This blog is written by Amelia. She worked with us for one week during the Summer of 2022 as part of her work experience. In this blog, Amelia tells us what she got from her week of work experience with us.

Work Experience – I would highly recommend any company considers internships and work experience as young people and businesses can both take things from working together. I got to learn about the business of self-publishing and I also got to give Mandy and her business – The Book Writers Resource Ltd a fresh perspective. It was a brilliant experience. I got an introduction to the working world whilst they got the chance to see their business through my fresh eyes – those of a younger generation. Mandy said that my perspective was very helpful and that I asked very insightful and thought provoking questions. I learned a lot of information about the self-publishing process. In another meeting I got to observe and give input on ideas for an upcoming book.

Beta Reading
The author Stuart Rowson gave me permission to be one of his Beta Readers. For those who don’t know, beta reading is a process in which you read a book before it is published. They are also known as ‘early readers’. This is an amazing chance for the author to get feedback on their work. The novel I beta read was a great read and I got to talk directly to the author about the book and gave some constructive feedback and some critical points that he’d not considered. I told him that I thought that the book is a low fantasy for pre-teens and would suit readers from aged 8 upwards (if they are advanced for their age), up to around 12/13 years old.

Zoom Meeting – I also got to take part in an online meeting on zoom with the owner of a marketing team who was based in Greece at the time. I found this very interesting as he made suggestions of the types of promotion that might work for different genres. I learned that for books it might be worth trying things like Google or Amazon ads and that you can take marketing into your own hands by posting about your book and building up interest on your own social media accounts. You can then ask the public or your followers to help you promote and read your book. Finally I got to observe another meeting where a school teacher was asking about how she would go about creating and then publishing her books. I got to know all sorts of things, such as the right books size, cost, target audience and more! I also got the chance to work on my CV and do a mock interview with Mandy. This was very helpful because she guided me on how to tailor my CV for specific jobs and asked me the type of questions that might arise in an interview.

Team Player – I also got to take part in an online meeting on zoom with the owner of a marketing team who was based in Greece at the time. I found this very interesting as he made suggestions of the types of promotion that might work for different genres. I learned that for books it might be worth trying things like Google or Amazon ads and that you can take marketing into your own hands by posting about your book and building up interest on your own social media accounts. You can then ask the public or your followers to help you promote and read your book. Finally I got to observe another meeting where a school teacher was asking about how she would go about creating and then publishing her books. I got to know all sorts of things, such as the right books size, cost, target audience and more! I also got the chance to work on my CV and do a mock interview with Mandy. This was very helpful because she guided me on how to tailor my CV for specific jobs and asked me the type of questions that might arise in an interview.

Summary of my work experience week – Overall this has been an amazing experience and a week where I’ve learned so much about business and acquired so many new skills. A huge thanks to Mandy Ward for doing this and for giving me such amazing support, guidance and advice on the world of publishing.
Work experience is so worth it and companies only need to complete a simple safeguarding form, provide DBS checks and get Employers Liability Insurance for the time the child is with you, to take on a work experience. It is a chance for companies to teach us young adults about the world of work. Essentially by doing this you are teaching the future generations about your career which could make work experience a great opportunity for both the young person and for the business.

You can learn more about the book that Amelia got to Beta read for us here.
It was great to have Amelia working with us for a week, and we were very impressed. Her insights and ability to ask the right questions at the right time helped us to onboard a new client who is now working on her first picture book.
If you run a business and have been considering taking on a work experience, please do. You’ll learn so much.