Since we had so much fun writing about internships for the literary minded yesterday, we’re going to do it again today. If you are a book lover, the type who entered his or her college’s book collection contest – the type who has a multi-page Amazon wishlist (yes, I linked to mine so you can buy me a gift), then an internship in publishing is quite possibly a dream come true. Penguin Group offers internships year round, but they make the information about their internships a bit hard to find. We’ve dug up all we can find, so that you don’t have to wander around their site looking for information on how to apply.
In case you’re unaware, Penguin Group is a major publishing house. Their roster of authors includes Dorothy Allison, Nevada Barr, Saul Bellow, A. Scott Berg, Maeve Binchy, Harold Bloom, Sylvia Browne, Tom Clancy, Robin Cook, Patricia Cornwell, Catherine Coulter, Clive Cussler, Eric Jerome Dickey, Richard Paul Evans, Helen Fielding, Ken Follett, Sue Grafton, W. E. B. Griffin, Nick Hornby, the Dalai Lama, Spencer Johnson, Jan Karon, Anne Lamott, James McBride, Terry McMillan, Arthur Miller, Jacqueline Mitchard, Toni Morrison, Kathleen Norris, Joyce Carol Oates, Robert B. Parker, Nora Roberts, John Sandford, Carol Shields, John Steinbeck, Amy Tan, and Kurt Vonnegut. That’s impressive. If you haven’t quite advanced to those names yet, you should also know that they published The Little Engine That Could and the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series.
Penguin Group offers Fall internships, as well as Spring and Summer internships. Fall and Spring interns are expected to work 14 hours per week for 10 weeks, while Summer interns work 28 hours per week. In 2006 Penguin Group’s internships were recognized by Seventeen Magazine as one of the 17 best internships in the country! Too bad they didn’t make it to Marie Claire’s 7 Most Coveted Summer Internships this year. Penguin’s internships are paid, and they’re offered in a number of business areas: contracts, editorial, graphic design, managing editorial, marketing, production, publicity, sales, subsidiary rights, and operations. Penguin has a Brown Bag lunch program that provides networking opportunities for interns, so that they can get a broader perspective of the company than just the business area in which they’re working.
If you want to intern in Penguin Group’s New York, NY office this fall, send in a cover letter and resume by 8/15 (Spring deadline is 1/15 and Summer deadline is 2/28). You should send all of your application materials to jobs@us.penguingroup.com. You can find more information about Penguin’s internships on their Contact page (yes, their contact page).
Links to Help You Begin Your Research
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Tags: design, editing, editorial, Internships, law, marketing, New York, operations, paid, production, sales
Hi!
thanks for the information…i was wandering if you had any idea of what penguin would be looking for in their cover letter? I’m an australian student, looking to come to NY for experience in publishing (therefore anything paid draws my interest), but don’t really know what they’re looking for.
Would you be able to help me out?
Tharaha
HI Tharaha,
Your cover letter should be all about you and why you’re a good fit for an internship with Penguin. It’s not about telling them what they want to hear. It’s about selling yourself. Do some research on Penguin, and then work what you know about them into how you present your strengths.
One thing that may get in your way is the fact that you’re from abroad. I’m not sure what the rules are about international interns, but it may cause some issues for you – especially if you’re not a student in the US.
This article may be a good starting point for figuring out what you need to do to make sure that you can come to America to intern: http://www.onedayonejob.com/blog/online-job-search-tips-for-international-students/