SquawkRadio

So I’ve been in the unfortunate position recently of needing to hire an assistant for the second time in less than a year.  My most important requirement in an assistant is that I don’t mind looking at her face everyday (I got this bit of advice from a former colleague and have found it to be extremely true and wise).  My second most important requirement is that my assistant get (if not love) the books I work on.  Somewhere amidst these two is the need for someone detail-oriented and semi-organized who can keep on top of everything an editor has going on—seeing manuscripts and page proofs through the production process; dealing with authors, getting them what they need; creating title information sheets for sales and marketing; doing mailings, filing, copying, etc.  Shouldn’t be so hard to find, right?  Well…..

All my friends and colleagues keep saying, “Working for you?  That would be a great job!” Now I realize that part of this is bias—my friends and colleagues love me, but even I have to admit, I’m a pretty great boss.  I’m a firm believer in mentoring, since I have benefited from it so much myself over the years.  I’m fairly low maintenance, don’t have a temper, encourage the use of every last vacation day, regularly bring baked goods into the office.  But of course, as it’s turned out, I’m not really the issue.  Most of the candidates I’ve met have been very interested in the job, even if I don’t particularly want to hire them (usually I like her face, but she doesn’t get commercial fiction/romance or she writes a great readers report but I don’t like her face).

Given the general enthusiasm and awe I get from people when I talk about working in publishing, I think I expected an endless supply of possibilities, but in reality, not so much.  So here’s some interview tips for a job as an editorial assistant:

1. When asked what you like to read, don’t say “Oh, I read everything!” This is not helpful, and let’s face it, probably not true.  I recognize that for a lot of kids coming out of college, they’re going to be more familiar with “literature” than my kind of books, but really?  Your favorite authors are Charles Dickens and Tolstoy? And you’re interviewing here?  Which leads to my next tip. 

2.  Even if you prefer to read Literature with a capital L, find out what kinds of books the publishing house is known for and specific titles the editor has worked on, if possible.  Although, to be honest, I can smell research over genuine experience and enthusiasm a mile away.  But at least put in the effort to seem informed?

3.  Have questions, preferably smart, insightful ones, that allow for us to have a bit of a conversation.  One candidate (who I didn’t choose in part because the last three books she’d read were some kind of translated Italian weirdness that I’d never even heard of, but she talked about as though I should have) asked me about my own career path—great question!  Another asked about the daily tasks of an editor, aside from reading manuscripts (I actually just extended an offer to her today—I really like her face!).  When I ask them if they have questions and they say, “I can’t think of any…” Not a good sign.

4.  We’re not corporate as in a law firm or Goldman Sachs, but a brush through the hair and actual shoes instead of flip flops is probably a good idea.  Seriously.  Showed up in flip flops.  Do they teach interview skills in college anymore?  If they don’t, they should.

5.  Readers reports.  Next time I go through this process, I’m going to follow the advice of my friend Kara Cesare and give them an example of what a readers report should be.  When I give them a few different books to read, I feel like I’m clear on the assignment—“I’ve read these already, so I don’t need a summary.  I just want to know what you liked, what you didn’t like, what worked, what didn’t, what would make it better.” But it’s like they think it’s a trick question.  Which I guess I can understand.  After all, I’m giving them books that we’ve already published (in most cases), so I must like them, right?  I tell them not to overthink and to follow their instincts.  But I seem to keep getting term papers, rather than the Chris Farley show (“Remember the part where….that was awesome!”) My favorite was the interviewee (obviously not a romance reader) who, in discussing a very sexy vampire romance, wrote that the battle between the good vampires and the bad vampires could even be a metaphor for the fight between the Sunnis and the Shiites.  Right….

So hopefully in a couple of weeks, I’ll have a new assistant.  If you meet her at RWA, please be extra nice to her.  I really don’t think I can face going through this process again any time soon.

If you have any questions about what it’s like being an editor OR an editor’s assistant, I’ll be popping into the Comments later to answer them!