I’ve been doing a lot of book tags lately so I promise I’ll have some book reviews up soon! In the meantime, whilst I’m juggling about six different reads and nowhere close to finishing any of them, I figured that this tag would be pretty fun too.

I first saw this post on Caffeinated Fae’s blog here!

Reading on the bed or on the couch?

Generally, I’d say I prefer to read in bed, especially when it’s cold outside and I can curl up with my duvet. It’s really nice to sit on the sofa by the window with a good book in summer though, so both are good options!

Main character: male or female?

Although I do have a few favourite reads where the main character is a male (*cough* Anna Dressed in Blood), I usually pick up books with a female main character.

Sweet or salty snacks while reading?

Salty snacks, generally Pringles, are my snack of choice. If there’s cake in the house, though, that always goes really well with a reading session.

Trilogies or quartets?

Trilogies! My favourite series is a duology so I generally prefer when book series’ are shorter. I always find that trilogies give you plenty of content without overcomplicating the story, and they’re about as much as my attention span can handle.

Reading in the AM or PM?

PM! I always struggle to read during the day. Plus, a book is always more satisfying if you stay up all night to read it.

First or third-person POV?

I don’t have a problem with either, but I definitely like first-person better. I love getting inside a character’s head (and I’ve never been able to write more than a couple of pages in third…)

Libraries or bookstores?

I’d love to say libraries, but I’m a hoarder. I want all the books and can’t bear the thought of giving them back.

Books that make you laugh or cry?

Probably books that make me cry, because I cry at the majority of books I read. Sometimes it’s happy tears but, usually, it’s really, really not.

Black or white book covers?

Black book covers are stunning. Especially black covers with foil blocking (*heart eyes*).

Character or plot driven?

This one is so tough, but I feel like, if I’ve fallen in love with a set of characters, I could read about even the most mundane things that they do, so I’d have to say character-driven.

Who I’m tagging:

I’m still new and don’t know anyone to tag BUT I’d love to use this post to make some blogging-community friends; feel free to tell me about your blog below or say hi. Also, if you want to do this tag, consider this you being tagged!

I only graduated four months ago so my experience in publishing is insanely limited. I’m still on the hunt for a job, but I’ve now had two internships with the same publishing company and am a lot more confident in my knowledge of the publishing industry as a whole.

I know that I was incredibly lucky to get an internship when it’s so competitive and I thought it might be useful to share my tips on how I did it!

In honour of ‘Work in Publishing’ week, here are my top tips for getting a publishing internship:

Do Your Research

This should be fairly obvious, but you can’t just look up the five most popular publishers and send in random emails to them. Because the larger companies generally run work experience schemes (which you should definitely apply for!), they usually won’t respond to a random graduate asking for work. By all means, apply, but it’s definitely a good idea not to rely on these. It’s important to spend some time finding as many publishing firms as you possibly can.

I found it useful to make a spreadsheet of all of the companies that didn’t refuse cold emails (it’s useless to apply for a company that explicitly states that they won’t respond) and their contact details. Trust me, there are way more publishers than you even knew existed and one of them might be the one that give you a chance!

Check Job Listings

Many places don’t mention internship schemes on their websites, but some do! It’s a long task if you’re going to search the internet for every publisher in a 20-mile radius (especially if you’re looking for work in London!) but it’s completely worth checking every careers page you find. Very few internships are listed on Publishing job-sites, so your best chance is to check with individual publishers on their sites.

If you find one of these internships, apply exactly how they ask you to. Look into their specific titles and imprints and figure out a way to explain that, not only do you want to work in publishing, you want to work specifically for them. I didn’t have any luck with these types of applications, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t! Polish up your CV, write a cover letter that explains why you want to work in publishing and any relevant skills or experience you have, and cross your fingers.

Send Cold Emails

If you have no other leads, this is the most likely way you’re going to get an internship- this is the way I managed it! It’s terrifying to send out copies of your CV to people who have never heard of you and who probably won’t respond, but that’s half of the reason why it works. My boss during my internships told me that she respected the courage I had in randomly applying and that my cold emailing demonstrated a level of confidence that employers are looking for. Obviously, this isn’t a guaranteed way to get an internship, but it does mean that you’re getting your name out as far as possible. I had about ten publishers respond to me and say that they’d put my CV on file, one told me of an internship scheme that they would be running in the near future and another responded offering me a two-week placement.

To get so many responses, I had to email a lot of people. If you’re committed to doing this, your best shot is to send an email to every publisher you can find.

I did a lot of research on how to write a cold email/what to include/who to contact, so here are some of the websites that I found really useful:

medium.com/@justinemoore_85088/from-cold-email-to-internship-with-jason-chen-1cff6d560ae3

roojet.com/a-comprehensive-guide-to-cold-emailing-for-internships-or-jobs/

Don’t Focus Solely on Publishers

If you’re looking for some experience in order to get a publishing job, or even if you just want more of an insight into the industry, publishing houses are not the only places you can apply for. There’s an incredible amount of literary agencies around that are equally likely to respond to an email with an internship opportunity that is just as interesting as one in a publishing house. Again, this requires research and persistence, but it’s a difficult industry to get into and applying to a wider range of companies can only increase your chances. Of course, if you’re looking for work in a specific department, this may not work, but if you’re open to any aspect of publishing, literary agents are incredibly knowledgeable about the industry and could provide you with just as much of an insight.

Do Some Extracurriculars

A lot of people are applying for publishing jobs and the majority of them are incredibly qualified. You won’t be the only person that’s sending cold emails or applying to internship schemes so you need to do something that really makes you stand out. I have a couple of publishing-related things on my CV that employers and interviewers have picked up on and taken interest in so, if you’ve got some free time, it’s always worth boosting your CV. The specific things I’ve used to boost my applications are reviewing books, volunteering in a bookshop, completing a children’s writing course and doing a fiction-focused EPQ in college. There are so many things you can do to make yourself noticeable and I’d really recommend going out of your way to try some of them if you get the chance!

Be Patient

I know that this is terrible advice, but it’s important. In such a competitive industry, an internship opportunity might not appear overnight. It’s so disheartening when you don’t hear back, but it just means you have to keep searching for opportunities, checking forums and sending out those emails. If you persist and be patient, I’m sure something will come up; it did for me!

I’d love to know if you found these helpful or if you have any advice to add to the list! Also, please let me know if you’re interested in these kinds of posts and if there’s anything else you’d like to know about publishing internships.

Best of luck in your internship search!

(Thank you ReadersFirst and Hot Key Books for an ARC of this book– sorry it took so long!)

That is, until she begins to unravel the connection between this long-lost play and the prestigious Order that almost got her killed the year before. And maybe, that this play will help her to unravel something even darker that is happening at Longcross.

This book isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I thought about a sequel for STAGS. It covers everything I would have expected after the revelations about the Order of the Stag, but following the story through an Elizabethan play is not the way I saw the story progressing. Despite this, I found the book to be an incredibly captivating thriller, tying up the loose ends of STAGS and leaving more for a potential series conclusion.

The characters didn’t seem as clear-cut for me as in the first book, and it came across like nobody, even my favourite characters from STAGS, could be trusted. At the same time, it remains confusing for much of the novel who the real villains could be also. M.A. Bennett did a great job of making me question everything I liked about certain characters from the first book, only to circle them back around for redemption as the story progressed.

I really enjoyed this book and will undoubtedly read Book 3 if and when it is released. It’s incredibly impressive that the author took a long-lost play and weaved it so effectively into her own story about privilege and I can’t help but think that M.A. Bennett has even more impressive works to come. I’d certainly recommend this book and, obviously, STAGS if you really wanted to get into the story.

P.S: I believe all copies of this book contain the bonus material at the end and I found this in itself really interesting! There are various pages of information, both fictitious and factual, about STAGS and ‘The Isle of Dogs’ that made the book last just a tiny bit longer and even answered some of the more random questions this book might have left you with.

RATING: 4/5

If you want to pick up a copy of this book, you can get it here! And if you haven’t read STAGS yet, you can get that here.

(I get a small commission if you use my links)

This story follows Tiffy, an editor struggling to afford rent in London following a bad break up, and Leon, a nurse with the same financial issue. Instead of finding their own places, Tiffy moves into Leon’s home when he isn’t there, sleeping in the bed whilst he’s on night shifts and on the weekends whilst he’s away. The only issue with the arrangement is that, with one of them always out of the house, they’ve never actually met.

As they begin leaving notes for each other around the house, they develop the most adorable friendship and it’s really enjoyable to watch this progress. The general storyline is adorable and it’s so easy to become completely hooked on Tiffy and Leon. In addition to this, and separating this book from more ‘fluffy’ contemporary romances, the book does very respectably tackle issues such as emotional abuse, the aftermath of bad relationships and an inability to move on.

The style of writing was very enjoyable, as Leon’s chapters are written in a combination of regular prose and note form, which I’ve never seen a novel written in before. This made it unique and deceptively easy to read, with Leon and Tiffy’s chapters very clearly differentiated. They’re also both just such likeable characters. Tiffy is a little frustrating at times, but everything she does seems to be for a well-justified reason, and it’s so easy to root for her.

I can’t recommend this book enough, as the funniest and most uplifting story I’ve read in a long time. Although predominantly for those who want a light-hearted, easy read, I feel that it would be difficult for anyone to read this without a smile on their face.

Rating: 5/5

Let me know what you thought of this book if you’ve read it already!

I was scrolling through the internet today, desperately hoping there was a Bonfire Night themed book tag, and I found one! No fireworks for me until Sunday, so what better way to spend a cold November night in with a good book? And what better way to celebrate than with a book tag?

This tag was created here if you want to check out the original!

Screamers: A book that made you want to scream (in a good or bad way!)

Definitely The Wicked King- Holly Black. I need the Queen of Nothing right now. I swear I wanted to scream for half of the series (in a good way, I think) and I know that will continue until the last page.

Bombers: A book that you read before it exploded in the book community

The Flatshare- Beth O’Leary. This book got really popular when it was released, and rightfully so. You should definitely read it. I got an ARC and finished the entire thing in one go, before immediately tweeting Beth O’Leary about how it broke me.

Banger: A banned book you read

I’m surprised by how many I’ve read in this category, but the least basic is probably Slaughterhouse Five- Kurt Vonnegut.

Peony: A book/author you think everyone needs to read

It wouldn’t be a Rarely in Reality blog post if I didn’t choose Warcross- Marie Lu. But also We Were Liars– E. Lockhart.

Crossette: A book/series with a complicated plot

I have three bookish art prints on my wall and I’ve managed to mention all of the books on them here, oops. An Ember in the Ashes- Sabaa Tahir is definitely complicated but so worth getting invested in.

Diadem: A book/series with an amazing set of central characters

One of Us is Lying- Karen McManus. I’m not entirely sure I even liked all of the characters in this book, but the split perspective made it so easy to get invested in every single one.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Bonfire Night!