Testimonials of Summer Interns

Want to know what past interns have said about their summer internships at Random House? Click on the appropriate link below or simply scroll down to read excerpts from past essay projects.

For a general observation about life as a Random House intern, click here. To learn about how you may work in their respective areas of specialization, click on one of the following: Editorial, Marketing, Publicity, Children's, Random House Audio, Information Technology. This is a representative sampling of the enormous diversity of opportunities available in creative and business capacities.

General

Few people get to have the once in a lifetime internship experience like I did at Random House.  Not only did I gain true knowledge of the book publishing world, but I was surrounded by people who are truly passionate about their jobs.  Random House truly nurtured the process of learning about the industry, through weekly luncheon seminars, and by actually being immersed in a hard-working environment.  Coming back to school, I don’t think anyone I’ve come in contact with had quite the same summer experience that I did.
I worked with amazing people at Random House.  I loved my division, and my supervisor.  It was really wonderful to be surrounded by people who loved their jobs.  I relished coming into work every day.  Not only did I learn so much about the book publishing industry, but I also learned how a business runs.  This hands-on knowledge was invaluable – and has really shaped my senior year in college in unexpected ways.
Furthermore, I also got to meet an amazing group of people – especially amongst the intern group.  I shared an office with two other interns, and the memories we made learning, experiencing, and laughing together were amazing.  I really hope that my future work environment mirrors the summer I spent at Random House.

It's lunchtime and I'm sitting on a bench in Central Park, watching. A small jazz band, having finished setting up in the shade, is playing some lively tunes. A sudden breeze lifts my bangs off my face, quelling, for just a moment, the blanketing heat of summer.

A young woman is lounging next to the four-sided fountain enjoying the odd drops of cool water that ricochet off the stone. She is wearing a black shirt and a white blouse; the remains of a sandwich on top of a crumpled paper bag make it clear that she is also on her lunch break. She is reading a paperback copy of SEABISCUIT. A fuzzy sensation of pride runs through my stomach, filling me more than the apple I just munched to the core. "Yeah," I think to myself, "that's one of ours."

I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that I am working in a place where books get made. Where they are really created. A manuscript has to go pretty far before it can become a book; a book has to go pretty far before it can become a bestseller. And books have become such a way of life for me and for so many people that I see on the street that it can be difficult to imagine the sheer amount of work that has gone into every single page of every single book that I pick up and glance at while at the local Borders.

My first assignments in those first two weeks were reading manuscripts and writing brief opinion pieces on them (whether I liked or disliked them), and photocopying. Photocopying remains one of the tasks that I do quite regularly. I actually didn't mind it, because I was allowed to make an extra copy of the manuscripts for my own enjoyment. In the middle of my third week, I moved up to writing rejection letters. This was a task that I came to enjoy, especially because it gave me the chance to read more manuscripts.

Working with an editorial staff is one of the best spots you can be assigned to for many reasons. You will be exposed to the entire book publishing process through working in editorial. You will learn about marketing, sales, publicity, production, as well as editorial and what components a project needs to possess to get off the ground and become a book. Editors track their projects from proposal to final product and as an editorial intern, you too will be able to experience this exciting process.

Marketing is grounded primarily in creativity and practical problem solving. It is about determining to whom a book speaks and helping to create a package that will attract that audience in every sense. At the same time, it is about giving the Sales Department what they will need to sell the book. Marketing is broadly about building "buzz," generating demand for a book by actually getting people to read it and talk about it with their friends and colleagues. Specifically, this means promotional campaigns, bookstore displays, pre-publication copies for booksellers and promotional direct customers, internet advertisements and anything else that might help build interest in a book. As my supervisor mentioned when he interviewed me, marketing touches a little on everything.

One may think that publicity is all glitz and glamour; the art of convincing the public to read a book, watch a television show, buy a product, go to a tropical island. That it entails attending fabulous parties at posh restaurants and venues, receiving gifts and extreme recognition from great minds and famous icons. At least that is what I thought - boy was I wrong! Granted these great qualities do exist, however, the amount of work that actually goes into the final production is unfathomable. All jokes aside, I actually was able to use my creativity to develop a beautiful piece of publicity that could potentially influence a person to go and see the author or buy their book. When the finished product came back from the printer, I had the most amazing feeling; I had contributed to the extraneous process each publicist must go through for every author.

I have always loved children's literature. As an actual child, and now as a very old 21-year-old child, my favorite section of the bookstore or the library has always been the children's section. What's not to love about great stories, fabulous pictures and always feeling young? So, when I told my friends I'd be interning at Random House in the editorial department of their Books for Young readers, everyone laughed, yet no one was surprised. "What are you going to do?" they'd scoff, "read kids' books all day?" And as I was going to find out, pretty much, yeah.

"Is that where the ball drops?" and "No, not the sandwich shop, that's what they call their train," is all I hear, elbowing my way through Times Square in the early afternoon. Video cameras, fanny packs and sun visors are in no shortage and the average walking speed is close to that of a tortoise. But here I am, pushing my way through tourists, on my way to the Today Show to deliver one of the most venerated, precious items in today's society: The Harry Potter V audio books. Yes indeed, I do feel quite sanctified to be the chosen one to do this important task. How did I get this so sought-after position you ask? Honestly, I was the only employee that Random House Audio could convince to walk thirty blocks in the ninety-four degree heat. And so it is me, toting five boxes (twenty-three CDs in each) of the story, and five boxes of the cassette version (seventeen cassettes in each), in my very chic Charlotte's Web Promotional Canvas Tote Bag.

The next morning a rush of excitement surges through me when we all watch the special on children's toys on the Today Show. "I delivered those!" I say as I point to the boxes in the corner of the screen. My co-workers giggle and try to look impressed as they see my excited face staring at the TV. And I am excited, because as minor as it was, this task made me feel like a part of Random House. They trusted me with something important, and that trust greatly adds to my internship experience, making me feel valued here.

As I walked into the tech room for the first time, I did not know what to expect. I was excited, scared, nervous, and eager to start, all at once. I was tearing myself apart with my own nagging questions: Would I be accepted by the other technicians? Would my troubleshooting skills be adequate? What would I be troubleshooting? How much responsibility would I receive? Little did I know that all these questions would soon be the least of my worries. The acceptance of the technicians would be easily achieved. Rather, obtaining the acceptance of the users, the operators of the computers, would be my goal.

The "users" to the technicians are a unique breed of individuals. These beings have an ability distinct to their species: they have the capability to break anything. And as soon as you doubt this unique capability of the users, they will prove themselves all over again. However, this unique ability by the users does not in anyway connote that technicians have animosity towards them. If anything, this is the quality that technicians most endear in the user. For one thing, it is the only attribute that preserves the technicians' employment. One would be surprised to hear the anecdotes, or, more suitably, urban legends, that each technician recounts of their various support calls. A word of advice to those who do not want to become part of one of the technician's stories: try not to break four keyboards in a span of one week. This is not the way to get on a technician's good side.