HOW I GOT HERE
Penguin general managing director Joanna Prior recalls her career highs and lows
My first full-time publishing job was PA to the Managing Director of Macmillan books. She was a fantastic mentor. She said I would get bored after a year, but promised to teach me everything she could. And she was true to her word. Just before the year was up I got a new job as a publicist and discovered I loved working with both the authors and the media on the advocacy side of the business.
NEXT I MOVED TO INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER, 4TH ESTATE.
It was a dynamic place to work with a bunch of talented and unusual people. It was the early 1990s and we had a lot of success, publishing writers that other, bigger publishers had turned down: Carol Shields (shortlisted for the Booker Prize); Annie Proux (author of The Shipping News).
MOVING TO PENGUIN AS PUBLICITY DIRECTOR WAS A TURNING POINT.
I combined this with a corporate communications role, which allowed me to think internationally and ponder the bigger issues of reputation, brand and the value that publishers bring to the economy and culture. I was also responsible for promoting some of the world’s best authors, many of whom were personal heroes of mine, from Sue Townsend to Nick Hornby; William Trevor to Zadie Smith.
AGED 32, I MOVED TO THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH TO EDIT THE MAGAZINE.
It was a big career risk – and it didn’t pay off! But that doesn’t mean I regret it. I think it’s important to step outside your comfort zone from time to time. Nevertheless, it was an extraordinary move. I had no journalistic experience, and looking back, it was madness. It was an opportunity I felt I would regret turning down.
IT WAS THE TOUGHEST SIX MONTHS OF MY WORKING LIFE.
I was terrified to begin with, had to learn a whole new way of working: commissioning at speed, editing to deadlines and feeding the hungry beast that is a weekly magazine.
JUST AS I FELT I WAS BEGINNING TO GET THE HANG OF IT, I WAS FIRED.
It was humiliating but also a relief. To have failed in such a high profile way took a while to get over, but I realised that I wanted to work in a collegiate environment, that was commercial and yet had a mission and a commitment to excellence. So I returned to publishing – to Penguin, where I’ve been ever since.
LEARNING TO COPE WITH FAILURE IS A BIG PART OF LIFE.
We are young when we start work and it’s a long road with lots of twists and turns. Stamina is underrated. You need to be able to stay the course. Resilience is essential.
I’VE BEEN WITH PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE FOR 20 YEARS
and now I am responsible for one of the eight distinct publishing houses that make up our organisation. I’ve always been interested in the whole business of publishing; I like both the words and the numbers. I think it was this broad perspective, my passion for books and writers, as well as my ability to work with and lead teams of people that made me suited for the role of MD.
A PENGUIN AUTHOR WINNING A BIG PRIZE ALWAYS GIVES ME A SURGE OF PRIDE.
We’ve only had a Man Booker prize winner once during my time at Penguin (Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance Of Loss) but Zadie Smith, Ali Smith and last year Naomi Alderman winning the Women’s Prize for Fiction all made for stand-out moments. In 2017, Penguin General Books was announced as the UK publishing home for both President and Mrs Obama. It will be a book launch unlike any other – we’re billing this as a social movement – we want to get everyone engaged!
‘I TOOK A RISK AND IT DIDN’T PAY OFF!’