Internship Opportunities

For Undergraduates

Are you interested in a career in publishing? Would you like to learn more about scholarly writing and peer review? Consider an internship at Vanderbilt University Press.

Interns at VU Press will gain exposure to all stages of book publication. The intern’s primary responsibilities support the editorial, design, and production (EDP) department by assisting with editorial tasks such as formatting manuscript documents and reviewing page proofs. Additional responsibilities include working with the marketing department—possible tasks include updating the Press website, curating content for the Press’s social media accounts, and shipping books to authors, reviewers, and others as needed—and supporting the acquisitions department by helping with the preparation of editorial board review documents and reader review queries and packets. Interns will gain familiarity with general publishing processes, in-depth experience with The Chicago Manual of Style, and the opportunity to participate in book cover reviews, project pitches and transmittals, and marketing plan discussions.

Apply through the portal here: https://vanderbilt.studentemployment.ngwebsolutions.com

For Graduate Students

Jointly supported by the College of Arts and Science and the Office of the Provost, the Graduate Fellow in Scholarly Publishing obtains an invaluable in-depth, comprehensive introduction to the university press and its role in academic knowledge production. Designed as a twelve-month appointment, the fellow will gain familiarity with the operations of the publishing house and goals of the university press in the context of the larger campus community; have access to the acquisitions, editorial, and marketing staff, who possess expertise in scholarly communications and the state of scholarship across many disciplines; and enjoy a mentored team environment in which to build analytical skills that will be useful across many career trajectories. Students are expected to make progress on their dissertation while working at VUP; the opportunity is designed to approximate typical assistantship time commitments and responsibilities.

Eligibility: Any rising fifth-year PhD student in good standing with an academic interest in one of the fields in which VUP publishes. The application period opens in spring semester.

Principal responsibilities:

• Assist acquisitions in evaluating projects at the proposal phase and do additional research projects for them and director as needed. Learn the best practices of peer review and support efforts to secure appropriate readers for manuscripts under consideration.

• Work with the editorial department to learn the basics of The Chicago Manual of Style and help with proof corrections, file prep, and indexing. This can be tailored to the subject specialty of the student if it is relevant to VUP titles.

• Participate in the preparation of digital book records and images for distribution to the book industry, Amazon, etc. Research and prepare lists of book reviewers at scholarly, library, and mainstream media.