How Does Publishing Work?

The Team Behind Aziza’s Secret Fairy Door Explain

By Annabella Costantino – Founder’s Assistant at Storymix

Publishing is a vibrant, fast-paced and dynamic industry to work in, particularly in the children’s sector. But to those that don’t work in the industry, it can seem like a bit of an enigma! The industry landscape is always evolving and in 2021, it is all the more important to demystify publishing processes, to create an industry that is more reflective of our society. There are many career routes into publishing, in a wide selection of departments ranging from Editorial, Design and Sales, to Marketing, PR and Rights. At its heart, publishing is a collaborative business, with endless possibilities.

This June, inclusive children’s book studio, Storymix, celebrated the launch of Aziza’s Secret Fairy Door, which is published by Macmillan Children’s Books. This magical adventure is for readers aged 6+, with beautiful illustrations by Cory Reid and co-written by Jasmine Richards and Tọlá Okogwu, who together, write as Lola Morayo. Aziza’s Secret Fairy Door follows the main character, Aziza, as she is gifted a secret fairy door for her birthday – only to be whisked away to a whole other world of magic and mischief, in the kingdom of Shimmerton! When some fairies steal the doorknob she needs to get home, she has to find a way back…

With the aim of demystifying the world of the publishing, some members of the team at Storymix and Macmillan share their experiences in their contributions to the creation and publication of Aziza’s Secret Fairy Door. Storymix came up with the idea for Aziza’s Secret Fairy Door - the easiest way to describe Storymix is like a movie producer, but for books! They are a children’s book incubator with a social purpose, seeking to create heroes for every child.

As you can see from some of the minds that helped bring Aziza’s Secret Fairy Door to life, the publishing process happens both in-house and out of house, collaborating with creatives to create high-quality publications. But what does each department do, exactly?

If every publishing house had a room for each department, the Editorial team would be the most connected. It’s like the kitchen of a home: a hub of activity, acquiring books and overseeing most publishing processes. Editorial manages a story in all stages of its lifetime, even beyond the book reaching bookshelves.

For all of this and more on departments such as Digital, Operations, Communications, Insight & Audience, HR and Distribution, have a read of Hachette UK’s A Guide to Publishing, available for free download here. Some other resources we recommend are The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI), as well as The Society of Young Publishers (SYP) and their Inside Publishing podcast. Aziza’s Secret Fairy Door is available to buy in all good book shops, online and in-store now!

To read more about Storymix’s ethos and how to work with them, check out their website here.

To keep updated on Tọlá’s latest writing adventures, you can follow her Instagram page.

You can follow Cory’s creative journey on Instagram.

You can find out more about Sarah on the Macmillan Children’s Books website.

To see more of Cheyney’s campaign work, you can check out her Twitter here.

Follow theFounder’s Assistant Annabella Costantino at Storymix on twitter

Thank you to everyone at Storymix & Macmillan Children’s Books for sharing what goes on in the publishing industry to get a book together start to finish. Such a wonderful piece put together by Anabella Costantino.