Long time, no see!

I apologize for disappearing this week.. With our rigorous schedule and barely any time to leave Exeter College, I found it difficult to blog these last few days. Although grueling, this week has been chock full of insightful lessons, energized speakers, and quality time spent with friends.

We dove into the business side of publishing this week – with the overall lesson being that while publishing is built off of relationships, it is still a money-making machine first and foremost. Learning how to utilize those relationships in negotiations, acquisitions, and sales is an important part of our work and will always be something we need to factor in. While this was all informative, and an important thing to have a basic understanding of, these lectures confirmed that I am not a numbers girl.

Today we start the mysterious “Book Workshop” week. We’ll be grinding through the weekend, morning to night, until next Friday, when we will have a finished product in our hands. What is the finished product, you may ask? I have literally no idea. In fact, when someone asked the other day if we could get a bit more information on our book workshops, we were firmly told “no.,” which I found hilarious. So today, the curtain will finally be pulled away. I’m terrified and very excited.

Aside from lectures, I have definitely gotten to the point in my stay here where my brain knows I’m not just on vacation. Definitely feeling a bit homesick.

Despite having this feeling, I am so blessed to have people that I love so much that I get to feel homesick for them. I also get to live in this beautiful city for a month, and I don’t want to let this overshadow the fact that I am having an incredible time getting to learn this place and meeting amazing new people. Is it crazy that I’m already half way through? Absolutely.

This weekend will definitely be a test of attention and dedication to our workshops, but I’m excited to see what the finished product will be. I’m also overdue for some exploring – so I’m hoping to hit a few of my bucketlist items in between scheduled hours this weekend.

My head will be buried in the sand for the next week, but I hope to update this blog sooner rather than later. They might be kidnapping me for all I know.

From Oxford, With Love,

Haley

“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”
– C.S. Lewis

I do believe Mr. C.S. Lewis was incredibly correct in this regard. To me, this quote means that unless I put on my big girl pants and get out of my comfort zone, I will never grow in the ways I am meant to.

In a way, living abroad and traveling these next two months is my own way of forcing myself to hatch. I don’t want to be just an ordinary, decent egg. I want to be the best egg I can possibly be – nurtured, challenged, and – most importantly – excited to break from my shell. Dramatic, isn’t it? (I’m an English major – I’m allowed to be dramatic sometimes.)

Now that I’ve finished a whole week of the CPC, I have been reflecting on my priorities, my growth as a young adult, and my goals for the future. It’s terrifying, but thrilling. Being here has forced me to be away from those I feel safest with and can find comfort in. Instead, I am here alone figuring out the trajectory of my career, and potentially my life. And I can confidently say that after a week I am just as lost as I was in the beginning, but I am – at the very least – more aware of my options. To be honest, they are not the options that I necessarily wanted to hear, but such is life I suppose.

I have spent this week listening to publishing executives, young, upcoming agents, and everything in between. Everyone has a different perspective on where the industry is going, but there is always one constant: publishing is built off of relationships. For an introvert, this is absolutely terrifying.

But enough of waxing on about my hopes and dreams. In the latter half of the week, I finally had the opportunity to take a walk along the River Thames, punt on the River Cherwell, and experience the nightlife scene. It is so incredibly beautiful here, and I often pinch myself to make sure that it’s real.

I’ve spent quality time with my new friends here (everyone is so cool1) and had deep conversations about literature and critical analysis that I think anyone outside of this group would probably find very weird. I’ve explored Blackwell’s books and its infamous Norrington Room (which if you didn’t know, is the world’s largest bookselling room, and yes, it is insane), and gotten lunch at the oldest coffeehouse in Europe. I’ve been in rooms that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien worked and studied in and walked streets that were built before America was discovered. Literally what is my life. Feeling blessed beyond measure.

I wonder what week two will bring?

From Oxford, With Love,

Haley

My gaze constantly follows the cracks in the ancient stone, watching for dips and bumps that might make my sneakered feet stumble. Walking these medieval streets is a treacherous, engaging task – one that forces me to be aware of my surroundings while simultaneously switching my brain to walk on the left side of the street. Challenging, right?

This is not the only challenging aspect of my stay here. I sit in our lecture hall for hours each day, learning about various aspects of publishing from accomplished industry professionals; I am told to read 350 pages of a manuscript in twenty-four hours in order to write a reader’s report; and I practice generating nonfiction book ideas appropriate for an established publishing imprint – along with many others tasks. While this may sound – and is – quite demanding, I am thriving. What do you mean I get to sit with my new friends for hours discussing books and critically analyze our own desired career paths? I get to listen to my potential future employers talks for hours about how much they love this industry despite the challenges that accompany it? I get to read silly manuscripts and talk about how I would personally edit them?

After three days in this program, I am slowly adjusting to the pace and cadence of what is expected of us here. And yes, it is hard, but it will be extremely rewarding. Not to mention, I have already made so many connections, learned an incredible amount of information, and have begun to experience this incredible, ancient city.

I’m also beginning to form an impression of what my career could look like. This does, unfortunately, come with the realization that Seattle is not a great place for me to settle down given the location of publishing houses around the world, but I remain hopeful with the guidance of my mentors at the course. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned here is that working in publishing requires a commitment to people first and foremost. It’s an industry that relies on trust and connection – and this is difficult to do when working remotely. I am curious to see how this will play out as I look for jobs.

These last two days I have finally been able to see the city more – taking walks along the River Cherwell and finding new cafes to work at. I am looking forward to this weekend, though, when I will be free to leave Exeter for longer periods of time and explore the museums, shops, and parks – maybe even a trip to the Cotswalds…

I am exhausted, but happy. Busy, but at peace.

Looking forward to updating after the first full week is completed.

From Oxford, With Love,

Haley

Day 1, 9/1/25

Before I begin, I apologize for the late post. My wifi at Exeter does not support my blog website, which is unfortunate as I rarely have time to leave the college to post elsewhere! Although I wanted to post often, they will now most likely be limited to once or twice a week. 

Now that we have that covered, I can finally say that after months of waiting (eight to be exact), I have officially begun the Columbia Publishing Course. Day one was entirely overwhelming – in the best way possible of course. Starting at 8am and ending at 7pm every day, lectures and Exeter dining hall meals will take up the majority of my time here, more so than I originally thought. While this is…fine, I definitely believed that I would have more time to explore. No matter, though – waking up at 6am for morning walks and using my weekends wisely will hopefully scratch my adventure itch. 

Our first lecture started with the Senior Commissioning Editor at Scribner (Simon & Schuster), Joanna Lee. I won’t get into the details of all that I learned, as that would take paragraphs upon paragraphs, but what I can say is that my idea of what this industry is about is already shifting. Once our second lecture, by Mo Hazeem of Faber & Faber, had ended, I can confidently say that I have a much more clear image of what an editorial position would look like – and how different it is from my original understanding. 

Both speakers were surprisingly young, both in their late twenties, but had already established impressive careers and portfolios as commissioning editors. This was encouraging to see for all of us young, hopeful professionals. Our third lecture was given by Barbara Clark, who has simply been categorized by CPC as a “publishing veteran.” She is basically God in the CPC’s eyes and we were immediately told to listen to every word she had to say. 

Blah, blah, blah – enough of all that boring stuff. I’m sure I will have much more to say about our lectures soon enough, but I will try to keep from monologuing about my publishing thoughts – at least a little bit. 

After lectures and dinner immediately after, I was exhausted – physically, mentally, socially. But the show must go on! Even as a natural introvert, my fear on this first day was that without trying to make friends, I would fall behind socially very quickly. It’s a silly thought because truthfully, everyone in this program is not only extremely intelligent but also friendly and inclusive. Alas! The mind of an anxious introvert never ceases its spinning.

Regardless of my trepidation, I got one (1) drink at the King’s Arm, a popular university pub around the corner from Exeter, with several other students and discussed future goals, past Covid nightmare stories, and current fears pertaining to publishing and beyond. My first venture out into the pub world was both relaxing and eye-opening, and instead of ordering my classic vodka cran (yes, I’m looking at you, Ian), I will be moving onto the classic English G&T. 

I fell into bed with my head spinning (and not from drunkenness, I swear). All of the information that I took in needed to be consolidated in my memory, ASAP. After finishing an assignment and trying (failing) to post on this blog, I fell into a dreamless slumber. 

Overall, as first day’s go, this one was particularly invigorating. And although it may be exhausting, I am mentally preparing myself for an informative, grueling next four weeks. I am incredibly excited to be a sponge and soak up this experience. 

As the British would say, cheerio! 

From Oxford, With Love,

Haley 

From dreary Seattle weather to equally-as-dreary Oxford weather – I’ve arrived! Being in this historic town for just over 24 hours has been an exhilarating experience. It’s truly a feeling of belonging – like I’m right where I’m meant to be.

For the first full day, me, mom, and dad wandered around the covered market, popped in for afternoon tea at The Alice, and meandered through the university streets to get a glimpse of Exeter, which is where I will be living for the next month. I ventured off in the evening to meet some of my fellow Columbia Publishing Course (CPC) peers and we grabbed dinner at a local restaurant after wandering aimlessly through the city center.

I’m sure I could wax on about how ecstatic I was to meet the other students, how excited I am to start my studies, and how beautiful the city is, but I’m going to leave it here for now. In the following days’ posts, there will be plenty of space for me to go on about everything I’m experiencing, but for now I’m soaking everything in and letting it simply live in my head. I apologize for the mystery, but I promise it will pay off soon….

Cheers to new adventures!

From Oxford, With Love.