Overview
The Scheme is for voices we want to hear more of in publishing. Could yours be one of them? Make your mark by spending six months between January – July 2026 working with the best at the number one publisher in the UK. You’ll immerse yourself within one of our key business areas, learning the ropes, taking ownership of projects and contributing to our mission to make books for everyone.
Whatever team you’re placed with, you’ll gain universally applicable skills that will equip you for wherever you go next. We’ll teach you about all publishing and Penguin, and support you to make the next steps in your career journey.
The Scheme is for people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. If you meet this eligibility criteria but perhaps you’re changing careers, don’t have a degree, or haven’t often seen yourself reflected in publishing, we’d love you to apply! Whatever your gender, background, or community, we want to hear your story.
All trainees are paid £25,500 per annum (equivalent to £12,750 for the six months of the traineeship). We also offer a travel bursary for those commuting from outside of London.
About Jonathan Cape
At Jonathan Cape our publishing has been setting trends for a century. Our carefully curated list, respected and admired across the globe, ranges from commercial to literary fiction, pioneering graphic novels to award-winning poetry, and rich non-fiction spanning memoir, nature writing and ground-breaking ideas books. But regardless of form or genre, excellence, and a rebellious and courageous spirit, is at the heart of all we publish. Our recent titles include What We Can Know by Ian McEwan, The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong, Politics on the Edge by Rory Stewart and the winner of the 2024 Booker Prize, Orbital by Samantha Harvey.
Responsibilities
As an editorial trainee with Jonathan Cape, you’ll gain an overview of the publishing and commissioning work that takes place within an award-winning literary fiction and non-fiction imprint. You’ll be involved in four key areas:
* helping to prepare our spring and summer books for success;
* researching and helping to develop ideas for new publishing projects;
* contributing to a reissue programme of novels;
* working with the Senior Commissioning Editor on paperback planning.
Knowledge and skills you’ll gain: an insight into all aspects of editorial and the lifecycle of books; researching book ideas and offering feedback on manuscripts and book proposals; project management skills; organisational skills; market awareness; IT proficiency across Microsoft Office, Biblio, PowerBI, Bookscan and Keyword Management System.
Eligibility Criteria
To apply, you’ll need to have a pre-existing right to work in the UK for the duration of the traineeship as unfortunately we are not able to offer visa sponsorship. You don’t need a degree, you just need to be over 18.
To achieve our mission to make books for everyone because a book can change anyone, we are seeking out new voices. To apply, you’ll need to identify as from a lower socio-economic background.
We use parental occupation at age 14 to measure this as the Social Mobility Commission suggests it to be the most accurate measure available to assess socio-economic background, as well as being accessible to those from all nationalities.
To apply for The Scheme, at age 14 your highest-earning parent/guardian was not in management and was employed in one of the following categories:
* technical and craft occupations such as motor mechanic, plumber, printer, electrician, gardener, train driver
* routine, semi-routine manual and service occupations such as postal worker, machine operative, security guard, caretaker, farm worker, catering assistant, sales assistant, HGV driver, cleaner, porter, packer, labourer, waiter or waitress, bar staff
* unemployed (claimed Jobseeker’s Allowance or earlier unemployment benefit for more than a year)
Application
If you love great writing and storytelling, and are curious about new ideas and creative work, this could be the role for you.
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