>> Janice Bass: My name is Janice Bass.
I'm a marketing specialist for a book
publishing company in Nashville, Tennessee -
>> Janice, what does that job entail?
What does a marketing specialist
do for a book publisher?
>> Janice Bass: Well, the roles of internal
marketers are a lot like project managers.
Of course, there's the marketing aspects on
it, a lot of advertising and things like that.
So you have to have a creative skill,
but really it's a lot of organization,
being able to manage details, work
with lots of different people.
You're working with authors.
You're working with agents, sales
staff, publicists, publishers.
So it's a lot of project management
along with the marketing -
>> Can you think of maybe a particular project
or example of something that you've worked on
and maybe what you did in the marketing
world for that specific project?
>> Janice Bass: Certainly.
The biggest project that I worked
on, I did Bill Cosby's book.
It's, that was a lot of working to
arrange media scenes for him on "Oprah".
He did on Letterman, and so
there was a lot of coordinating.
It was definitely a lot of coordinating.
Advertising.
He ran a large advertisement
in the "New York Times".
So there was a lot of work with the graphic
designers to, first of all, create that
and then to, second of all,
get it approved by all parties,
by Bill Cosby himself, by
his agents, and by his wife.
So there was a lot of steps on that.
There was a lot of grassroots marketing.
We tried to contact a lot of affinity groups
around the country to really get a lot
of just copies of the books in
their hands so they could review.
It was scheduling a lot of
book signings, big events.
We had [inaudible] New York and Boston
and the whole time staying on top
of all the different advertising deadlines and
trying to hit the street date with the book.
>> Janice, what skills or personality
do you think it takes to be successful
in this career, in this line of work?
>> Janice Bass: I think it certainly
takes an interest in the industry.
You're surrounded by books all day long.
You're dealing with authors.
You're dealing with editors.
You're being asked to review
potential, you know, book ideas.
So you really have to love what you do,
and definitely have a bit of creativity.
That is one of the cornerstones
of marketing is being able
to come up with creative advertisements.
To really think what are going to appeal to
your potential readers that you want to target,
and like I said before, it's
a lot of project management.
There's a standing on top of details,
on top of deadlines, and, again,
just being able to work with various people.
A lot of different attitudes and
personalities in book publishing,
and so being able to flexible certainly
with those different personalities
and with those different deadlines -
>> Were there any classes that you took
at the high school or college level
that you think may have helped
you in this particular career?
>> I definitely took communication classes.
Being able to speak and convey ideas to people.
Being able to build rapport with
people that I was working with.
I think it was very important.
We took a lot of organizational development
classes that I think just helped me learn
to manage projects, to develop ideas and
be able to coalesce all of this together.
>> And where were you doing this work?
What state were you in?
>> Janice Bass: I was in Tennessee -
>> Do you think there's a
certain, you know, city or country
or area that's a better place
to pursue a career like this?
>> Janice Bass: Yes.
New York City is really the
mecca of book publishing.
I worked at the really only large
publishing house not in New York City.
So really for someone who
wants to pursue that full time,
New York is probably the best place to go -
>> One final question.
A young person comes to you and says I
think I want to get in this line of work.
Any advice for them in terms of, you know,
what they should do, who they should talk to,
how to get their foot in the door.
>> Janice Bass: I would say it
definitely is a niche market.
Book publishing kind of is its own beast,
but I would just say try to network.
If you can, really express a
lot of interest in the industry.
It's an industry that it
doesn't pay particularly well.
If you want money, book publishing
is not the place to go.
However, if you love the products, if
you love working with words and ideas
and [inaudible] people, it is really
an exciting and rewarding place to be.
So be willing to put yourself
out there and express
that passion I think will help you get the job -
>> Fantastic.
Janice, thanks so much for talking to us.
>> Janice Bass: Thank you.