Princeton University Press (PUP) Publishing Fellowship, an initiative launched in January of 2021 aimed at addressing a lack of diverse representation across the publishing industry, is collecting applications for second year fellows. The application is open from January 7 to January 31, 2022, and the fellowship will run from July 5, 2022 to June 30, 2023. Selected applicants will be notified no later than March 14, 2022.

The Publishing Fellowship is a full-time, salaried position, which includes benefits and a relocation stipend (if applicable). Fellows will be supervised and mentored by hosts in the Press’s Princeton, New Jersey office, and will have the option of working remotely or in office (vaccine and testing mandates currently in place per University safety protocols), as PUP is a staff-choice hybrid organization.  The fellows will collaborate in either the acquisitions editorial department or in the digital marketing team, on Ideas, the Press’s original content blog.

The world of books and ideas can truly thrive only when there is diversity and inclusivity of voices—at every stage of the publishing process. Recent changes in the representation of industry leadership, in trade and scholarly publishing alike, are inspiring. But statistics reported by The Publishers Association (UK) and the Lee & Low The Diversity Baseline Survey make acutely clear the need for ambitious and purposeful industry transformation. As the Lee & Low Survey notes, “Until we start to care about equity, we will not make progress, and any gains the industry makes will continue to not be statistically significant.” 

The Princeton University Press Fellowship, funded to run for five years, is designed for individuals with no prior publishing experience, who are from communities historically underrepresented within US publishing, which Lee & Low data shows to be a majority white, straight, cis gendered, and non-disabled industry. Applicants from a diversity of educational backgrounds are encouraged to apply; in keeping with the intentions of creating opportunities with the fellowship, we are not accepting applicants with advanced degrees. 

The perks of being a PUP Fellow!

• Full-time employment (37.5/hours a week) with equivalent annual compensation (current salary $40,000) for a PUP entry-level role with comprehensive benefits (e.g., medical, dental, vision, paid time off).
• Participation in an organization that is committed to learning, collaborating, and empowering staff, and mission driven impact.
• An immersive training in nonfiction publishing — trade, textbook, scholarly, digital, and audio, inclusive of publishing processes and systems.
• Empowerment of fellows with meaningful employment and industry education to successfully pursue careers in publishing. 
• Opportunities to learn from a variety of departments and meet with staff throughout the Press’s global teams (US, Europe, China)
• Professional development workshops to support the acquisition of skills useful to pursuing future careers in publishing, scholarly communications, academia, or other writing-related fields.
• Opportunity to attend meetings to gain insight into editorial, marketing, design, and sales-related decision-making processes.
• Supervisors who act as mentors, providing support and advice, and who work to further the fellow’s appreciation and understanding of academic publishing.
• Mentoring and early career coaching, including job-search support (e.g., application material review, interview guidance).
• Alumni cohort opportunity post-fellowship (e.g., involvement with fellowship selection for year 3 fellows)
• A relocation stipend of up to $3000 will be provided at the appropriate time to help with moving expenses for fellows who choose to be on-site.
• To learn more about the PUP fellowship experience, ideas, and inspiration from the inaugural fellows can be read about at https://press.princeton.edu/ideas/ideas-and-inspiration-from-princeton-university-presss-inaugural-fellows

Department Fellowship Descriptions for July 5, 2022 – June 30, 2023

The Digital Content Fellow will work with the Curator of Ideas and Content Partnerships (COI). Ideas is the Princeton University Press online magazine, which also features the Ideas Podcast. The Fellow will proofread articles, edit bespoke and organic podcast transcripts, research cross-posting opportunities, select and format paperback excerpts to help us elevate the trade paperback program, and enter preliminary Ideas plans into Biblio (the PUP bibliographic database) following seasonal product launch and edit plans as needed following subsequent marketing planning meetings. Additionally, the Fellow will support efforts to expand backlist promotion on Ideas by searching for trending social media topics and using the PUP keyword and book database to identify potential authors / subject matter experts. The Fellow is also invited to curate original content for a new Ideas feature focused on early career, underrepresented scholars.

The Editorial Fellow will focus on author and press relations and will also receive training in the editorial assistant position. In close collaboration with a senior editor, the fellow will lead new projects focused on community building among PUP authors and on communication within the press about departmental work. Through research, brainstorming with press colleagues, and outreach to PUP authors and to the larger university press community, the fellow will help design new initiatives that provide support and community to Princeton authors (including, for instance, the creation of writing groups or writing workshops for authors) and that share editorial developments within the press (including, for instance, internal newsletters and organization of presentations). The fellow will also gain full experience in the editorial assistant position at the Press and will work with editors across subject areas within the department

• No prior publishing experience.
• Must be at least 18 years old and a US citizen or permanent resident.
• Preference will be given to individuals who are lawfully eligible to work in the United States without employer sponsorship and have never worked in publishing. PUP strongly encourages applications from individuals who will contribute to increasing representation, and diversity of thought and experience within the publishing industry.
• A minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent required. An undergraduate degree is not required.  Advanced degrees are not accepted given the intentions of the fellowship to create new opportunities.
• Basic familiarity and proficiency with Microsoft Office suite and comfort with internet research.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to multi-task and prioritize tasks
• Comfortable interacting with a diversity of individuals, internally and externally, and by Zoom and in-person (if applicable)
• Natural curiosity and ability to ask questions in a learning environment
• Excellent writing skills and strong editorial judgement, the ability to multi-task, and be detail-oriented.
• Strong written and oral communication skills for professional email correspondence

Application Instructions

Applications will only be accepted via PUP’s application website.

To complete an application, include written responses to the following questions:

• Tell us what you hope to learn about publishing and workplace experience in this fellowship?  (replies can be as broad or specific as you’d like).
• Share with us a story, or book, or another form of narrative that has meaning to you, and why?
• Please tell us something you feel is important for your colleagues to know about you?

Submit written responses to the above questions via a WORD or PDF document by uploading to the application website in the "resume" section, which it's required to upload a document to complete the application. Note that the question responses are the only requirement to submit an application. Please do not submit additional documents (e.g. personal statement, resume, recommendation letters).

Questions or problems with applications may be sent to resumes@press.princeton.edu

The deadline for applications is Monday, January 31, 2022 at 11:59PM EST.

Selected applicants will be notified no later than March 14, 2022.

Due to application volume, only finalists will be contacted. For more information on Princeton University Press, visit http://press.princeton.edu/.

EOE/AA/M/F/D/V

Princeton University Press is an equal opportunity employer and employs individuals based on their abilities. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.