PPC opens second round of mentoring scheme

The Publishers’ Publicity Circle (PPC) has launched the second year of its mentoring scheme, which this year has expanded to publicists of all levels and will start in January 2018.

In the scheme's pilot year, in 2017, the PPC enlisted five mentors with broad campaign experience, matching each with a junior publicist to meet four times a year.

Now, for 2018's scheme, the PPC is expanding its offering to eight mentors, right up to director level, so that it can offer the opportunity to both junior and mid-level publicists. According to the PPC, from campaign planning to refining career and personal development skills, the aim is to give each mentee the chance to advance their knowledge and help them reach their full potential.

Applications are now open and PPC members are invited to apply via the PPC website before the deadline sate of Monday 4th December. Successful applicants will be matched with their mentor by the end of December ready to start the scheme in January 2018.

Hannah Ross, PPC chair, commented: "The pilot year of our mentoring scheme has been so successful that we are now expanding the number of mentors from five to eight. We have had strong support across the industry from experienced publicists – including directors – who are keen to take on a mentor role. The scheme is a fantastic way for more junior publicists to gain valuable insight and support from experienced publicists outside of their organisation and this is the only scheme of its kind for book publicists. We are delighted that with an increase in mentors we can offer more junior publicists the chance to benefit from this scheme."

Georgina Moore, mentor and publicity director at Tinder Street Press, expressed her support for the scheme. She commented: "I am thrilled to be part of the PPC Mentoring scheme. Everyone in the industry knows what a big difference a passionate, dedicated and creative publicist can make to the fortunes of a book. If you look at recent huge titles from The Essex Serpent to Girl on The Train, the PR campaigns have driven so many sales. Now more than ever it is important to keep talent in publicity, to nurture it and help it advance.

"Publicists face new challenges every day, from magazines folding, less print opportunities, decreasing space on the books pages. As a result more creativity is required from enterprising publicists and creativity means finding time for bold thinking in the midst of juggling many titles. As discoverability becomes front and centre of publishing, publicists need support, appreciation and respect to make book campaigns unmissable."