Princeton University Press’s Publishing Fellowship was created in 2021 to expand access to publishing careers and address a lack of diversity across the industry. The fellowship grew out of the Press-wide Equity and Inclusion strategic initiative launched in 2018 and is purposefully designed for individuals with no prior publishing experience. Every year, the program supports two fellows annually in full-time, salaried positions where they are supervised and mentored by hosts in their respective departments and are offered many meaningful opportunities to engage with colleagues across the Press.
In July 2023, Faye Akpalu (Marketing and Sales, UK) and Jon Kriney (Digital Production, US) were welcomed to the press as our third-year Publishing Fellows. They recently sat with Akhil Jonnalagadda, second-year PUP Publishing fellow and program coordinator of PUP Speaks, to share more about themselves and reflect on their experiences thus far.
AJ: Tell us a little about yourself! How did you become interested in publishing?
FA: Prior to joining Princeton University Press, I worked within the public sector as a civil servant. I became curious about publishing and took the plunge by self-publishing my own children’s picture book in full color while having no idea about the publishing process. Although I experienced some setbacks and errors in the printed book, I thoroughly enjoyed the process and was intrigued to know more about book publishing. I then joined a mentorship scheme run by SYP to enhance my chances of finding work in this wonderful industry. My lovely mentor sent over the PUP application, and we both unanimously agreed that this fellowship would be the one for me. I was very interested in the work the Press does and wanted to be part of its mission as it aligned with my values and my curiosity to know more about the stages of a book’s life in relation to academia.
JK: I live in Philadelphia and graduated from Swarthmore College with a major in Architectural Studies. Prior to working at PUP, I worked as a web accessibility consultant, as an architectural preservationist in Philadelphia parks, and as an architectural history educator and exhibition assistant at Shofuso, a Japanese house and garden in West Fairmount Park. To be honest, I never considered a job in publishing before seeing the application for this fellowship. It was the application itself that made me interested in the industry: I can happily describe many stories, books, and narratives that have deeply impacted me, and being a part of publishing books that may have a similar impact on people is a natural extension of that care. Just writing the application helped me realize that the most important things I’ve done in life were about uplifting, amplifying, and preserving stories that deserve to be heard—in essence, publishing!
AJ: How would you describe your fellowship role? What does a typical day look like for you?
FA: On a typical day, I’m immersed in the day-to-day process of how PUP Speaks (the press’ in-house speaking agency) runs, working with an incredible team mentored and managed by Katie Stileman. I communicate with event hosts to understand their requirements, suggest relevant speakers, arrange author travel, create pitches, and negotiate terms for speaker events. Additionally, I research new event partners and promote PUP Speaks through regular newsletters.
Another important part of my fellowship is working closely with the impressive Special Sales & Grassroots Marketing team under the supervision of the Senior Reference Marketing Manager Barbara Tonetti. I work on researching contacts and developing PUP’s Common Reading program. This involves discovering new audiences and learning about new ways to gather exhaustive data on existing common-reading programs in North American institutions of higher education. Based on the data I find, I execute outreach campaigns to potential program partners.
JK: My role is to assist our wonderful Digital Production department in producing all PUP e-books, mentored and supervised by our Digital Production Manager Eileen Reilly. I’m still learning all the ins-and-outs of all the hard work they do, but I’ve been specializing in improving and increasing our production of fully accessible e-books, which they already had been working towards for years. I am honored to be able to help them realize that goal even more fully.
I don’t have a very “typical” day, as working on accessibility in digital production spans a lot of the publishing process. You can find me writing alt-text for an upcoming book, in an XML editor working in the guts of an .epub file, researching and learning about new ways to apply accessibility and disability justice to publishing work, poring through an exciting title to ensure that the final digital version works for our readers, or collaborating with others across the press to figure out how to best improve accessibility in all our operations and initiatives.
AJ: What does working toward equity and inclusion in publishing look like to you?
FA: Removing bias from the recruiting process, diversifying the workforce, and taking steps to attract diverse editors, authors, and reviewers. The world of books can only truly thrive where there is equity and inclusivity at every level.
JK: From my little corner of focusing on accessibility in publishing, I know that this work is a fundamental part of equity and inclusion work and that it intersects with all other facets of that work. Making something accessible for even just a single person will always improve it for all, which is a core edict of equity and inclusion in general. For instance, it’s common to think that alternative text image descriptions are just for people with visual impairments—however, it means that when anyone’s device or internet connection can’t load an image, that valuable visual information can still be received. Additionally, collaboration and solidarity between all is necessary for equity and inclusion work, and that is clear in the wide range of people I’m required to interact with while doing my job.
AJ: How has the fellowship experience aligned with your future goals, in publishing or otherwise?
FA: The fellowship has broadened my horizons, and it has given me a better understanding of my strengths within publishing. I’m clued in on the publishing jargon, and my team has helped identify ways in which I can develop my skills. I’ve also been provided resources, networking opportunities, and advice on how to connect with professionals in publishing.
JK: I’ve always cared about building and sharing stories, and this fellowship is offering me a unique perspective on the work that goes into doing that on a large scale. I know that professionally published books are far from the only way to share and distribute important knowledge—in fact, they are often some of the least accessible ways of accomplishing that. However, learning how to work with others to collectively push an industry as hefty as academic publishing towards accessibility, equity, and inclusion has really improved my ability to share knowledge, and it’s also meaningful to witness the inertia of academic publishing actually giving way. I’m still not sure what I want to do when I grow up, but I know that producing and sharing stories will always be a part of it, and this fellowship is giving me skills to do that effectively and collaboratively. I am deeply grateful to the people at PUP who are helping me learn those skills and who have been pushing for years already, most notably those in the Digital Production department.
AJ: What’s something that has surprised you about PUP or academic publishing in general?
FA: It’s a very collaborative industry, and everyone is so welcoming and supportive. It helped me recognize that there is a wide range of job roles that exist in publishing and that there is scope to move around and learn about the different types of work at PUP and what each entail. One thing I admire (and that surprised me) about PUP is that the press does actively seek to amplify diverse voices of those who have been historically marginalized and publish stories that may otherwise remain unheard.
JK: Putting books out into the world is very collaborative and detailed work! It’s easy to think of publishing as just an editorial process, but there is so, so much more interesting work that goes into sharing books with the world. Publishing requires people across all disciplines and skillsets to combine their knowledge, especially given the wide range of subjects and materials that PUP publishes. For instance, I had never considered the huge amount of work that goes into publishing an accessible digital field guide or those beautifully composed art books that I’ve always cherished. I hope I don’t offend anyone in the press by saying this… but I was surprised to find that even book contracts and copyrighting is fascinating.
AJ: What’s one thing you’d like people who are considering applying to the fellowship or otherwise entering academic publishing to know?
FA: Make the most of the opportunity, interact with people outside your department, and set up meetings with colleagues from departments you may later want to work in to get an idea of what they do on a day-to-day basis. Network and engage with professionals all across academic publishing.
JK: Diverse perspectives and insights are so valuable in making academic publishing something that works for everybody, which you, applicant, may know hasn’t historically been the case. Even in my application and interview, I was honest about my trepidation to become involved in academic publishing, which I considered to be intentionally inaccessible, exclusive, and opaque. However, I was assured that PUP was working to undo that concept, and I’m happy to report that this was accurate. I’ve found that there are so many people doing the hard work to undo academic publishing’s rather ugly history, which warms a heart that really cares about making academic knowledge open to all.