My Lunch is my Gyro

On I go with the filing. It is almost done so I will feel very accomplished once this large task is completed. However, filing was only a small part of my duties the past couple of days. As a matter of fact, I actually got to use Photoshop today which was extremely exciting. And since I was using Photoshop, you know that I got my Penguin Employee login, email, and very soon, my id badge. Excellent.

I learned some more about the company, and I have some minor corrections to some of my previous statements. I am not the only design intern, but I am the only design intern of my kind, which it seems is  young readers and covers multiple "imprints" of the company such as Razorbill, Speak, Puffin, and other such imprints. Apparently an imprint is a sort of brand within penguin group. Each imprint has a target audience I think. I'll keep getting educated and sharing some of my knowledge. 

I also received my internship schedule today, which outlines my entire 10 week experience. It is incredible. Is is like a one on one publishing camp with a different focus each week. This week I am working with a supervisor who is over pre-production, budgets, and other things. It is a great way to start out because it gives me an overview of the process from its earliest phases. This whole experience is penguiriffic and best of all, I get to work with art directors and designers who are extremely talented and incredibly nice. 

Did I mention that my co-workers are incredibly nice? They are. One of the designers brought me a cookie from Jacques Torres, which is a fine candy store they were talking about in a meeting. It was about 80% chocolate and 20% cookie. That is a literal percentage. 

There are a couple of break rooms on my floor. Both of which have hot chocolate as an alternative to coffee. They must've heard I was comin!

Oh, and food is in no short supply around Hudson St. There are lots of places to eat, but already I have fallen for the street vendors. It's a sort of addiction. Here is an image of a lamb gyro that is absolutely phenomenal. If you've never had a lamb gyro, the meat is like a firm meatloaf that is slightly crunchy on the outside and very tender. Absolutely no gristle or fattiness in it. They put a white sauce on the gyro which is like a mild mayo/ranch. Very much legit. 

I also stand corrected about the image I posted on day one. Technically 375 has some Penguin offices in it, and that is where my training was, but I work in THIS building, which is 345 Hudson St. My office is on the 15th floor. 

Some take home lessons from today: 

1. Getting a book published is a small miracle. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of submissions, levels and levels of approval, and, out of necessity, a ruthless weeding-out process throughout. 

2. If the company hires an illustrator to do a book cover, and the book gets axed before publication, the illustrator is paid a "kill fee" which pretty much means they get paid anyway! Niiiice. 

Bonuses! Turns out as an employee of Penguin I receive discounts on movie tickets, broadway tickets, and tickets to six flags. Right on!

Oh and one more thing. There are "take shelves" at work. Books for free for employees. I mean, obviously we can't sell them or anything. I already got like 12 beautiful books!