Immersive experience for Usborne Academy students

Our Usborne Academy week 2022 kicked off in style as nine year 12 and 13 students from schools across London joined us during their half-term holiday to experience an immersive children’s publishing experience. The Usborne Academy is an opportunity for young people from groups currently under-represented in publishing to spend a week at Usborne and experience daily life in a range of different departments including editorial, design, marketing, sales, production and rights. 

The nine students came from Access Aspiration partner schools were all curious to explore what a career in publishing and the creative industries could look like. They had each applied for a place at the Usborne Academy by writing a short piece about why they were interested in publishing in general, and Usborne specifically.

The week focussed on giving the students real-life, hands-on experience of the entire book publishing process, from designing a book cover to writing a press release, and they were also able to meet all departments from Finance to Editorial, at a ‘speed-networking’ session. 

On the Monday, Nicola Usborne gave an introduction to Usborne and the publishing industry more generally, and took them on a tour of our offices; that was followed by a quiz to help the students discover how the publishing process works from beginning to end. 

Day two was a full immersion into the world of marketing. Sessions on the impact of branding and the purpose of marketing in a publishing context, were followed by a variety of hands-on activities – working in pairs doing Quicklinks research, press releases, social media and more, they were able to put into practice skills they’ve learnt through their studies to date and learn lots of new applications. 

The students then spent two days with our designers and editors. With the design team, they worked on ideas for a new book, including researching potential illustrators and developing page layouts. Each of the students then presented their ideas back to the group. In editorial, the students were able to have a go at proof-reading, wrote a new version of a popular fairy tale, and brainstormed new ideas for our 'Things to Know' series. 

The students’ final day was all about sales – how and where we sell our books. Spending time with our UK, foreign language publishing and foreign rights teams, the students were encouraged to consider all the factors we must consider when selling our books around the world. 

This was topped off with a trip to Waterstones Piccadilly, to see Usborne books on the shelves (and spend a gift voucher we gave them on books of their choice). 

We also provided support on how to write a CV for different publishing roles, and helped them to identify their skills and competencies (and how they can develop these through their sixth form studies, college activities and outside interests).

Packed off with a goody bag on their final day and a selection of Usborne books, the students gave us some great feedback and we had a super time meeting with them!