AKA the best final day of internship ever.

The week before Monday 17th June, I had been asked to come back to Headline for one more mystery extra day. I almost declined because I was moving back home that weekend and preparing to get cracking with my Major Project. LUCKILY I had an inkling that something special might be happening, reconsidered and sorted out a train ticket for what was probably one of the best and most bizarre days of my life: being publicity assistant to Neil Gaiman. Having spent four weeks preparing showcards, posters, and bookmarks, packaging up review copies, and posting them out, collating press mentions, and desperately wanting to read The Ocean at the End of the Land, the book buzz was ever present and this day was the perfect culmination of an amazing month. 

I hopped on a train from Oxfordshire to London in order to get to the office at 8.30am –and finally got to read bit of the book on the way. There’s nothing quite like not wanting to stop reading but realising that soon you’d be meeting the mastermind behind the book in which you became so instantly engrossed, despite the early hour!

Heading up to the sixteenth floor I met Sam, Tom, Beau, Laura, Clara and Deidre. We set about getting the books ready to be signed (Neil likes them set up five to a pile with the front cover jacket flapped over to the title page, all the better for speedy signing.) Soon rows upon rows of books filled the large conference table. And then lined the window ledges. And also the chairs. And don’t forget the stacks of special editions, carefully piled alongside their boxes ready to be signed. These ones perfectly matched the colour of my shirt. 

By the time we were done at 9.30am we had filled the room. It looked pretty incredible.

Enter Neil Gaiman, who took a laughing stumble back upon being greeted with an Ocean of Oceans. 

After saying hello, Mr Gaiman snapped a few photos to send to twitter for his followers. We had a quick chance to get our own copies of the book dedicated, then got into position for the marathon signing. 

Beau set up a time relay camera to capture the next hour and a half, in which Neil would sign 1300 books with only a small break for a cup of tea and to refill his fountain pen. My role was to make sure the books were ready to be passed on, so I was corner shuffler in The Ocean at the End of the Lane production line. Hi ho.

Check out the video of the super speedy signing here! 

In my role as assistant to Sam, we had to make sure things ran smoothly throughout the day. After a quick trip to collect the food for brunch, I set up the dishes ready for a small gathering of the department staff ready to drink a toast to Ocean. Mr Gaiman thanked his editor, managing director Jane Morpeth, and told us how patient she'd been in regards to the book’s evolution from short story, to oops a bit of a novella, to oh I have appeared to have accidentally written a novel. Sorry! 

It was now nearing midday, so time to hop in a car with Neil and Sam in order to get to the Forbidden Planet ninja signing! This is an event that had minimal promotion, announced by Neil on the day, so only those with quick feet or excellent detective skills would be aware of it in advance. The tweets and Facebook comments were rolling in as we got closer, and the queue was getting longer. But we were stuck in London traffic. That was a particularly surreal pinch me moment, as we discussed the schedule for the rest of the day, and I watched people walk by in the streets without a clue of who was in the car. Neil, as King of social media, tweeted to let everyone know where we were, but the traffic was getting even more congested and ground to a halt. So change of plan, time to run to the shop. Things I learnt: Neil Gaiman is FAST. He disappeared up ahead, and was already stood behind the desk ready to greet people when we made it to the Forbidden Planet. 

Neil was ready to sign another 250 books for his eagerly awaiting fans. I managed the queue at the desk, making sure everyone filled in the gaps and kept moving up the line. We flapped the books and got names on post-its to save time as we only had an hour to get through everybody waiting. There was huge excitement in the line, with people from all around the world who were lucky enough (or dedicated enough) to be nearby. Neil managed to talk to each person, recognising some fans and greeting new fans from young to old. I let people get their photos whilst they waited, but was also keeping an eye out for people trying to sneak in extra books to be signed as there was a strict one book per person rule. As the camera flashes from the rest of the customers behind the barriers kept popping, the ninja signing went lightning quick, and despite the fast pace, everyone in the queue had their moment. 

And with that we were off to the next location, hopping back in the car. With a twenty minute break for lunch, there was just enough time for Sam to check emails and respond to urgent publicity requests, whilst I ran across the street to fetch us some coffee. This was the time to take stock and reflect on the morning, whilst preparing for the afternoon events. 

Next up was a trip to the MagicFM studios, where Neil would be recording a podcast with Empire magazine. After another drive through London, we arrived at the studio and were greeted by the staff. It was fascinating to see all the different stations represented by the people at their desks, plus the tiny recording studio booths in which the interview took place. We could see through the window as the presenters spoke to Neil, but couldn't hear anything. For the publicity team, all there was to do now was keep an eye on emails and wait while the recording was done. 

(At this point, Chris Colfer walked by to record his own interview for a radio book club discussion of The Land of Stories, I met some lovely staff from Atom publishing, and my star struck day doubled. Many many moments of muttering 'what is my life?')

It was now 3.30pm, and as Neil was wrapping up the interview we thanked the staff and headed to location number five. This time it was a BBC World Service book club discussion with Mariella Frostrup, and a Q & A about Neil's novel, American Gods. With an audience of listeners who had had their questions picked, Neil took a break from discussing Ocean and revisited a book that I had read with my friends earlier that year. There was overwhelming demand for Neil to appear on the show, and the audience members had some brilliant questions. It was fascinating to watch the process of the radio show being made, with readings, retakes for sound issues, and some phoned in pre-recorded questions from overseas.

This incredibly interesting discussion wrapped up at 5.30pm, which was when I thought the day would be over. But Sam was able to surprise me with an extra ticket for Neil's highly anticipated sold out theatre event that night, with the Royal Society of Literature. 

We drove to the theatre and went backstage, where I got to listen to Claire Armitstead's sound check before finding my seat with the Headline staff. With wifi in the theatre, the event was being blogged and questions were live tweeted. The theatre filled, the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement. There were people dressed up as Neil’s characters in the audience, some familiar famous faces, and many noses buried within the pages of the book by people who simply couldn’t wait a moment longer. As Neil walked on to stage he was greeted by huge cheers and applause.  

The discussion revolved around Neil’s writing process, which included writing the story for his wife Amanda whilst she was busy recording her album. There was also talk of his ground breaking Sandman comics, writing for Dr Who (did you know that Daleks can't see red?) and his work on books for children like the upcoming middle grade novel, Fortunately, The Milk.

Neil also read an extract from the beginning of Ocean – the same chapter I had been able to read that morning. He discussed the mythology of Ocean and the dedication of his fans. It was an amazing event and I felt incredibly lucky to have been able to attend. 

As Neil headed to a wrap party before catching his flight back to the USA to begin his American tour, I headed home, with my mind truly blown. It was very hard to stop smiling.

Whilst the day was surreal and extraordinary, I still learnt a great deal from Sam about how to run a successful publicity campaign, and how to execute it on the road. Running on adrenaline for most of the day, it is vital to possess the ability to respond to the unexpected. Being friendly and talkative with the client is good, as well as knowing when to give them space and let them catch their breath between appearances. A printed schedule definitely helps to keep on top of the day, but things WILL change. Don’t panic. On the road you get to meet lots of people. The most important thing is to help the client feel as comfortable as possible during a high pressure day. And wear comfortable shoes! 

I had the most amazing time as an intern at Headline and would definitely recommend my fellow publishing students apply for their internship scheme. 

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a gorgeous, dark reflection on the gaps in childhood memory, the hazy recollections and frightening truths that you never knew were hidden from you. A world where grown ups are powerful, scary and in charge. The fantastic flights of imagination that can turn shadows into monsters. And just what, exactly, is in the bucket?

So this is it, the big one. Interning for Headline was an unexpected windfall opportunity, having made a fortuitous contact with publicist extraordinaire Samantha Eades at a Book House signing last December for Eowyn Ivey’s magical novel The Snow Child. Sending her my cover letter and CV, I was incredibly excited to be offered the chance to intern for the Headline Publicity department for an entire month.

On my first day I was ushered up to the sixteenth floor of the Hachette building on Euston Road. Having spent the previous week at the beautiful but compact Hot Key Books office and my internship before that in a little three man office in Oxford, this big skyscraper of an office block was a bit of a shock. It had views! It had glass elevators with no buttons! Swanky.

Along with a fellow intern, I was immediately thrown in at the deep end. Introduced to Publicity Director, Georgina Moore, we were then given a desk, a computer and an email account. OICPS alumni Elaine Egan distributed newspapers and it was time to read through the weekend articles and search for references to any Headline or Tinder Press books in the reviews. Helena Towers was working on a brilliant and far reaching campaign for The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls that had a lot of media coverage, and there were some great mentions for Tanya Byrne’s Follow Me Down. These clippings were collated and scanned for a weekly round-up.

I was able to sit in on a board meeting with the MD to discuss upcoming titles for the season, a highly informative way of learning about how departments interrelate when coming up with effective campaigns. This suddenly made New Product Development make sense, watching everything come together.

As I was lucky enough (ha – who would have thought I’d be saying that?) to be taught InDesign in my first semester at Brookes, Caitlin Raynor gave me the task of designing a press release for Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye. It was very nice to realise that I’d indeed learnt something beneficial in those classes, and to experiment and hone my design skills. These press releases were printed and folded alongside posting out books for review.  My hand soon got well acquainted with the particular ache of stapling 500 or so envelopes a day. Carrying the piles to the post room area was strangely satisfying. I also learnt to do other exciting things like convert Excel spreadsheets into printed labels, and track down editor addresses on Gorkana media coverage.

I was asked to read Peggy Riley’s Amity & Sorrow (a book of which I had picked up a proof from work, but had not yet read). It was incredibly powerful and affecting, a story that refuses to sugar coat, that uses language as an expository force. My task was to design a Pinterest board for Tinder Press, taking pictures and matching them with quotes from the book. Peggy responded very favourably to the board, which might have induced a little happy dance, and I was incredibly proud to work on it.

In my first two weeks I was lucky to meet the wonderful Sophie Lay, my fellow intern and partner in crime. Sophie’s positive and approachable manner meant that I was learning the ropes with a friend. She let me know about some amazing opportunities that were happening in London. Together we went to the Southbank Centre for London Literary Festival’s event with Audrey Niffenegger, my second time meeting the author. This time she was discussing her new illustrated fairy tale for adults, Raven Girl, which I reviewed for MuggleNet.

Sophie also told me all about Stoke Newington Literary Festival. We spent one sunny Saturday distributing programmes, and the following Sunday I was able to FINALLY see Sally Gardner speak at an event for her Costa and Carnegie award winning Maggot Moon. It was really nice to see so many people new to Sally’s work buying books and approaching her for the signing at the end, as well as catch up with Hot Key Books staff. With a free afternoon, I volunteered to help out with the festival and ended up with a ticket to see Caitlin Moran.

Back at Headline, Sophie created a Pinterest board for Silver Linings Playbook author Matthew Quick’s heart stopping new young adult novel, Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock. With a dark plot and plenty of references to film noir and Bogart and Bacall, the visual element was exciting to pin down. I took over completion of the board from Sophie when she left to go back to her full time job, although it felt a bit like looking after someone else’s baby. It was fun to see Matthew’s Little, Brown editor, Alvina Ling, follow the board, showing how internet promotion campaigns can reach across the pond!

We’d also been able to meet Mock the Week’s Hugh Dennis (aka Pete) who came in to sign stock of his book Britty, Britty, Bang Bang. It was interesting to see his editors, cover designer and so on get their copies signed. The following week we repeated the process of boxing up signed stock, this time for football manager, Neil Warnock. These signings coincided with press days, the authors being interview by newspaper and radio journalists. They also made great candidates to be interviewed by Ben Willis for a feature on the Headline website, Men Who Stare At Books.

For the final two weeks I was joined by fellow OICPS student, Clara. Press Officer, Vero Norton gave us copies of The Outline of Love to read, another Tinder Press novel about love, obsession and celebrity. If anyone else has read it, I would be very interested to know who you think of when casting Leo Ford!

One of my tasks was to design posters and showcards, including some for Crimefest authors, some for Kate Humble’s new book, and a couple for a school visit from New York YA author Jennifer E. Smith to promote her new novel This Is What Happy Looks Like. (Which is NOT based on Justin Beiber, but might have a tiny hint of RPattz!) I’d heard of Jen’s books from a John Green video, and was very happy to act as publicity assistant on her trip to a nearby girls’ school. The girls had a great range of questions, and every single person bought one or both of the books. Jen’s first book, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, is soon to be made into a movie, helmed by the director of Milk.

As this was all happening, I also got involved with a project run by Beth Cox. Together with Alexandra Strick, they run Inclusive Minds, which aims to promote equality in children’s literature. Beth asked me to help with proofreading papers for the ‘Diversity, Inclusion and Equality’ edition of Write4Children. I have also joined Inclusive Minds as a content collaborator for the website, reviewing books and reporting on news items such as the launch party for Alex Strick’s Max the Champion.

For the entire month, there were many excited whisperings about The Ocean at the End of the Lane, the new novel by Neil Gaiman. Sam received many requests for interview copies, so my task was often posting out copies for review (being very careful to peel off the ‘book at bedtime’ stickers from each copy until it was announced) and including the press release.

So my final official day was spent with Clara, flapping 1200 books ready to be signed.

And then the thing that deserves a blog post all of its own happened.

GAIMAN DAY.