From the Writing Center to Penguin Random House

English and American studies alum Jordan Aaronson ’16 touts her experiences at UMD with helping her land a dream job in publishing.

By Rosie Grant  

In 2017, English and American studies alum Jordan Aaronson ’16 was handed a copy of a beautiful new novel titled “Where the Crawdads Sing” by a little known author named Delia Owens. As a marketer at Penguin Random House, one of the largest publishing houses in the world, Aaronson and her team executed a marketing strategy involving ads and social media.

The following year when “Crawdads” went on sale, the book was chosen as a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. It quickly became a bestseller, and stayed one—for over 100 weeks. Three years later, the book had sold over 10 million copies.

“Even when a book is a book club pick, the hype usually simmers after a few weeks—not the case with this,” Aaronson said. “After we saw the continued success, we continued our marketing plans with more advertising campaigns and seasonal promotions and partnerships with brands to help boost the book's popularity for as long as we could.”

“Where the Crawdads Sing” is among the many exciting projects Aaronson has worked on while at Penguin, where she wears many hats—from formerly pitching and marketing book titles, to reading submissions and managing social media accounts. Now a marketing manager at the company, she recently supported new titles like “The Comfort Book,” by “The Midnight Library” author Matt Haig.  

“Working in publishing is a dream come true for me,” Aaronson said.

Aaronson credits her time at UMD for preparing her to work in the industry. After beginning as an American studies major, she added the English major her first semester of sophomore year after realizing that the two disciplines were complementary.

“I learned a lot about different people and cultures and experiences from both majors—just through different lenses,” she said. “Books, poetry and short stories on the English side, and movies/TV, music and lived experiences on the American studies side.”

Aaronson loved to write short stories and enjoyed reading her classmates’ work. So, her sophomore year, she applied to become a writing tutor at the UMD Writing Center, a place where students from across campus can come to find support on writing assignments. In the role, which she held until graduation, she worked with a range of students from multiple disciplines and backgrounds.

“You get to read and assess every type of writing—business, religions, history, poetry,” she said.

During her senior year, she also landed an internship with Island Press, a D.C.-based nonprofit, environmental publishing house, where she managed and evaluated book proposals and manuscript submissions. She knew from there that she wanted to go into publishing.

After graduation, Aaronson completed a six-week intensive grad program at Columbia University, the Columbia Publishing Course, to learn everything she could about the industry. Through her growing network, she heard about an opening at Penguin and applied. Three interviews later, she received a job offer.

Aaronson said the tight-knit UMD English department allowed her to develop relationships with professors and cultivate skills essential for working in the industry, like networking, discussing books and understanding what “makes a book a classic.”

She advises students looking to get into publishing to seek out editorial assistantships or other roles at small companies before pursuing larger publishing houses. But she recommends looking beyond the industry, too, as there are myriad ways to build the necessary skills.

“Being a tutor taught me to think critically about the audience, something so important going into publishing,” Aaronson said. “You’ve got to think outside the box.”