Inkwater Press, Portland, OR
I was fortunate enough to spend my summer interning at Inkwater Press in Portland, Ore. This was an extremely valuable experience and built significantly off of my previous internship at Melville House Press in NYC in the summer of 2018. Inkwater is a small, independent, non-traditional publishing house that works with a wide range of authors, both domestic and international. What made Inkwater such a different experience was that it has a fairly unique company structure. Rather than being a traditional publisher, Inkwater functions as a service to authors wishing to self-publish. By providing professional marketing, editorial, production, and cover design skills, the company enables authors to publish their work at a much higher level of quality and professionalism than they would otherwise. All this meant that through my internship, I was able to observe aspects of the publishing industry that would perhaps be under-emphasized in other contexts. I was able to do important and challenging work in several different areas of the company, all while making connections within the Portland publishing scene.
A large emphasis of my internship was on marketing work, which has been an area of the industry I’d previously considered but hadn’t had as much exposure to in my first internship. The head of marketing, Virginia Solan, was a wonderful person to work with and entrusted me with many different marketing research projects. She would give me a specific book to work on and, after briefing me, would give me a specified number of research hours to devote to the title. I was granted free-reign to take this research in the directions I felt would be fruitful and would track down bloggers, podcasts, non-profit organizations, college faculty members, etc. who might be interested in marketing the book and author in various ways. This was really interesting work because I was expected to think critically and creatively about the best angles and strategies for promotion, as well as doing some significant sleuthing in order to locate certain contacts. I also loved that this enabled me to learn about such a wide variety of fields. Because each book was entirely different, each research project took me down vastly different paths. Some of the titles I worked on included: a book on sustainable urban design, a children’s picture book about travel and animal conservation, a child’s workbook for coping with divorce, a western, a poetry and photography book about Autism, and a self-help book on fitness. I loved the variety of subjects because it meant that each project presented new possibilities and had to be approached in a creative way.
Another extremely rewarding project was observing and helping with sample editorial work
. This is the field I am most interested in and the one that is most affected by Inkwater’s unique structure. The editors provided a tutorial for me and the other intern about the editorial process and how they go about pricing their work for the authors. It was really interesting to learn about the dynamics of working with authors and trying to persuade them to accept different types of editing suggestions. I learned that although many authors are initially not receptive to the idea of investing in editing, once they receive the sample edits they often change their mind and recognize the need for professional feedback on their work. I was able to practice this work by doing several sample edits, which was really exciting. It was great to get real work experience in giving edits and suggestions on submitted manuscripts.
There were many other projects I worked on, from various areas of the company. One project that was especially enjoyable was making the small Christmas ornaments that Inkwater sends to their authors. Each winter, Inkwater makes a personalized book ornament for each author whose book came out that year. They have different styles for paperback, hardcover, and e-books. I loved helping to make these because I think one of the most enjoyable aspects of Inkwater is the close relationship that they cultivate with their authors. They are ultimately helping their clients to realize their dreams of publishing their work. I think that the small details, such as those ornaments, are indicative of the personal nature of the work that they do at the company.
The people at Inkwater and the workplace environment were some of my favorite aspects of the internship. It’s a very welcoming and supportive group that embraces an inclusive and non-hierarchical company structure. As an intern, I felt that I was treated as an equal and someone deserving of trust and respect. I was given more responsibilities with the types of projects I was assigned than I had experienced at my previous internship and everyone was eager to check in about my well-being, and to ask how I was adjusting to the workplace and to Portland in general. This office dynamic and the connections I made with the other staff were extremely valuable to me and I think that it has reinforced my interest in the field. I also think that places like Inkwater play a significant role in the literary world by bridging the gap between self-publishing and traditional publishing. Although authors who work with the company are technically self-published, the professional services allow them to be taken more seriously by the general public. It’s interesting to think about how this enables a larger amount of individual voices and stories to be heard, in an otherwise brutally competitive field. The question of personal expression is of course a significant concern in our society and places like Inkwater can be helpful in giving voice to a wider range of perspectives.
This internship has really helped me to experience a potential career in publishing and to get a broader understanding of the different types of companies that exist within the industry. Inkwater functions somewhat as a mixture between a literary agency and a traditional publishing house so it’s been a great opportunity to see what components of each of those paths appeal to me and why. I appreciate the personal relationship that agents are able to cultivate with their authors, but I also value the higher level of editorial work and selectivity that exists in publishing houses. Going into my senior year, I realize how relevant taking creative writing workshops within the English major will be to my future career path, and I plan to take one each semester. This real-life work experience has confirmed my interest in pursuing a career in the publishing industry and has also been a great opportunity to see what it would be like to live in the Pacific Northwest. After spending a summer there, I know that I could happily see myself working in the Portland area after graduation. I am extremely grateful to the ’68 Center for Career Exploration as well as to the Class of 1966 for making this opportunity possible.
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