So, what do you think of Kate Middleton?

Strangers in America have been approaching me with this question for some time now (mainly in supermarkets and banks in case you were wondering).

In the beginning I used to reply with the truth: ‘I’m sorry I don’t know her’. But I soon realised this could be perceived as quite rude.

I therefore have lately changed tack and have begun trying to draw out a longer answer, ‘ummm yeah I’m not really that into the royal family I’m afraid but ummm yeah she seems fine and everyone in England gets a bank holiday so that’s cool’.

At this point most excited-American-strangers look a bit disappointed. I think they were expecting a bit more from my English accent, something along the lines of me jumping up and down and demanding champagne to toast the happy couple there and then.

Most excited-American-strangers then try and prompt me to respond more adequately by reiterating how excited I should be: ‘but the big days getting close isn’t it, surely you’re excited?’/ ‘do we know who is designing her dress yet, surely you’re excited?!’

I regretfully shrug: ‘I’m sorry I really don’t care’

Nine times out of ten the excited-American-stranger is seriously confused by now, ‘but Kate is the biggest thing since Diana, surely you care?’

At this point I tend to start shuffling slowly away sometimes calling apologetically behind me ‘she does have really nice hair though!’

Rain, Rain, Go Away.....................pretty please?!

So the weather reports for the San Francisco area this weekend are rainy and bleak (again), and last night there was even a flash flood warning in San Mateo County.

Having jumped on a plane and crossed the Atlantic to do an internship in sunny California (with a suitcase full of summery clothes and several pairs of sunglasses in tow I might add), I have to admit I’m beginning to feel a little disgruntled by all this weather malarkey.

My dreams of strolling around Golden Gate Park and aimlessly wandering around the city in the sunshine seem to be slowly fading away. Ok I'm exaggerating here, but they've certainly been put on hold. 

The irony being of course that England at the moment appears to be having somewhat of a small heat wave I hear. Ok so again I'm exaggerating but last weekend I spoke to my London-based boyfriend who was just on his way out to celebrate a friend's birthday with a BBQ in the park. Pardon? I looked out of my window at the torrential rain and sighed. I then tried to get hold of my parents but I later found out they'd been too busy cleaning and sorting out the garden furniture.

But it’s not all doom and gloom as Jeevan is making admirable attempts to drown me in book recommendations, so at least I have something to do until the sun comes out!

Author Day

Followed Bill George and Doug Baker through their author day today as they had a whistle-stop tour of the editorial/production/digital communications and marketing/publicity team.

It had been a 9am start and I had to admit defeat at 6pm and head home.

Good day, got some good information, received some good feedback but now I feel like I have to sleep for about 10 years to recover. Good night.

How many BK employees does it take to change a desktop screen?

The answer is about four, but it was well worth the effort as now my mac has a lovely picture of my cat ‘Fluff’ grinning out from the screen, and I’m at least some way on track towards personalising my office desk (as I’ve been ordered to do).

In other news I had a fun morning researching a book proposal I liked the look of. Jeevan wasn’t that keen, but I saw real potential in it so he encouraged me to do some more work on it. This consisted of reading through the author’s sample chapters, researching her businesses online and eventually speaking to her on the phone for 40mins. I still haven’t decided exactly how I feel about it yet, but if I want to discuss it with anyone further Jeevan is happy for me to arrange a meeting with his boss....so watch this space. However, even if it goes nowhere it’s been a fun experience to have my own project for the day.   

"Observing" Publication Board Meetings

This week I attended my first Publication Board Meeting at Berrett-Koehler.

PBMs are where the editorial team pitch potential publications to other departments (marketing, publicity, production etc), encouraging feedback/discussion from the group before then inviting everyone in the company to vote on whether the project should go ahead or not.   

I was observing the discussion and noting down questions to ask my mentor afterwards: some publishing related (such as, what’s a best seller marketing campaign?), and some just American-related (why do the chocolate biscuits being passed around have peanut butter inside?)

Anyway, I was enjoying listening into the meeting until my mentor, during the break, shouted across the room (Twiglets in hand, of course) ‘Holly you need to get involved’.

Ummmm................but I’m just an intern?

I told him I’d been making notes and observing how the meeting was structured, but apparently he didn’t care.

I had thought the role of an intern at a big company meeting was to sit there and learn, i.e. to be seen and not heard. Apparently this is not the case for BK interns, who are not only encouraged but expected to participate in the meetings.

This was interesting as I had actually held myself back from voicing my opinion on a title choice earlier in the meeting, for fear my participation would be a bit odd. This was especially so as I was sat next to Steve Piersanti, President of BK, when I myself had currently not even completed two full days in the office yet.   

Having had this cleared up, however, I did tentatively make one comment in the second half of the meeting, which is something I’ll just have to get used to doing more frequently from now on.

As an intern I have found it is sometimes almost too easy to sit back, take the easy route and not get too involved with any of the company’s proceedings. This means you have a relaxed placement, but also that you don’t necessarily gain as much from the opportunity as you could perhaps if you were pushed to get more involved.  

It is therefore quite refreshing to find that at BK the hands-off approach does not really appear to be an option.       

First day as a Berrett-Koehler intern...

I was welcomed into the building and immediately headed for Jeevan’s office, where he showed me the photo of his cross-eyed cat hanging lovingly on the wall and introduced me to the collection of toys scattered on my desk, left by previous interns. I also laughed (a lot) at Jeevan’s crate of Twiglets he ordered off Amazon, while in turn Jeevan spent some time looking up Guernsey online – laughing, calling it ‘magical’ and asking if the Island had unicorns.   

Formalities over with, Jeevan immediately threw me off guard by asking what I wanted to gain from my placement, and taking notes as I spoke. This was impressive as companies today often equate interns to free labour (someone to photocopy/run around taking lunch orders and doing little else). I was reassured that Jeevan was taking the time right at  the beginning to find out what I wanted to gain in return for giving up my spare time. Internships are about give and take, and it was good to know that BK recognises this.

Highlight of the day: reviewed my first book proposal, decided it was no good and drafted a rejection email (the author was in the UK so I couldn’t phone them). Having never reviewed a proposal before or observed how BK rejects authors, I was surprised that Jeevan did not want to review the email himself (I had been anticipating a lot of re-writing), and instead just told me to cc him in. It turns out I’d done a good job but had perhaps been a little too harsh in the last paragraph. This level of responsibility on my first day was both very exciting and a bit terrifying, but certainly bodes well for the tasks I’ll be allowed to undertake further into my internship.