Shoreline Press’s internship opportunity
In May 2020, Angela Leuck bought Shoreline Press and moved it to Hatley. The move alone was a significant accomplishment, but Leuck is not stopping there; she has a lot more in store for her press. This year she has taken on not one, not two but 21 interns from Bishops University.
“I’ve worked with unpaid volunteers before, and usually there is a big dropoff, so I decided to take everyone who expressed interest,” said Leuck, “yet, only four have dropped off, and four new ones have joined.”. So, with this surprisingly large interest, Leuck has found herself this summer giving a weekly one-hour zoom class to 21 interns who, according to her, are all very happy and excited to be a part of this experience. The course she is walking them through is an introduction to publishing course, containing 14 hours of information and the chance for each intern to work on their very own book. “If people take the course, I assign them a book to work on in the press. What we are learning that week is typically the next step the student must take with the book they have been assigned to. For example, if they are applying for the CIP data, then that week’s Powerpoint will talk about how to apply for catalog and publication. I am there to support them in their next step,” she said.
The purpose of Leuck’s program is to give people a chance to one, see if they like it or not, and two, have a fighting chance in the publishing world. “It’s really tough to get into publishing, it’s such a competitive field, and most big companies, like the ones in Montreal, can’t be bothered to train interns as they don’t have time for them,” said Leuck. Therefore, upon completing the course, the students receive a Shoreline internship program certificate that Leuck hopes they will be able to take and show to a bigger press to fight their way into a job or internship.
Remarkably, Leuck has been able to teach each and every one of the students as well as manage their work without ever meeting them in person. “Everything is done over zoom, and I love it; it’s just fabulous. It’s not like a crowded classroom; it doesn’t make any difference how many people show up on the call,” said Leuck.
Alexander Bergeron, a third-year student at Bishop’s University, is one of the interns currently taking Leuck’s program. “I chose to do the internship because I’m in the arts administration program, and I saw the opportunity to work with a great local organization. It jumped out at me as a possibility to engage with the artistic community of this region,” said Bergeron. Now, after being in the program for eight weeks, he does not regret his decision. Although he believes that the publishing world is not the most stable of professions as it is very difficult to make a good profit and fewer and fewer people are buying books nowadays, he is still very much interested in publishing as a possible career choice. Through Leuck’s course, he has learned many important aspects that go into finalizing a book and putting it out into the marketing world. His biggest takeaway is learning to work with people who have different styles of work ethic. “Margorie Bruhmuller, an experienced editor that helped me and Tonya Mcintyre, the author of the book I was assigned to, both have very different ways of working than me and together we had to create a dialogue that was productive to our project,” said Bergeron.
All in all, the BU student has thoroughly enjoyed this first half of the course and encourages others to try it out next year. “I think if you are interested in publishing at all or if you just really enjoy reading literature, then this is a great introduction to all that,” said Bergeron. “Leuck is very helpful, she offers her classes twice a week, one Monday evening and another Tuesday afternoons so you if one doesn’t work than you can attend the other. It’s really quite convenient and again a great work experience that not many people have the chance to acquire.”