Day in the Life of a Marketing & Publicity Executive

For anyone that doesn’t know I work in publishing as a Marketing and Publicity Executive, at a relatively new digital startup called Canelo.

No, I don’t work in Shoreditch, eat avocado on toast or willingly pay £12 for a cup of ‘real coffee’. I do sit at my desk for most of the day communicating with a lot of people via social media and authors via email. All whilst tempting my colleagues with jammie dodgers and my lunchtime Maccy D’s.

My job title is: Marketing and Publicity Executive and what that entails is a lot of emails, planning, and talking about books. Dream job! Get in!

So without further ado, I am going to run down a typical Day in the Life of a Marketing and Publicity Executive – most specifically on a Friday (usually my busiest day!)

Sidenote: I’ve recently moved to London – so my previous post about being a London commuter from Kent is outdated – hence the change in times!

Typical day of a Marketing & Publicity Executive:

8.15 am: I’m at the tube station and on my way into Central London.

9.10 am: I arrive at the office after two changes and a bit of a walk at Green Park. I normally pop into the local Tesco Express and pick up a bottle of water, a cold coffee (Starbucks Latte drink) and a yogurt. I also pick up a packet of biscuits/chocolate/crisps depending on what’s on offer.

9.30 am: Having eaten my breakfast and loaded the computer, my working day can begin. I start by answering emails.

Email Time: I can have up to 30 emails in my inbox from when I last checked at 6.00 pm the day before. These are usually emails from book bloggers regarding upcoming blog tours and requests to join our database – which you can join here! – there are also all the latest review alerts on NetGalley, emails from authors checking on plans and updating me on their own news, and any meeting requests/changes in the office. Also responses from newspapers, magazines, fans, and all the social media outlets… basically a lot of emails!

10:00 am: At some point around 10, I write a tweet to kickstart the day on social media. I ALWAYS use a GIF – my GIF game is strong, but not as strong as our author Jo Platt #genius – I answer any notifications, share and retweet anything suitable, and generally just check out the news and what everyone’s been up to. Because I am basing this on a typical Friday, I usually plan a cover reveal on Friday at 3 pm, so I’ll be sure to let everyone know about this with a teaser.

11.00 am: I am onto my spreadsheets! Blog tours, expenditure, budgets, author updates, blogger databases, review spreadsheets etc. There are loads of them!

Lunchtime

12.30 pm: Lunchtime! We’re very well situated at our offices with food markets and decent food places all around, so there are a lot of choices.

Side note: Before I came to work at Canelo, my cuisine palate was incredibly bland. A Papa John’s was fairly adventurous for me. Since joining, I have eaten Indonesian, Vietnamese, proper Indian, Brazilian, Mexican, Thai, and Vegan Food (a cuisine in its own right, to my mind).

1.00 pm: I’m back at my desk and normally eating whilst working. Being such a small company, and very relaxed, we rarely take a full ‘away from our desks’ lunch unless we’re going out for a sit-down meal with someone.

2.30 pm: Afternoons are normally much quieter so this is when I get my planning done. I’ll make plans for upcoming books or update existing plans with new ideas and campaign aims. I’m also prepping for our cover reveal which usually happens at 3 pm on Twitter!

3.00 pm: Cover reveal! This is normally a busy time! Not only do I have to unveil the cover but I also have to monitor the response; RT and share comments and send links to where the book is available, be it for pre-order, or on NetGalley. It’s really exciting and generally gives me a great lift before the end of the day.

4.00 pm: Normally our cover reveals are for books with upcoming blog tours. So I take this opportunity to send out press releases to book bloggers to see if they would be interested in taking part. I can get a flurry of emails or a barrage, depending on the author and the genre of the book.

5.00 pm: It’s almost home-time so I’m currently prepping my to-do list for the next week and everything for the weekend! (tweets still need to go out!)

5.15 pm: Who am I kidding, it’s Friday! I’ve made sure that everything that needs to be done is done. But the whole office tends to leave a little early, and we may even go for a team drink. I turn off my email alerts so I don’t get distracted and tempted to work over the weekend. This is very important! I then head home.

Heading home for the day

6.15 pm: Bus ride to Kings Cross. I hate the tube on Friday afternoons and I do my best reading on buses (The Power by Naomi Alderman currently). I sometimes hang around in Central for a bit. Or I’ll visit my housemate if she’s on a late shift at her work.

7:30 pm: Normally I’m home by now, cooking something delicious. The latest dish is Loaded Potato Skins with bacon and spring onion.

9:00 pm: My housemates are home and we’re discussing our various days and our plans for the weekend. We might catch up on Great British Bake Off or watch Eastenders and relax.

11:30 pm: After a glass – kidding – two glasses of prosecco (It’s Friday!) I’m in bed. I tend to watch a Netflix/Amazon original at this point. Before turning my alarm off so I can get a proper lay-in the next day.

And that is a typical day!

Depending on my workload each day can vary. Some days I might be doing a mail-out or meet an author for lunch. I could go shopping for props for an event or even work from home. Regardless I always have a good day at work.

If you have any questions about my job as a Marketing and Publicity Executive or the publishing industry, feel free to comment below! Happy to answer any questions you may have 🙂

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