You don’t have to go to New York to learn about publishing. The Press is always looking for bright minds eager to learn about the field. Previous interns have gone on to work for academic and commercial publishing houses across the country.
Student interns will learn the publishing business from the ground up, from acquiring new works for publication, through ensuring manuscripts are edited and designed properly, to helping books find their way into the hands of readers. Candidates should have a strong interest in publishing as a career. Excellent oral and written communication skills and organizational abilities are essential. Preference will be given to students currently enrolled in one of the universities of the State University System of Florida.
Internship opportunities are available in the departments listed below. Potential applicants should identify which department is the best fit for their interests and skills. Although candidates should apply to only one department per semester, interns with an interest in other departments will have opportunities to become familiar with them.
You can also learn more about careers in university press publishing through some of our publishing symposium panels:
Sign up to our email list to be notified about our publishing symposiums or when internship opportunities are available.
Acquisitions Editorial
The acquisitions editorial department brings projects to the Press by attending conferences, reviewing proposals, and soliciting manuscripts. They consider many factors when deciding whether to publish a book, including subject, quality, and marketability of the work. Acquisitions editors work directly with authors to develop manuscripts and guide projects through peer review. They bring projects to the editorial board for approval, negotiate contract terms with authors, and transmit projects to the production editorial department.
Intern duties include preparing manuscripts for peer review and transmittal, assisting with editorial board meeting facilitation, maintaining the Press database, and attending department meetings. Past interns have read and discussed proposals, as well as conducted conference research, with acquiring editors.
Editorial, Design, and Production (EDP)
The EDP department oversees the progression from manuscript to bound book by managing copyediting, design and typesetting, proofreading, indexing, ebook creation, and printing. Fine attention to detail is critical as EDP staff is responsible for the final quality assurance of all Press books.
Intern duties include copyediting, proofreading, following different style manuals, completing final checks on text and covers, and performing other clerical tasks. Successful candidates will have strong language skills and be extremely detail oriented. Prior editing experience and familiarity with Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat are preferable.
Sales & Marketing
The sales and marketing department spreads the word about our books to readers everywhere. They are responsible for finding, growing, and interacting with an audience for all books published by the Press. They have the most direct interaction with the public.
Marketing intern duties include researching sales and marketing leads, building media lists, writing marketing copy, proofreading advertisements and direct mail pieces, coordinating author Q&As and blog posts, helping plan social media campaigns, assisting with email marketing, and reviewing the appearance of online metadata.
We sometimes also hire a marketing design intern who assists with designing promotional materials in a manner consistent with the Press brand. The marketing design intern helps with the design of advertisements, posters, postcards, brochures, booklets, catalogs, flyers, email newsletters, social media content, and other projects for the sales and marketing department.