'Making a difference to people’s lives—that’s special'—Petra Green, head of the Publishing Training Centre

Petra Green, Head of the Publishing Training Centre talks about her life in publishing

How I started

My first job in publishing was at Macmillan Press, as Promotions & Market Research Executive.

I hadn’t thought about what I would do after university until a friend mentioned publishing. A light went on in my brain, and I thought ‘I could do that!’, so I applied to two graduate schemes.

The recruitment process involved several rounds, ending in a buffet lunch with the directors. The other six candidates were also female and – I kid you not – all called Catherine. So it was easy for me to stand out.

I hadn’t thought about what I would do after university until a friend mentioned publishing

My job was to market hardback reference works, such as The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, Palgrave’s Dictionary of Economics and The RHS Encyclopaedia. I was given a budget for each title, and had to devise and implement campaigns. Macmillan sent me on lots of training courses and my colleagues gave advice and support. It was a good grounding for the future.

Where I work now

I’m a freelance publishing consultant, and have been since I left my job as Marketing Director at Bloomsbury Publishing in early 2019. My main role is working as Head of the Publishing Training Centre (PTC), 3 days a week. On my other two days, I sit on two charity boards as a non-executive director/trustee.

The best thing about my role

Two things: the people and the variety. I work with a small, committed and experienced team who’ve all been at the PTC longer than I have. We’re fully remote now, but speak regularly and see each other on Teams. There are lots of other stakeholders – the Board, tutors, authors, students, partners – and it’s great to work with them all.

I work with a small, committed and experienced team

The job is varied, too. I do everything from researching and commissioning new courses to testing new software to proofreading promotional emails. No two days are the same, and I like that.

A mistake I made

I took a pay cut and moved to a job-share in order to work part-time and closer to home. In retrospect, it wasn’t a good idea. I resented the situation from day one, and never really enjoyed the role.

My proudest moment so far

As I get older, seeing other people flourish and succeed is more rewarding than anything that I do. Watching people that I’ve hired or mentored be promoted or take on a new position is great. Delivering results for your employer is fine, but making a difference to people’s lives – that’s special.

As I get older, seeing other people flourish and succeed is more rewarding than anything that I do

What the future holds

For training, shorter, cheaper and quicker courses, delivered across more platforms and media in more creative ways.

For publishing, more titles, more short-form content, more audio, more online and digital output. More self-publishing, more AI-generated works, more genres, more technology, more change.

A book recommendation

James by Percival Everett. It’s very clever and well written. Everett takes Mark Twain’s Tales of Huckleberry Finn and tells the story from the perspective of Jim, the adult slave who goes on the run with Huck. I think he’s a genius, and just what America needs right now.