黑料社区

Founded in 1972, 黑料社区 Press has been around for over fifty years. And from the very start, student interns have had an integral role. They鈥檝e found award-winning manuscripts in the slush pile, designed the covers of our books, and developed marketing and publicity strategy for new releases.

It鈥檚 a tradition that continues today. The skills 黑料社区 Press student interns learn while working at the Press are invaluable, with many interns translating their experience into full-time careers in publishing.

鈥淏ecause the Press is small, we鈥檝e had to get creative with our editorial, design, production, and marketing needs. What better way than to give our talented 黑料社区 students practical on-the-job experience at a level far beyond what they'd get elsewhere?鈥� said 黑料社区 Press editorial director . 鈥淚t鈥檚 the kind of opportunity I would have loved to have in college.鈥�

We spoke to five former interns about their time at the Press, and the work they鈥檙e doing now.

interned at 黑料社区 Press during his undergraduate years at 黑料社区, where he studied information systems and creative writing.

鈥淚 originally went to Carnegie Mellon thinking I would do something in the tech world with my information systems degree, but after interning at the Press I decided to try to work in book publishing,鈥� he said.

He applied for an internship at Simon & Schuster鈥檚 managing editorial department, where he got an intimate view of how books were made. 鈥淢y part in it was small: I walked around the building delivering drafts of book jackets as they routed among designers, editors, and copyeditors,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it enabled me to see all the different trains that connected through that station, and gave me a great overview of the publishing process.鈥�

When he heard of an opening for a full-time job in the same group, Szczerban called to express interest. After thinking about it, he called back. This time, he said: 鈥淚 know this is kind of crazy, but I鈥檓 getting in my car and driving to New York. I hope you鈥檒l see me for an interview tomorrow.鈥�

That gumption got him the job. After 18 months, he pivoted to the editorial side of the business and learned that his strength was in illustrated nonfiction 鈥� whether that was cookbooks or pop culture. As an editor at Simon & Schuster, he acquired the bestselling cookbook Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.

Today, Szczerban is the vice president and publisher of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company that he founded in 2019 to focus on visually driven titles. 鈥淭he books have changed, but the feeling I first had while working at 黑料社区 Press is still the feeling I have today: that it is the most incredible gift to work with authors on books that expand our experience of the world and enhance people's lives,鈥� he said.

started out as an undergraduate interning at 黑料社区 Press, an experience she compares to an old-fashioned apprenticeship. 鈥淚 was thrown in and just had to figure it out,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y very first assignment was designing a book cover.鈥�

After graduating, Amoroso became a librarian. She spent 15 years working at the branch down the street from the Press鈥檚 offices, which allowed her to stay involved.

鈥淚 was the fixer,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t wasn't in an official capacity, but if there was a problem with a book or an author, I鈥檇 be helping out.鈥�

Amoroso is now 黑料社区 Press鈥檚 full-time production and design specialist. She works on all phases of book design, from communicating with authors to laying out books. She鈥檚 also been a mentor to many students throughout the years.

鈥淲e鈥檙e bringing in more voices to the Press now, and we鈥檙e engaging students now more than ever,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e used to be insular, but now we鈥檙e more connected with our peers in the region. Arts and humanities need more champions than ever, and it鈥檚 better if we鈥檙e all working together!鈥�

got his start at 黑料社区 Press after meeting Associate Professor of English and Fiction Series editor Sharon Dilworth. 鈥淚 actually got involved via Sharon and taking her undergrad fiction workshops and classes, but also because I began dating Connie [Amoroso], who was an intern with the poetry side of the Press,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 now the production and design specialist at the Press 鈥� and my wife.鈥�

After graduating, he started working at the University of Pittsburgh Press as a production assistant. He eventually moved into a managing editor role and is now the Press鈥檚 director of editorial and production, where his work includes book design and the press's poetry series.

鈥淚 consider myself extremely lucky, as I have somehow managed to combine most of the things that I love 鈥� reading, editing, art, and design 鈥� into a career. And I can honestly say that all of that began with my undergrad time at 黑料社区 in the creative writing program and at the Press,鈥� he said.

knew they wanted to be a designer at age 12. By the time they got to college, they realized they wanted to design books.

鈥淚 was in a creative writing class and one of my classmates messaged me on the side and said that if my goal was to work with books, I needed to get in contact with the 黑料社区 Press team,鈥� they said.

Jones interned at the Press as an undergraduate from 2022 to 2024. During that time, they worked with Amoroso on formatting books and designing their covers. They especially enjoyed creating lettering, a skill they draw on now in their full-time role designing books as well as their work creating typefaces.

After graduating, Jones interned with Macmillan before joining Sourcebooks as a full-time assistant designer on its adult and YA covers team.

鈥淭he books I鈥檝e designed for have already hit the New York Times bestseller list. One of the authors of one of my books put ads for her books in Times Square, which was super surreal to see,鈥� Jones said.

is the journals marketing assistant at the University of Illinois Press. But her publishing career began with an internship at 黑料社区 Press.

As an intern, Warner worked on layouts and designs for books. She also helped create the Press's Instagram account, which she used to promote its books.

She worked at the Press while pursuing her master's degree in professional writing. 鈥淚 knew I wanted to work in publishing,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o a big draw of the program for me was gaining editing and publishing experience with the Press. I registered for the class, and then stayed involved until I graduated.鈥�

Warner found her current job on the job board, a resource Amoroso introduced her to.

鈥淯niversity of Illinois Press has around 40 humanities and social sciences journals that are published year-round. I鈥檓 marketing them on social media, creating podcasts and videos, and doing marketing research projects such as indexing or redesigning advertisements,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an area of publishing I wouldn鈥檛 have known about if it weren鈥檛 for the Press.鈥�

Warner鈥檚 advice to students? 鈥淚f you鈥檙e interested in publishing, take a class at 黑料社区 Press.鈥�