Publishing a book is an exciting and daunting prospect for all aspiring authors, but its people like Jemma Green who make it all a little less scary. A Book Publicist with Melbourne University Publishing, Jemma helps authors share their books with the big wide world.
I came across a video of hers and reached out to ask if she’d be interested in an interview with me. Jemma kindly agreed, and we were off. Please enjoy reading her responses as much as I did.
The Interview
CD: So Jemma, I like asking an icebreaker question to start these off, because I like how they give us insight into who you think yourself to be! Your question is: what would you request to eat in your last meal?
JG: It’s funny you ask me this because it’s a question I often put to people I’m meeting for the first time too! Easily steak and chips (specifically chips with lots of chicken salt, like those you get from a kebab or fish and chips shop). It’s not only delicious but reminds me of my dad who often makes this for me on my birthday.
CD: That’s so sweet! You’re a woman after my own heart, as I love super salty chips too. Okay, onto the important stuff: who is Jemma?
JG: Such an existential question—someone call Renee Descartes.
Well, I’m a coffee lover, rock-climber, very slow (though enthusiastic) reader of fantasy, non-fiction, and literary fiction, and a Brisbane girl. I’m a big sister, a daughter, a girlfriend, and a friend.
I’m also a writer—or at least I try to be. I have a Bachelor in Fine Arts majoring in Creative Writing from QUT and a Graduate Certificate in Writing, Editing, and Publishing from UQ. I was a bookseller at Dymocks for close to three years and the Head of Social Media and Marketing at the arts and literary publication Jacaranda Journal for a year and a half. I loved working in both of these roles. At Dymocks, I was introduced to so many new books. At Jacaranda, I was lucky enough to discover my passion for essay and newsletter-writing.
Currently, I’m in my career-ambitious-baddie stage of life. I’ve just started my dream job (and first full-time job) as a book publicist with Melbourne University Publishing and have moved to Melbourne for the role! A very scary and very exciting transition into professionalism. And—shameless plug—(CD: Please!) I am also having a crack at running my own bookstagram account (@girlinhertwentiess) and making my own YouTube vlogs (@girlinhertwentiesss). Oh! And I’m also a judge for the 2027 Aurealis Awards children’s section.
CD: Wow, it seems like you’ve lived a dozen bookish lives already, that’s awesome. Let’s go back for a quick moment to your university days. Did you have any classes, assignments or experiences that have stuck with you, even years later?
JG: At university, I loved the practical industry experience I got. During my undergrad I did a unit called Situated Creative Practice where I worked with my fellow students to create a magazine called ScratchThat. I loved the experience of pulling together a publication from concept to a physical thing. And then in my postgrad I was lucky enough to intern with the children’s publisher Riveted Press which taught me so, so much.
CD: That’s awesome, and no doubt helped you to get where you are today. Speaking of which, you’re now a book publicist, which sounds very cool and official. Where are you working, how did you land this role, and what does your day-to-day look like?
JG: As I mentioned earlier, I am a publicist at Melbourne University Publishing (MUP), a 104-year-old press that publishes non-fiction titles. I was quite shocked when I was asked to interview for this role. I applied thinking I would never hear back, especially for the role of publicist. Although I had relevant industry education and experience, I had never imagined myself as a publicist—never realised it was even a job I could do. After reading the job description, however, I felt that I might be a good fit.
I had, at this point, received a large amount of rejection from other publishers and jobs, which is very normal. Publishing is a notoriously tough industry to work in, especially for newbies. So I decided to have some fun with my application, thinking I wouldn’t hear back anyway. I set my cover letter out like a novel, putting MUP’s company logo on it as the ‘publisher’. I posted on my Instagram about the cover letter, shamelessly tagging MUP in my caption that read, ‘Come on you know you wanna hire me’. It was very bold and cheeky of me. But I was sort of past the point of thinking I’d get the job, so I thought, ‘why not?’.
Then they called me. Asked me to come in for an interview. I lived in Brisbane at the time and the interview was in Melbourne, and although it was not required of me, I decided to fly down for the interview—And I wanted this job BAD. I did my homework. Made flashcards of the publisher’s upcoming books so I could memorise what they were and what they were about. I went through hours of practice questions. I friended my interviewers on LinkedIn and created a mock-up publicity campaign to bring with me. I read as many of their books as I could before the interview.
Thankfully, my work paid off and I was hired! Although I haven’t been there long, I’m already working on my own publicity campaigns and attending book launches. Day-to-day I do a LOT of emailing. Publicity is a lot of behind-the-scenes work, including pitching books to media outlets for interview or review coverage, liaising with venues and event organisers for book launches, and talking to authors about them and their book. I also go to meetings with other departments in the publisher, work on some social media content, and get to attend book launches!
CD: That sounds so cool, and it looks like you have plenty of fun with it too! Let’s talk about Bookstagram however, which is where I first came across you. Bookstagram and Booktok has had such an immense impact on the literary and publishing world. You have an account, and no doubt see plenty of them yourself. How do you reflect on the importance of this ever-growing bookish space, especially as a female-dominated place?
JG: That’s a very interesting question. To be honest, I’m in two minds about communities like Bookstagram. As someone who has worked in publishing, and other book-related fields for a few years now, and as someone present on these apps, I find them both wonderful and terrible. Like all social media sub-cultures I fear that Bookstagram has become a sort of consumerist echo-chamber.
While it was originally a platform to discuss reading, recommend books, and to gush about our fav characters and worlds, I feel like now it’s an outlet for fast-fashion-book-hype. The same mass market titles are recommended over and over again. I feel like every other Bookstagram post I see is about how to make Bookstagram posts and how to get engagement. It’s fostered a culture of consumerism, where owning ‘trophy’ books is the norm, doing book hauls is expected, and having the most beautiful hard covers with sprayed edges is more important than having an original story to read.
And it’s undoubtedly affected how publishers choose manuscripts. Books seem more likely to be picked up if they contain the popular tropes, story-structures, and genres that publishers feel are guaranteed to sell copies. This is why we are plagued with the 6’7 shadow-daddies that have vague skin tones and countless tattoos.
All that said, Bookstagram is also a community that has, like you said, grown the industry significantly. And as a women’s-dominated space it has provided opportunities to so many who otherwise would not have had them. It has allowed Indie publishers to flourish, self-published authors to get on the trad-publishing track, and in many ways has created a positive and fun space for ordinary people such as myself to create content and connect with community. It has also encouraged society to place women’s needs—particularly their romantic and sexual needs—in a place of higher importance through the popularisation of romance novels. And while I think there are dangers here too—e.g. the influence of dark romance on normalising abuse—I do believe that bringing women’s issues into the forefront of social consciousness through the existence of Bookstagram is a crucial benefit that the online subculture has given us.
CD: I think that’s a very reasonable response, it has created such amazing opportunities for some while simultaneously limiting who and what can be part of the ‘in crowd’. I also appreciate the positive conversations it’s opened up around women’s romantic and sexual needs and desires though the rise of dark romance has been concerning, to say the least. It will be interesting to see how this all develops…
CD: On top of your work as a publicist, you’re also a writer yourself! What drew you to writing? What are you currently working on?
JG: I’d say I’m more of a waiter than a writer because I procrastinate so much and often feel I can’t write unless the stars align for me to be in the mood for it. I never knew I wanted to be a writer until I got into fan fiction. Like so many writers AO3 was my gateway into the profession. I got really into Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA) during COVID and needed fanfic to fill the gaps that the story didn’t (controversial but I was a hardcore Zutara shipper and I stand by it).
Eventually when I’d exhausted the archives of AO3, Wattpad, Tumblr, and even Fanfic.Net it became time for me to write my own fics. I ended up taking a creative writing course in my teaching degree at the time because of how much I enjoyed writing fanfic, and after this, and unsatisfied with teaching, I transferred into a creative writing degree.
I’ve written a lot. I’ve published poems, short stories, essays. But right now I’m working on my debut novel, Witchfinder. It’s like The Cruel Prince meets Merlin: political scheming, outlawed magic, an FMC with a thirst for vengeance and a bastard prince with a nasty temperament. That’s what I hope it’s going to be anyway haha.
CD: A Zutara shipper?! On my blog?! Haha, I’ll allow it because ATLA was one of my favourite shows too, and I also got my start in fanfic writing about this show! Are we secretly twins? Just kidding, but your book sounds amazing. I adored Merlin growing up, so any stories that give off that kind of vibe are always going to be my cup of tea!
CD: One more serious question, if I may! There’s a lot of fear mongering out there nowadays with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the growing literacy crisis. What are your thoughts about this? Should we be scared, or is there hope on the horizon?
JG: Honestly I don’t feel qualified to answer this haha. While AI definitely comes with its problems I do think that, like you said, it also inspires a degree of fear-mongering and witch-hunting.
Do I think AI raises valid concerns over plagiarism? Yes.
Do I think it is becoming harder to tell when people have used generative-AI to produce their work? Also yes.
Do I think AI is the driving force behind the literacy crisis? No.
The literacy crisis, while not entirely separated from the impacts of AI (I mean we don’t live in a vacuum) is driven by a lack of government investment in reading and libraries, a dropping quality in education, and a cultural attitude that prioritises STEM fields over literary or artistic pursuits. Aside from this, the existence of constant communication and stimulation through our phones, social media, and streaming services has, I feel, lowered our attention spans and media literacy. And while books are more popular than they have been in recent years, it seems to me that people tend to opt for escapist fiction that spoon-feeds them plot lines as a distraction from the intense hustle of capitalist society.
We want to turn our brains off in order to relax. We want to not be on. In trying to relax all the time however, we are losing our ability to comprehend, to question, and to read critically. And I don’t see any hope for improving this in the short term. We need to wake up.
CD: Amen sister! Thank you for that, I know it’s a big topic but it’s always interesting to hear what people have to say! Back to the fun stuff… What is your biggest dream in regards to this literary space?
JG: Oh my biggest dream is 100% to be a published author who makes millions and get’s my own TV show. Who wouldn’t want that? The validation that comes from someone loving what you write is like a rush. It’s easy to become addicted to that feeling.
I do think that I’ve gone into the wrong career for making millions though. But making enough money to live comfortably, to give back to my parents—help pay off my Mum’s mortgage, help my Dad and his partner buy their own house—that would be a dream. And to make that money by creating characters and worlds that can make other people happy? That would be perfect. Also I want to make people cry. I think the mark of a good book is if it can make a reader cry. I’d love to make lots of people cry.
CD: I’ve always believed that is the mark of a good artist! Making people feel your work is not easy to do!
JG: On the other hand, I think I’d love to be a hotshot publicist or literary agent helping other authors bring their books into the world. That’s sort of what I’m doing right now, and I’m sure the more I do it the more it will become my one and only dream. In this case though, it’s probably better if I don’t make people cry.
CD: You’re already living out a book-lover’s dream! Last but not least, as an avid reader, you must have some good book recommendations to share with us!
JG: Indeed! The Cruel Prince by Holly Black will forever be my go-to recommendation. It’s my favourite book series of all time. I think it imprinted on me as a teen when I first read it.
Aside from this, any of Claire Keegan’s work. She’s a brilliant writer and a masterclass in how to write succinctly but vividly. A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid is another one I loved and one that is too underrated.
My favourite non-fiction book is definitely Conversations on Love by Natasha Lunn. I found this book during a tumultuous period of my life, navigating the uncertainty of my first relationship and the intensity of an anxiety disorder. Along this vein, I also want to recommend Laura Bates’ books. I haven’t read any but I love the topics and have heard only good things.
CD: Those all sound amazing, thank you for the recommendations, and thank you again for this interview. I’ve really enjoyed it, and I hope our readers will too!
You can find Jemma on Instagram here @girlinhertwentiess and on YouTube here @girlinhertwentiesss.
Until next time, x
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