By Rosie Luffingham, Gabriela Kaczmarek, Molly Arabella-Kirk and Tehreem Mallhi
In this issue, we had the pleasure of chatting with Lucy Ashworth about her exciting work at Facet Publishing. Recently promoted from Publishing Officer to Marketing Executive, Lucy shared some fantastic insights into the experiences and opportunities that have shaped her career in the publishing sector.
What does a typical day look like for you as a Publishing Officer at Facet Publishing?
“I’m not even sure if there is a typical day in my role, it’s not often two days look the same! Something I love about being part of such a small team is the ability to collaborate between departments and experience a wide range of tasks.
Part of my day-to-day tasks include managing social media, writing newsletters, running our website, briefing our cover designer and carrying out necessary PR tasks. Attending conferences to sell books and meet authors is an important part of what I do. This also means I get to travel a lot - which is a great perk of the job!
A unique part of my job is that I am able to assist with the Yoto Carnegie Awards one day a week, supporting with all kinds of marketing and admin tasks. Having such varied work is part of what makes the role I have so special and why I enjoy it so much.”
You have a varied career history, from the hospitality industry to the public sector,
and onto a social media officer in the charity sector – why did you choose publishing
over another sector? What was it about publishing that appealed to you?
“Just like everyone else who works in publishing, I love books. I think publishing is a very people-centred industry and building relationships is vital, so as someone who loves talking about books, it’s the ideal job for me. I have worked for mainly non-profit organisations and something that I valued across all these roles is working for a company with a clear mission.
Facet is the publishing arm of CILIP (The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals), who are constantly striving to support, unite and develop information professionals and librarians. Knowing that the books we publish help school librarians, public librarians, healthcare librarians and many more professionals is so rewarding. I think, ‘I’ve not only chosen to work in the publishing industry but also within an organisation that I know is doing important work.’”
You interned at Boldwood Books during the early months of your career, was this beneficial for your future applications?
“Interning at Boldwood Books was my first real insight into the world of publishing and it was a whirlwind! They’re such an innovative company that aren’t afraid to try new things and break expectations. I believe working with such an experienced group of people who had no fear when it came to trusting me with tasks from the first day I started with them was one of my most valuable experiences. They let me try out new things and make mistakes so they could help me work towards being better at what I do. This also signalled an important turning point in my career where I needed to decide which area of publishing I wanted to work in and what type of publications I wanted to work with. It also raised other important questions I needed to address such as remote working, the size of the company and the focus of my role.
The experience with systems and general book marketing I learnt during this internship allowed me to step into my current role with much more confidence than I would have otherwise and is something that has definitely benefited me when applying to jobs.”
Tell us about your career highlights so far. What projects are you working on right now?
“One of my career highlights so far was being able to support the Yoto Carnegie Awards. The 2024 awards scaled up massively compared to previous years, as they were hosted at the Cambridge Theatre in London and the ceremony was opened up for over 1,000 children and young people to attend.
Assisting our Awards Manager to pull off such a large-scale event where children were able to engage with their favourite shortlisted books was incredible. Being offered the opportunity to work on such a prestigious award within my publishing role is something I am constantly grateful for.
It has allowed me to not just understand the children’s book market but also develop my skills when it comes to event planning and award management. Currently I am focusing on promoting the books we will be publishing in the second half of this year and part of this includes organising my first book launch event, which I am sure will be a career highlight!”
Are there any events that you have been involved in, or been to, that you would
recommend?
“When I was studying for my Publishing Masters, I remember everyone talking about attending The London Book Fair and how important such a large gathering of people working in the publishing industry is. Finally, a year later, I was able to attend representing Facet, and I can confirm it is as crazy as everyone said it would be!
I know this is one of the biggest events in most publishers’ diaries, but I can’t tell you how valuable I found it engaging with the publishing industry by chatting to new people, listening to talks and spending time with my team. I was able to meet our international representatives in person for the first time - building connections like this should never be underestimated.
I would always recommend attending any event where you see the opportunity to learn; there are so many fantastic chances to network and you never know where it might lead, so make sure you get out there!”
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