UVA Press Internship

ORGANIZATION 

The University of Virginia Press was founded in 1963 to advance the intellectual interests not only of the University of Virginia, but of institutions of higher learning throughout the state. A member of the Association of University Presses, UVaP currently publishes seventy new titles annually. New titles are approved by the Board of Directors after a rigorous process of peer review. The UVaP editorial program focuses primarily on the humanities and social sciences with special concentrations in American history, African American studies, southern studies, literature, ecocriticism, architecture, and regional books. While it continuously pursues new titles, UVaP also maintains a backlist of over 1,000 titles in print. 

SPONSOR 

Eric Brandt, Editor in Chief and Humanities Editor

PURPOSE 

To become introduced to book publishing and its industry. By assisting a specific department in which the intern is most interested, s/he will gain in-depth experience and be exposed to the full publishing process from acquisitions of a manuscript, through book design and production, to sales and marketing. Skills learned will be communication skills, copyediting, data entry and mining, and marketing. 

CAREER DEVELOPMENT 

This internship will prepare interns for careers in any of the following: 

  • Non-profit 
  • Communication, Outreach, and Publishing 

SKILLS DEVELOPMENT 

This internship will provide experiences to develop and polish the following skills: 

  • Communication to diverse audiences 
  • Knowledge of Sector and Networking 
  • Marketing 

RESPONSIBILITIES 

Depending on which department the intern would prefer:  

Acquisitions: Under the supervision of the Editor in Chief, the intern will learn how manuscripts are evaluated and guided through peer review, presented at a variety of in-house meetings, and revised and transmitted for copyediting, in addition to gaining familiarity with the basics of book budgets.  

Editing, Design, and Production: Under the supervision of the EDP Manager, the intern will focus on manuscript preparation, file clean-up and coding, editing, proofreading, indexing, and project management in collaboration with Press staff. Finalists with an interest in copyediting will be asked to take a copyediting test.  

Marketing: Under the supervision of the Marketing and Sales Manager, the intern will become acquainted with sales tools; research media outlets with the publicity team; develop review lists and send out review copies of books; participate in the creation of seasonal catalogs; research and develop marketing plans for books using non-traditional marketing strategies; and assist with seasonal marketing correspondence with authors.  

Digital Publishing: Under the supervision of the Manager of Digital Initiatives, the intern will work on the Press' Rotunda digital imprint to report on the current academic environment and its use of digital resources for research and classroom, assist site user testing and email surveys for researchers and faculty users, review and report on other archives and comparative features, clean up/collect contacts, and identify areas of academic engagement through social media. 

MENTORING PLAN 

The intern will receive direct mentorship and support from the supervisor of the department they choose to work with. The intern will be invited to attend two general meetings: our Decision-to-Publish meeting where the team reviews book proposals and projected financials. They will also be invited to attend our internal book launch meetings, in which the team finalize a publishing plan for each book.

DESIRED QUALITIES 

American History, African-American Studies, Literary Studies, Architecture, Religious Studies, and Digital Humanities are areas in which UVA Press publishes. Interns with a knowledge of one of these fields are desired. 

DURATION AND EFFORT 

The internship will begin during the Fall 2022 and continue into the Spring 2023 semester. 

FUNDING 

PhD+ interns will be funded by a stipend of $5000 per semester ($25 per hour for 200 hours per semester). 

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