Welcome to The 9 To 5, our ongoing series where we highlight and interview creative professionals doing great things. Today’s profile is on Carolyn McNeillie, Digital Marketing Manager at House of Anansi.
1. What’s it like to work in an office surrounded by books and book-lovers?
I’ll never forget the morning of my first day of work. It was May, so it was just starting to become warm, and I came in early (probably the first and last time I’ve been early for anything.) The office was still nearly empty and the light was streaming in, and the path I walked through to get to my desk was lined on both sides with books—ones that I’d read and loved, ones that I had wanted to read, ones that I hadn’t seen before. I don’t know how to describe the way I felt about it except that I knew I had found a place I wanted to be a part of.
You can’t truly have a bad day, working in a place like this. All you have to do is to look at the books on the shelves and the kindred spirits in the other desks and you remember why it’s all worth it.
2. When did you first know you wanted a career in digital marketing?
I really fell into digital marketing. I knew I wanted to work with books, and this is where my experience and aptitudes took me. When I started working in publishing, I floundered around from department to department — I started out in an editorial internship, and then I worked in the digital publishing arm of the Association of Canadian Publishers, and then I covered a maternity leave in the production department of another independent press in the city. But in each of these positions I would find myself creating projects in the digital marketing space — I made a book trailer during my editorial internship, I relaunched the website at the ACP — projects like this. And this was the work that felt the most rewarding.
Be open minded and try new things. I think you get the best destination when you take an indirect path.
Through contacts I made along the way, I was offered my current position, and it’s been a great fit.
3. Are there any challenges in being a one-person digital marketing department?
There certainly are challenges to being a department of one. There’s the obvious question of workload, which is exacerbated by the fact that I really work for two companies, Anansi and the children’s publishing arm, Groundwood Books, which has a completely different target and approach to marketing. But there’s more abstract challenges too. When I’m working alone I often wish I had someone to talk to and to bounce ideas off of. Currently I have a wonderful intern I’m working with, and he certainly helps take off some of the pressure and with his help we can get more done in a day, but it’s also really wonderful to have someone on the same team who is on the same wavelength. Of course, I do get to work with people in other departments, so it’s not as lonely as I might make it sound, but it’s not the same as really working closely with someone on the same project.
4. Going off of the previous question, what are the challenges, if any, that are unique when it comes to digital marketing for a publishing house?
Different publishers have different challenges, but one that we all have in common is that every book is a completely different beast. The audience from one will be completely different from another and with each title you have to rethink your approach. More specifically to Anansi, we sell books directly from our website, and this can put us in conflict with our closest allies: booksellers. It’s a fine line to try to promote each book as a singular entity, and to also promote Anansi as a brand, and to channel traffic toward our online store, but also to try to make retailers — the biggies and the independents — feel supported. I don’t think we always hit that mark.
5. House of Anansi recently ran this Valentines Day promotion with Soma Chocolatemaker—what’s the importance of doing things that are personally curated and hand selected for your audience?
We relaunched our website in November last year, and we’re really excited about the new opportunities the site opens up. One of the cool things about working at Anansi is that the whole office is an archive. It doesn’t take much exploring to find all these fascinating caches of ephemera we’ve collected over the years. With the new website we’ve been experimenting with bringing those things out of closets and boxes, and making them available to customers and collectors. Our signed editions shop is an example of that.
The Valentine’s promotion was an extension of that as well. Every year we publish a few really excellent collections of Canadian poetry. We’re known for it. We through a big party to celebrate and it’s always a gong show. As part of these poetry launches, we’ve been making these letter pressed posters with Coach House Press that feature a poem from the new collection. We print 50 for each book. Up until now, we would sell the posters at these poetry bashes, give a handful to the author, and then tuck the rest away.
Different publishers have different challenges, but one that we all have in common is that every book is a completely different beast.
This year we pulled out this awesome love poem by Michael Crummey called “Getting the Marriage Into Bed”. We had 20 left, so we wrapped them up like big valentines and partnered with Soma Chocoloate which is a local boutique chocolate maker. We thought that there was a relevant overlap of Soma fans and Anansi fans, and partnering allowed us to sell these beautiful chocolates from our website, and reach new customers through Soma’s social media channels. The promotion was a success. We got Michael’s broadsheets out of our office and into peoples’ collections, and the project was a great branding exercise as well. It was something that people talked about. It was so gratifying on Valentine’s Day to see the packages pop up on people’s Instagram and Twitter feeds too. We’ll certainly continue to pursue projects like this one.
6. What do you do outside of the office to become a better digital marketing manager inside the office?
It’s important not to become stale and lean too much on old habits. Especially in the digital space which is constantly evolving. I’m always trying to tap into resources for digital marketers — there’s lots of great podcasts and blogs and conferences to draw from. And I’m a noodler. I noodle around on my own projects and interests, and bring what I learned into the office and fold it into the work I do for Anansi and Groundwood.
7. What do you know now that you wish someone might have explained to you before entering your position or industry?
In general at the beginning of any endeavour I should probably be reminded to relax and not take things too seriously.
8. What is one piece of advice you have for any young digital marketer about to graduate from university?
Be open minded and try new things. I think you get the best destination when you take an indirect path.
9. What’s your personal preference, paperback or eBook?
I oscillate between reading paperbacks, reading manuscripts on my phone (especially when they’re not in print yet) and listening to audiobooks (especially when I’m working on a project that I need my hands and eyes for.) It depends on the circumstance and the book. I do have an e-reader and a tablet kicking around, but I never read on them.
10. What book are you reading right now?
Right now I’m reading a lovely poetic fan-fiction about Kurt Cobain called Where Did You Sleep Last Night by Lynn Crosbie and an advance copy of Patrick deWitt’s new novel, Undermajordomo Minor. I’m also re-reading One Hundred Years of Solitude as an ebook while I work on knitting at home.
12. What’s the best part of your job?
The best part of my job is that if I get a sudden inspiration, I can drop everything and pounce on it. Those are some of the most rewarding projects.