Former Walden Intern: Lana Barnes

“Former Walden Media Interns: Where Are They Now? ” is an ongoing series featuring dispatches from past interns.Today’s submission comes from Lana Barnes, now a Pre-Media Associate at Penguin Group USA. Follow her on Twitter at @Lana_121.

When I was an intern during the fall semester of 2008 at Walden Media, I worked with my co-interns on a semester-long project. It involved brainstorming sessions and research and analysis and culminated in a presentation to the entire company. This project was my first experience collaborating in the publishing industry, and in addition to bolstering my listening skills and compromising skills, it also taught me how to pitch the president of a company!

In the four years since my internship with Walden, I’ve completed two internships with The Horn Book and Candlewick Press and have held two professional positions. Persistence paid off at Candlewick Press and after two semesters of interning and one semester of working part-time, I was offered a full-time position. As a Graphic Production Assistant, I managed the reprint workload, prepared e-book files, and assisted in prepress support. In August of last year, I decided to make the leap to that OTHER big city and took a job at Penguin Group, USA, where, as a Pre-Media Associate, I provide creative and technical support to jacket/cover designers and assist with the reprint workload. In my spare time, I am a Horn Book Guide reviewer and a soon-to-be freelance proofreader.

Throughout all of these positions, I’ve carried with me the skills I gained from my experience at Walden Media. Collaboration is key in the publishing business and remembering that we’re all working toward the same goal is essential to the success of any publishing company—a rule to live by that I first discovered when I was working on that group project at Walden Media.

I was fortunate that Walden Media was my first foray in publishing because the people, projects, and experiences helped me develop a strong base from which to grow my career. I look back fondly at my short time at Walden Media, and will always remember my humble beginnings.