Introducing: Associate Producer Rachael Mason
Hey!
I’m Rachael and I am one of the Associate Producers for the 2019 Independent Publishing Conference.
As a prospective digital publishing MA student at Oxford Brookes University in the UK, this will be my first professional expedition into the world of publishing. I couldn’t be happier to be learning the ropes and connecting with industry professionals while interning with such a great representative of diverse and independent publishers.
My journey into publishing has thus far been as full of unexpected turns and plot twists as an installment in the Robert Langdon series. In January 2018, with a psychology degree and professional experience in higher education, events management and sales under my belt, I packed up a 15kg backpack, deferred my MA in advertising and marketing at the University of Leeds and boarded a one-way flight with a savings account ready to satisfy the fellas at Australian Immigration.
Armed with a single-minded ambition to live in Melbourne, The Most Liveable City in the World (cheers Google), the next 18 months found me embarking on my own adventure story. Somewhere between diving in the reef and milking cows in 40-degree heat, I finally realised an ambition that had been brewing since the age of nine when I tearfully presented my parents with a list of plot holes in Harry Potter, and knew I wanted to dedicate the rest of my professional life to publishing books. I secured myself a top-notch university place and subscribed to an unattainable number of book podcasts.
I currently fund my Books + Publishing subscription by doling out administrative support to Melbourne’s infrastructure industry and pulling pints at Young & Jackson. On days off you can find me adding to my ever-increasing reservations list at the City Library and planning my future vegetable patch on Pinterest. If I was Julie Andrews (or Ariana Grande), my version of My Favourite Things would include Chai Lattes, Sherlock—BBC version only thanks—and Sundays spent experimenting in the kitchen. I’m also a big fan of brown paper packages tied up with string.
I am so excited to combine my experience in events management, obsessive love of books and passion for new experiences in working alongside Vidisha, Bridget and the extended Small Press Network team to present another fantastic Independent Publishing Conference for 2019. I look forward to meeting you all at the conference, and until then you can catch me on Twitter and LinkedIn.