Internship Opportunities

Please note that Wayne State University Press is not currently accepting internship applications. We anticipate accepting interns beginning in Fall 2012.

Wayne State University Press offers three internship opportunities for those interested in publishing: one in Editorial, Design, and Production, working with books; one in Sales and Marketing; and one in Journals working with the press and the library’s institutional repository.

As an intern with Editorial, Design, and Production working with books, interns learn about the pieces that go together to create scholarly books. As an intern with Marketing, interns learn about the steps presses take to sell and promote books. As an intern with scholarly journals and the library’s institutional repository, interns learn about the interconnectivity between university presses and libraries and also about how to work with online scholarship.

Our internships are unpaid and are offered throughout the year. If you are a student, your department might offer you credit for an internship with us. We are happy to work with your institution. Many of our interns are students, but being enrolled in school is not a requirement. We ask for a commitment of twenty hours per week and will work with you to accommodate your schedule. We are also willing to consider two-semester internships.

Wayne State University Press interns have gone on to summer publishing programs and to jobs with other university presses. The value of an internship is not only the hands-on experience but also the opportunity to show a potential employer that you are committed to publishing.

Our interns do real, hands-on work and are expected to take the initiative in their own learning. These are some of the duties:

Editorial, Design, and Production

• Correspond with authors and reviewers
• Assist with review and approval process
• Prepare projects for copyediting and design
• Review sample edits from copyeditors
• Review page proof and edit indexes
• Attend department and staff meetings, if schedule allows
• Track information through spreadsheets and presswide database

Journals and Library Digital Scholarship Internship

This internship is a collaboration between Wayne State University Press and the Wayne State University Library systems. 

• Assist with WSU Library institutional repository maintenance
• Track information through spreadsheets and presswide database
• Prepare projects and images for copyediting, typesetting, and printing
• Review sample edits from copyeditors
• Review page proof
• Upload and help maintain journals online
• Attend department and press staff meetings, if schedule allows

Marketing and Sales

• Write press releases and design flyers
• Assist with direct mail promotions
• Research awards and exhibits information
• Correspond with authors
• Provide clerical support
• Send materials to sales representatives of Wayne State University Press books
• Attend department and staff meetings, if schedule allows

We have three intern periods per year: Winter (January to May); Summer (May to August); and Fall (September to December).

Application Deadlines

For Fall internships, please apply before the second week of August; for Winter internships, please apply before the second week of December; for Summer internships please apply before the second week of April.

Application materials should be sent by email and must include a current résumé and a cover letter discussing your interest in an internship with Wayne State University Press. In your letter please tell us what department you would like to work with and what you hope to learn. We don't expect you to have a career plan laid out, and we don't expect you to have experience in or extensive knowledge about publishing. We do expect your letter to be clearly written and to show specifically why you want to intern at Wayne State University Press.

Depending on the number of applicants, we might choose to interview individuals or to ask for additional writing samples.

To apply

For an internship in Editorial, Design, and Production please contact Kristin Harpster Lawrence at khlawrence@wayne.edu. For an internship in Journals and Library Digital Scholarship, please contact Alicia Vonderharr at aliciav@wayne.edu. For an internship in Sales and Marketing, please contact Emily Nowak at aj3076@wayne.edu

For general information about our internships, please contact Kristin Harpster Lawrence at khlawrence@wayne.edu