing press back in India, and I was always surrounded by talks about printing and books. It pushed me towards my master’s in creative writing, publishing and editing. However, pursuing further education and adjusting to a new country during Covid-19 was harder than expected, and I had to take other opportunities away from the publishing industry. Starting with a marketing internship, to working as a collections officer, I thought my path would never collide with publishing. I thought I had missed my window of opportunity to break in. It was during this time that well-timed googling led me to the Open Book internship. After reading about the internship and its discourse on bringing diverse voices to trade and educational publishing, I was determined to apply for it.

What is one thing you learned during the internship that you wished you learnt before?

Ravindran: I was led to believe that publishing is an insular industry and other skills might not be transferrable. This was not the case at all. I quickly realised how there are several different roles and aspects of publishing that intersected with my previous jobs outside the industry.

Webb: Thankfully, my lack of industry knowledge proved to be an advantage, as it gave me the opportunity to reconnect the publishers I worked with back to their audience, because I represented them. Bringing a layperson’s perspective into rooms that wouldn’t necessarily have held space to listen was initially quite daunting, but I soon found that my mentors seemed to value the feedback I could provide to them. I learnt that my voice had value, and to ask questions whenever I could. Peeking behind the curtain into the world of books showed me the sad reality that publishers do tend to fit neatly into one type of person—which I think most people can picture as I say that—despite the call-out from readers for more diverse stories.

What is one thing you would like to change about the internship—and/or the broader publishing industry?

Webb: My two placements were vastly different, both in structure and in experience. In my first rotation, I decided to specialise, sitting in on the marketing departments of Hardie Grant. To say I spent a lot of time with everyone’s best friend, social media—penning Instagram captions, EDMs and Canva creations—is an understatement, but this afforded me great opportunities to hone my professional writing and design skills through the lens of consumer-based marketing. Unfortunately, in such a big company, it felt very easy for me to fall through the cracks, and I felt disconnected from the books and authors I was creating content for. I wanted to make a meaningful impact on readers, and I didn’t feel that the marketing environment gave me space to do so.

My experience at Thames and Hudson allowed me to explore each different department and adapt my program toward my interests, and add to the foundation that my time at Hardie Grant had set up. I found this style of learning worked better for me, as I was able to gain context for my work, as well as being able to understand more of the jargon used in meetings.

In terms of what I would change about the program, adapting the rotations to be one more general and one more specialised (not in the order I did them) would, in my opinion, set up interns for a more comprehensible understanding of the publishing houses as a whole, and then build that knowledge into a specific interest. I found this style worked well for me during my time at T&H, and I wish my whole internship had looked this way.

Close-Brown: I’ve always been a book lover in the way that only those who cherish books will really understand. However, I never considered a career in publishing. For one, I didn’t know anyone in the industry or even know someone who knew of someone. Furthermore, what does a career in publishing even look like? It feels impossible to aim for a target you can’t see.

That is what the Open Book internship does so well. It not only materialises the target but also opens up its interns to an industry that can be quite hidden. More so, the internship’s main objective of diversifying an often-stagnant industry is admirable and refreshing. When I first came across the internship, I was shocked about how good of an opportunity it was. What drew me in was the want of diversity and lack of experience needed. There was no real reason not to apply, so I did, and was lucky enough to be selected as the Sydney intern for 2023.

Ravindran: One of the best aspects of the internship was moving between different departments within the publishing house. This gave us an opportunity to view the entire process and choose our specific interest areas and strengths. This helped me meet people who I might not have the opportunity to interact with otherwise and fully comprehend the good and the bad facing the industry. I think there should be more similar interdepartmental mentorship available, especially to help with a more sustainable long-term career in the industry.

What was the biggest highlight of the internship for you?

Ravindran: Chairing the Rising Star panel in the BookUp conference was a huge highlight for me. It was an experience that I didn’t expect, but accomplishing it gave me confidence and an incredible feeling of achievement. Not to mention, meeting different people in various stages of their career during BookUp gave incredible insights, which was a definite highlight as well.

Close-Brown: The Open Book program is an important and necessary initiative. What makes the program particularly special is it puts its interns first. It does this by supporting them as individuals and encouraging learning without consequence. Programs like this are mutually beneficial, giving both to the interns and to the industries.

Webb: My biggest highlight came in my experiences at Thames and Hudson. Here, I fell in love with editorial, gaining access to each stage of the process, under the guidance of the wonderful team of T&H editors. They empowered me and trusted me for my opinions on chapter outlines, fact-checking, and line and copy edits. The puzzle pieces began to slot together, and I could finally answer the dreaded question of what I want to be when I grow up.

The people I met along this journey made the experience a life-changing one. Even in those moments where I did doubt the big risk I had taken and whether it was worth it, the friends I made and mentors I worked with made me feel supported and valued.

Is there anything you can tell us about your next steps from here?

Webb: The dream for me, like most young people entering publishing, would be to spend my days with a red pen in hand, combing through and editing the latest fiction—but the realist in me knows that career paths are often not as direct as we would like. For now, I am content with getting my foot in the door in any way I can, as long as I’m working to make Australians fall in love with reading again.

Ravindran: I started this internship with education publishing and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. In a full circle moment, I am happy to say that I will be working in the same industry and learning more every day. I hope to have the same joy and determination well beyond in the future as well.

Close-Brown: I’ll forever be grateful for the opportunity and knowledge the Open Book program has given me. It not only opened me up to a new world but also genuinely fostered my learning and gave way to career opportunities that wouldn’t be otherwise possible. Based on the skills, knowledge, and networking I’ve gained from the internship, I have been offered a full-time role within the industry after the conclusion of the program.

Enchinea Close-Brown was the Open Book Sydney intern for 2023. Following the internship, she is now working full time at the Indigenous Literacy Foundation as the publishing coordinator. 

Keerthana Ravindran grew up in Sivakasi, India. After completing her bachelor’s in history, she moved to Melbourne for her master’s in creative writing, publishing and editing. Hailing from a family that owns a printing press, she grew up curious about all things books—ranging from printing to marketing. She has completed two marketing internships in Melbourne and accepted a full-time position as humanities and social sciences development editor at Cambridge University Press.

Isabelle Webb has recently commenced a part-time position at the Younger Sun Bookshop in Yarraville, and is open to freelance editorial, sensitivity reading, review and copywriting work. Webb’s details are in the FNPOC Network freelancer document.

Pictured: Enchinea Close-Brown (left), Isabelle Webb (middle), Keerthana Ravindran.

Category: Features