It's always a wonderful thing to be able to go behind the scenes of a publishing house, especially one open and warm as Penguin Random House. During the RWA Conference in July of 2015, I was very lucky to be invited to a cocktail party at the offices and was fascinated by this entire set-up. I had to know more, so after sending a short note to editor extraordinaire, Sue Grimshaw, I was hooked up with Erika Seyfried, the Assistant Director of Marketing, Digital Publishing, who invited me to visit the Penguin Random House offices on February 26th. I was so very excited since many of my favorite authors are with Penguin Random House, like Samantha Kane, Bronwen Evans, Heather Graham and Julie Kenner, just to cite a few.
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| Erika Seyfried |
I was greeted at the door by Erika and was introduced to Ashleigh Heaton, Digital Marketing Assistant. Many bloggers and reviewers may know these ladies names as they are the ones who send out review requests and information for the upcoming titles. Being welcomed into their world was a great experience. Seeing shelves filled with favorite titles and observing how much these two women really enjoy their jobs is a pleasure.
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| Ashleigh Heaton |
During my visit, Erika and Ashleigh gave me the grand tour and I was introduced to Matt Schwartz, VP, Director of Digital Strategy & Associate Digital Publisher, who gave me a fascinating inside on his very important job of understanding the trends in the publishing industry's digital marketing. Matt has been in the industry for over 15 years and hearing about his experiences and what he does was very informative. So much goes on behind the scenes.
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| Matt Schwartz After leaving Matt's office, Erika and Ashleigh took me to meet Associate Editor, Sarah Murphy who was busy at work on this chilly Friday. After getting a glimpse into who Sarah edits for and a little background into the job she obviously enjoys, she happily gave me a lovely pile of books and suggestions on what I should read.  Spending a few hours at the Penguin Random House offices was a very nice inside to what goes on behind the books that we read. So much work goes into what finally gets to the reader that it is important to recognize that books don't magically appear on your e-Readers. The author, editors and those men and women in marketing are essential to the happiness of the reader. Thanks so much to Erika, Ashleigh, Matt and Sarah for making my day at Penguin Random House so wonderful. I hope I get to see you all again. 
Bookshelves outside the offices
The Lobby of the Penguin Random House Building
 SURPRISE GIVEAWAY  |
Sounds like you had a super experience touring there. I have read and enjoyed the books of many of their authors.
ReplyDeleteThat is one sexy guy lol I can't help it those are some fantastic books
ReplyDeleteOh wow Kim. Thanks for the contest and a peek inside.
ReplyDeleteSuch an awesome giveaway! You must have had a wonderful time during your tour.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! I would love to go behind the scenes one day to PRH!!! I love them! Thanks for the amazing giveaway! XOXO
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post. That is so cool You got to do that.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great time and what a great post! Thanks for the Awesome giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing your experience! I've always wanted to go behind the scenes at a publisher. I'm so fascinated by this industry. Thanks for sharing the photos too! So happy you had a fantastic time!
ReplyDeleteFabulous review of a fabulous & favorite place of mine. Y'all MUST attend one of their Open Houses that they have, a book lovers dream!
ReplyDeleteThanks!! I would love to peek inside a publishing concern!! And you've done it for me!
ReplyDeleteWow! You had fun visiting them! Love the bookshelves so fantastic!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic opportunity to see publishing from the inside!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic opportunity to see publishing from the inside!
ReplyDeletewow! what a treat to spend time in a publishing house, would of loved to check-out all the books that I love to read! thanks for the chance to win these books that you have to offer!
ReplyDeletefun tour
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
(Megan Lettington here commenting) it keeps showing me as anynomous.
ReplyDeleteSo lucky to have the luck and experience for that tour, and a lovely interview. It's nice to see where everything comes from and how it gets in our hands. (I'd love to be a lucky winner. some of those goodies look amazing )
What a amazing experience you had! Thanks so much for sharing it
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour, it's the next best thing to being there! Thanks for the chance to win as well.
ReplyDeleteThat was very interesting, I never thought about where the books are published only that I want to read them. It was a very nice tour.
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