Alumni - Sophia Podini, MA Publishing

After taking both a bachelor degree in publishing and a two-year publishing master’s in Italy, I still felt I was not ready to put myself forward as a valuable addition to any publishing company. I felt I needed a very practical, business oriented course that would help me understand the industry and prepare me for a ‘real job’.

I was not sure in which area of publishing I wanted to work – I only knew it must be in book publishing. I started checking degree programmes around Europe, searching for the one that combines all the elements that I was looking for: a creative and business oriented course that has an overview of different departments of a publishing house; and a course that is not only UK oriented but gives an international background. When I discovered the programme of the MA Publishing at Oxford Brookes, I knew this had everything I was looking for, plus the amazing location of the city of Oxford – and all the ratings and feedback from previous students online were highly positive. ...

I do not regret my decision to apply: the year at Oxford Brookes has been amazing. I have met incredibly interesting people, and the course really prepared me for a future job. Soon after I started I realized how deeply interested I was in Children’s Publishing, especially in the Rights and Sales departments. Every course I took was well constructed and so helpful, and more than once I wished I had Harry Potter’s Time-Turner to be able to attend more classes. The teachers were extremely prepared in their fields and incredibly supportive and human outside of class. Even though I felt tired and stressed and not good enough sometimes (basically during assignment periods!), I am very happy with my choice and would do it all again without any doubt. I decided to do a major project instead of a dissertation, and this was the most challenging but also incredibly satisfying project I have ever undertaken. I ended up creating a bilingual picture book, of which I am very proud.

Thanks to a connection made during the Working in Publishing Day, organized by the Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies, I was able to find an amazing internship at Bonnier Publishing in London. I was helping out the Children’s Books department, and that experience only confirmed to me that I wanted to work with children’s books. My internship lasted three months, and right after that, I was fortunate enough to be offered a full-time position as a Group Sales Export Assistant at Walker Books.

In summary, my experience was absolutely positive and the outcomes have been great – I loved the course and feel very lucky now to be in my dream job.

Posted on 17 Jan 2017 around 2pm