If you don’t know me (which you probably don’t): Hello. I’m John. This summer I had the chance to serve as an editorial intern with the wonderful people here at St. Lynn’s.

This will be my first and last blog post – the classrooms of Grove City are calling me back to my studies and my internship here is winding down. Well, “winding down” as much as the pre-GWA rush will allow. But my two weeks notice is in and counting down.

In times like these, it’s always good to reflect. I’m not usually good at this kind of written contemplation, but I’ve spent my summer exploring the serene and colorful descriptions of gardens, flowers, and fields provided by our authors, and I guess their peacefulness has rubbed off on me.

Some things that I learned about life at St. Lynn’s:

• A lot about publishing – from big picture vision-casting down to detail oriented nitpicking. I feel like I saw a piece of all of it. If you’re reading this on a publisher’s website, chances are you already have some interest in the business – but I’m constantly surprised by the deep elegance in taking a book from idea to print that you don’t usually see at first glance.
• The English language, while it has rules, also can be arbitrary. It all depends on context, which is both a relief and infuriating.
• The balcony is a great place to enjoy lunch.
• “Writing copy” is especially exciting after spending the past semester catching up on six seasons of Mad Men.
• Coming up with subtitles is a lot harder than it appears.
• After about 2 weeks, I started saying “our” authors instead of “St. Lynn’s authors.” It’s a welcoming crowd over here.
• Speaking of authors, we have some great people writing some absolutely awesome books. I’m not a gardener, but if I had a house of my own, I might just till a little plot of land just based off of their passion.

View of St. Lynn’s Press from the back.
The vantage point from the balcony gives a great view
of the Monongahela and a neat place to eat a sandwich and wave at passing bikers.

Of course, there are hundreds more that would overflow this blog if I tried to write them all down. I’m happy that Paul has a “learn by doing” mentality when it comes to understanding the world of publishing, because there are a lot of things that I also can’t write down, but now just intrinsically “know.” My time here at St. Lynn’s has been worthwhile and I feel as though I have some good work to show for it.

On that note, so long! It’s been a great ride, and hopefully it’s given you a small glimpse of life at St. Lynn’s Press!

John

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