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Children’s Books North has doubled the number of places available on its 2024 mentor scheme for aspiring publishing professionals in the North and Scotland.
In its fourth year, the scheme now offers 12 places for mentees to work on a one-to-one basis with mentors to demystify the industry. It is designed for anyone looking to begin a career in children’s publishing and agenting, and no previous experience is required. For the first time, the scheme also covers sales, marketing, production and agenting.
Freelance designer Sarah Andrews and editor Claire Philip are among 12 mentors taking part in the scheme this year, alongside The Bright Agency’s Susan Penny and Hachette Children’s Group editors Emma Layfield, Jonny Leighton and Laura Horsley.
Mentees will be offered an introductory meeting followed by three one-hour sessions that will cover topics including CVs and social media presence, as well as the importance of networking, and what to expect with interviews and assistant roles. At the end of the scheme, mentees will be put in touch with each other, giving them the opportunity to form a support network.
Applications are now open to anyone living in the North West, North East, Yorkshire or Scotland, and close on Sunday 14th April.
“CBN’s mentoring scheme has been such a fabulous initiative to be a part of,” said Pilar Riaza, who was a mentee in 2023. “It’s been inspiring, challenging and most of all great fun! I got to expand my network by attending great events and built my online presence. I’m especially grateful to my mentor who was incredibly supportive and boosted my confidence to land a job in the children’s publishing industry as rights assistant at Hachette Children’s Group.”
Joanne Ruffell, who completed the mentorship scheme in 2022, added: “Without the CBN mentoring scheme, I’m convinced I wouldn’t have gained a place on Orion’s Virtual Internship Scheme which in turn helped me to secure my current position at Mslexia, a literary magazine for women writers. It’s things like this that open doors and I’m so grateful to the team at CBN for guiding me as I made a career change from teaching to publishing.”