"The book sale is this week," the assistant books editor of O, The Oprah Magazine said as we unpacked books that had been sent to the magazine that week.
Image caption: Jacqueline Neber
"… Yeah," I said. "What does that mean?"
Taylor laughed. The book sale is a Hearst-wide event held in our office's conference room every year, an event that would require us to partner in creating a veritable bookstore in two days. Everyone I've met at Hearst is exactly the type of journalist who would kill for a fresh book. O receives dozens of books a day, ready to be sold. This was going to be wild.
Seventy-two hours later, I collapsed back into my desk chair. Four assignments from other editors were waiting for me. That's my favorite aspect of my job as an editorial intern at O: several editors have tasks for me every day, and I get to dip my hands into the many areas of magazine production. I've transcribed interviews with fascinating activists, performed deep research and fact-checked past issues of the magazine, and apparently found a future in bookstore layout. As an aspiring journalist, I couldn't ask for a better career introduction.
I'm also part of the American Society of Magazine Editors' intern class of 2017. Everyone in my class was matched with a different magazine for the summer, but we all go to lunches at awesome publications, work with industry mentors, and will be attending ASME's annual summer party this week. This, too, has been a fantastic way to connect to my industry. I love being a part of something bigger than myself, sharing a summer with students from all over the country, kids who are equally serious about journalism as they are about making the best of 10 weeks in the city.
The best feeling, though, is the one I get leaving O every day: that my editors value my work, that I am a member of the team (making one editor's day with a hardcover Dior runway lookbook was amazing). That's what has separated O from your average internship, and what will make this summer unforgettable.
About the author
Jacqueline Neber is a member of the Johns Hopkins Class of 2018. She is a Writing Seminars major and marketing and communications minor who is spending the summer as an editorial intern for the American Society of Magazine Editors. Her assignment is at O, The Oprah Magazine in New York City.
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Posted in Student Life
Tagged publishing, internships
