Get to Know Wolsak & Wynn: Jennifer Rawlinson, Production Coordinator

What does a production coordinator do?

Like Ashley said in her post, Wolsak & Wynn is small, so I do a little bit of everything. Because I started here as an intern, I handle a lot of administrative stuff like writing the newsletters, packing up orders, managing the website and recording and responding to the hundreds of submissions we receive every year. I do a lot of the interior design for our books and the occasional cover as well as the seasonal catalogue. I convert all of our fiction and non-fiction to ebooks. I’m also the person who usually sets up and runs our online events. When it’s safe to do things in person, I can usually be found with the Wolsak booth at festivals.

What is your favourite part of your work?

The coffee! Just kidding. I really love launches where you can feel the atmosphere of the audience as an author reads from their work. There’s such a buzzing excitement in the air that makes the whole event feel really special.

What is your least favourite part of your work?

When I open a submission and it is obvious that the person who submitted has clearly not read any of our books, our submission guidelines or our other blog posts about what we look for in a submission.

What made you first become interested in publishing?

Like many people in publishing I’m also a writer, but I didn’t want to be the stereotypical “starving artist.” So I figured, hey, I love books, if I work with books I’ll be happy! And that’s how I ended up in publishing.

What is one thing you wish people outside the publishing industry knew about how it works?

Publishing a book is a great accomplishment that everyone should be proud of, but it will not make you rich. It takes an extraordinary amount of time, money, talent and luck to become a New York Times bestselling author if you don’t already have a platform like celebrities or authors who’ve been established for decades.