Upskilling Tips with BookMachine

By Grace Edwards, Misha Manani and Lydia Marshall 

BookMachine is a renowned creative agency in the industry with the aim of helping people in the publishing and education sectors. Since they launched in 2010, they have grown their services and nurtured a thriving global community. They have a range of blog articles and courses that can help you develop your skills and build your commercial awareness in publishing and trade-adjacent industries. They also provide marketing support for companies in the book world. In this article, we explore their different opportunities and resources and share our top tips for making the most of BookMachine as a publishing hopeful and professional. 

Opportunities and Services

• Membership: To join, you will need to become a member. This is a monthly paid package at £18 a month or £180 for the annual plan. If you are a student or currently not doing paid work, you can get a 50% discount for twelve months using the code STUDENT-OR-JOBSEEKER at checkout.

• Creative Agency: They offer a brilliant digital marketing service for organisations in the publishing and education industries. They have a dedicated and talented team bursting with creative and tailored ideas. Examples of the services they offer are search engine optimisation (SEO), social media, branding and events. Book an introductory call with them or send them a message. 

• The Campus Community: A great place to connect with individuals in the industry with fireside chats and panel events. There are welcome chats with different topics by department and a community announcements page with the latest news. BookMachine also has an excellent range of courses taught by industry professionals (see below).

• Career Opportunities: If you complete a course, you should add it to your CV when it’s relevant to the job you’re applying for. There is also a BookMachine Jobs Board where you can filter through positions to find what suits your interests and skills the best. Otherwise, if you are searching for a freelance role, BookMachine is looking for experienced freelancers with marketing experience. 

Resources 

• Blog: BookMachine has an insightful blog section which provides information on all things publishing, and also includes useful tips for bloggers such as How to optimize your blog posts for SEO and How not to blog: 7 tips. This means you can upskill and gain a deeper understanding of the publishing world while actively growing in the industry.

• Newsletter: The Loop is BookMachine's monthly newsletter aimed at professionals in publishing, the book trade and education. When you sign up, you receive insider tips and advice and the latest news, including marketing sessions, publishing events, upcoming courses and more. 

• Podcast: The BookMachine Podcast: Conversations in Publishing, shares the career journeys of inspirational people and the unsung heroes of the publishing industry. The hosts of the podcast are Gavin and Gemma and they often have conversations with amazing guests and touch on topics that benefit publishing hopefuls and professionals. It's worth tuning in!

• Courses: When you join the campus, you can access a wide range of online courses. There's a great offer of 15% off with the Get Into Book Publishing courses. These courses help you to develop industry knowledge and skills and will equip you with the tools you need to advance in the sector. 

Top Tips

• Events: BookMachine organises many events geared towards publishing professionals and hopefuls to facilitate learning, networking and career progression. They offer various webinars, workshops, networking events, conferences, author talks, panels and virtual events. A whole collection of events is available to watch under the title of BookMachine Unplugged. The company has uploaded past virtual events where they have talked about the departments in publishing and other significant industry focuses such as sustainability and leadership. These are fantastic for expanding your industry knowledge to help you grow and succeed in your publishing career.

• Create a Profile: Set up a profile on the BookMachine website to highlight your experience, skills and portfolio to make future applications within the site easier. This can also help you attract collaborators for various projects such as co-authors or marketing partners. It enables you to further become a part of the BookMachine community which offers support, advice and encouragement.

• Follow BookMachine’s Social Media: Stay connected to learn about what BookMachine are doing through their various social media channels. These will give you real time updates on publishing news and events and provide another means of interaction with their talented professionals. The company is really active on X, Instagram and LinkedIn so it is definitely worth giving their pages a follow to stay up to date with what is happening in the industry.

Thank you for reading this issue. Join us in the next one where we cover Upskilling Tips with the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP).