My Work Experience at Miles Kelly by Phoebe Bradshaw

My name is Phoebe and I have just finished Year 10.

When I first started thinking about work experience I had no idea where I could go or what I wanted to do, and publishing didn’t even cross my mind until my mum suggested it to me. I liked the idea of publishing because it includes aspects that I enjoy – books and reading. I have enjoyed reading since I was little so I thought that going to Miles Kelly would help me understand what is required to actually create a book.

What have you done this week?
This week I have done many completely new things. For example, I have been introduced to flatplans, Pinterest, InDesign and Americanization. I also did things that were familiar to me like using Excel spreadsheets.

Americanization on Ultimate Guide Dinosaur

What did you enjoy/find most difficult?
I think that what I enjoyed the most was the artist research and gathering reference images for the artists. Doing this helped me learn about the many different styles of images and artwork that can be used in children’s books and how many different artists and images there are to choose from. I found the Americanization most difficult because it required a lot of concentration to make sure that I didn't miss any grammar that needed to be changed or spellings that are different to English.

Atlas research First Atlas

What have you learnt?
This week I have learnt many different, new skills including how to use an Apple iMac, which was completely new to me at the beginning of this week. I have also learnt about the amount of work the goes into creating and selling a children’s book. For example, I learnt that even after the book has been finished and sold in the UK there is sometimes still more work to be done it if it is being changed into another language or is being updated.

Did your week meet your expectations of children’s publishing?
When I came into the office on Monday I really had no idea about what I was gong to be dong all week. I certainly did not expect to be doing some of the things I have done, like mailing sample books to Spain and Germany, or working in Photoshop to create layers on covers.

Has your week at Miles Kelly influenced your possible career choices for the future?
Definitely, I have really enjoyed my week here and it has given me an option for a future career path that I will not rule out when thinking about colleges that I want to go to next year.