Welcome! First things first, tell us who you are and a bit about your career to date.
Niall – I’m Niall Kennedy. I’m originally from the North of Scotland, now based near Leeds in the North of England. I began working in bookselling and moved to working in academic publishing around 14 years ago, mainly in Books Editorial roles. I have previously worked for Routledge, Emerald Publishing, and Peter Lang.
Claire – Hello! I’m Claire Jackson and I joined 67 Bricks as Publishing Consultant in December 2022. I’ve been in publishing for over 20 years, primarily in academic publishing. I started out working in legal looseleafs at Sweet & Maxwell as an editorial assistant and since then have worked across journals, books and teaching cases in a range of commissioning and project management roles. I’ve worked at Emerald for a lot of this time and also at a start-up publisher and as a freelance publishing consultant.
Thanks! Let’s dig a little deeper – tell us about your previous role. Why did you decide to change?
Niall – I was Senior Acquisitions Editor for Media and Communication books at Peter Lang. I decided to change because I had been working in a book’s commissioning role for a number of years and wanted a new challenge in a new area that was more engaged with digital developments. ( Challenging role in a digital set up)
Claire – I was fortunate at Emerald to have had the opportunity to work across a varied range of roles – my most recent was as Head of Community Engagement which included a focus on understanding how publishers could better support the publication and impact of mission-led research, particularly that aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals. This work, and my role as an SDG Publishers Compact Fellow, really highlighted to me the need for evolution in the industry to support the needs of the research community. I was excited about the opportunity to apply the experience I’ve built up in a different context, to support a range of organisations more directly in achieving their digital transformation goals.
What made you interested in joining 67 Bricks?
Niall – I liked that the company worked with scholarly publishers, which is an industry I know well, but that they have a client base beyond this too. I think that 67 Bricks focus on the digital transformation of these industries and thinking about ways in which they can help organisations to achieve this is really exciting.
Claire – I’d seen 67 Bricks in action (both through my work at Emerald, activity on LinkedIn etc and out and about at conferences etc) and been so impressed with their approach and passion for the industry. I knew that they were a trusted and respected partner to a wide range of publishers, and also won/were nominated for a lot of awards! The ‘critical friend’ approach meant that the role of Publishing Consultant offered scope to add real value. It’s not just a case of getting in, delivering what’s asked regardless of whether or not it’s the right thing to do, and getting out again.
How did you end up working in the publishing industry? Why did you stay?
Niall – I came to publishing as I was working in bookselling after university and having trained as a journalist, I thought I might have some transferable skills that would be relevant in an editorial role. I really enjoyed getting to engage with research, developing products to help with teaching, and being commercially focussed. I also really enjoyed working with academics and also with a wide range of great people working in different roles within the industry. I also got the opportunity to travel all over the world, which was very cool too!
Claire – I completed a PgDip in Publishing at the London College of Printing after I graduated, with the aim of working at one of the big fiction houses and commissioning the next bestseller. I quickly realised that there were other very interesting forms of publishing and (with student debt and living in London) that fiction salaries weren’t going to keep the lights on! I fell into a role as editorial assistant at Sweet & Maxwell which turned out to be a valuable grounding in working with authors and the very early stages of digital publishing, and moved from there into academic publishing where I’ve stayed ever since. I love the fast-paced nature of the industry – there are a lot of challenges but also lots of fantastic opportunities. I also love the opportunity to immerse yourself in fields and topics that are completely new to you and combine your industry knowledge with those who are really expert about, and passionate in, that area, to achieve great things.
How would you say the publishing industry has changed over time? Has it?
Niall – I think there are definite changes in terms of revenue streams and the need to engage with new forms of technology. I think the need to develop products and services that solve problems and provide learning and research solutions will remain for a long time to come.
Claire – One of the things I’ve loved most about working in publishing is that it never stands still.. As a journals publishing editor nearly 20 years ago I used to receive the copy for my issues in a jiffy bag through the post and authors would throw their submissions into a void with no sight of where they were at in the review process. Researchers now expect better and, in a highly competitive publishing environment, have choices. Publishers are juggling pressures to deliver high quality content at speed, facilitate the reach of research to ensure maximum impact (both in terms of citations and making a genuine difference in the world), and ensure equity and transparency while also looking more widely at what their role could/should be beyond publication. There’s a lot to do, but this also brings fantastic opportunities to reevaluate where the industry can add the most value and develop services and products to support this.
What are your favourite things so far about being a 67-Bricker?
Niall – Everyone has been really welcoming and supportive and I can tell that I’m surrounded by colleagues who have a great range and depth of knowledge and experience which I’ll hopefully be able to draw on the work that I’m doing with clients.
Claire – I am definitely not bored – each day brings new things to learn but the support is fantastic, and colleagues have been extremely patient as I get up to speed. There’s a strong and supportive learning and development culture here and I’ve been encouraged to ask lots of questions and suggest ways the onboarding experience could be developed.
Anything exciting you’ve learned already?
Niall – I’ve been getting to grips with software like Slack, Trello and Miro in a lot more depth and I’m starting to broaden my knowledge of product management skills, which is really helpful. I’ve also been ‘buddied up’ with one of the software developers, which has given me a new perspective on their approaches to solving problems, which has been really useful.
Claire – The scale of the work 67 Bricks offers to clients – I was most familiar with the work on platform builds but the partnerships extend much more widely across product strategy and innovation and I can see already that no two projects will be the same. I’ve also learned that Oxford is a fantastic city and I’m looking forward to spending more time there! 
Did you have any misconceptions about what we do? What were they?
Niall – That publishing consultants would have to have lots of prior technical knowledge with software development. The team is very collaborative and you are always working with developers who bring that experience and insight, so you don’t need to!
Claire – I was very aware of the brilliant work 67 Bricks does in the academic publishing space but hadn’t realised how many great clients they have in the broader information industries.
What are you most excited about getting stuck into in your new role?
Niall – Working with clients, exploring new commercial opportunities, and expanding my own knowledge.
Claire – I’m really excited to be able to apply the experience I’ve built up so far in new contexts – my roles have often spanned elements of project and product management alongside strategy development and relationship management, and I’m looking forward to drawing on these skills to add value to my clients’ work. I know from speaking to publishing consultants who’ve been with 67 Bricks a while that one of the great things about the role is the knowledge that you’re constantly moving projects forward and feeling like you’ve achieved something tangible each day.
What would you say to anyone considering applying for a job with us?
Niall – Go for it! There is a really encouraging and supportive environment and if you’re open to expanding your own knowledge base and skillset and learning new things then there are opportunities to do it. I’m really happy to be with the company and looking forward to learning and doing more!
Claire – I nearly didn’t apply for the Publishing Consultant role because I’m not from a technology background – many roles in publishing are now agile-adjacent so I had the basics, but I’d never worked directly on sprints etc. But the interview process itself was very encouraging and made me realise the value of the industry experience I could bring. 67 Bricks is full of clever, helpful people and has a strong one-team culture, so you don’t need to be an expert at everything, just be willing to get stuck in and ask questions when you don’t know the answer!
