For a change, rather than wittering on about MY job, I thought I’d take a step back and let one of my colleagues tell you about their job. Since editorial is what people always think of first, when they think of publishing, I thought I would begin there, with my friend and colleague Poppy Hampson, Senior Editor at Chatto & Windus.

Q1 - Hi Poppy, welcome to the Vintage blog and thanks for agreeing to answer my questions!

So to kick off, I’m not an editor, and although I only sit a few feet away I have to admit I’m not completely clear what you actually do all day. Are you reading? Correcting your authors’ spelling? Surfing Twitter?

Can you describe your office a bit, and tell us about a typical day?

I’m ashamed to say that my office is a bit of a mess – although of course I could blame lack of shelf space for that. Books and proofs all over my shelves, piles of work all over my desk, manuscripts all over the floor (and the odd pair of shoes).

 I have Virginia Woolf and some of the famous Chatto twins (left) on my wall keeping me company.

Typical day involves coming in early (while the office is still quiet – bliss) and going through emails, trying to get on top of things. There might be meetings (to discuss book jackets or new projects), there might occasionally be a lunch out (although these are becoming a rarity). I often have copy to write, proofs to check, emails to write. I always have several books that I’m working on at any time, so there are usually a host of things that need attention and discussions with colleagues. I have to rush out early to pick up my son, and I’m afraid reading always comes home with me….

Q2 – What are the best and worst bits about your job?

A - Best: the people I get to spend my time with – and I mean the authors, my colleagues and other people I get to meet working on particular projects.

Worst: the fact that it is never finished. It’s like revision… there’s always more.

Q3 – How did you get to where you are now – a glamorous corner office at Random Towers? Did you have a lucky break? And what advice would you give to anyone wanting follow a similar path?

Luck, really. My letter landed on the right desk at the right time.

Do work experience and try to make as many contacts as you can while you’re doing it. Then apply for everything and be willing to start right at the bottom. A lot of us here have English degrees but that’s not prerequisite, and from my experience I don’t think you need to do an MA in Publishing or similar…

Q4 - And a question on behalf of all aspiring authors – what makes the perfect submission? What advice would you give to anyone trying to land a contract in today’s publishing environment?

 Secure an agent first and think carefully about who you target. Don’t send anything to anyone that you haven’t read through carefully yourself. 

We are bombarded by so many submissions that I guess what we all want is to be surprised and moved in some way – by the quality of the writing itself, by an original voice, by a powerful imagination and an eye that sees things we hadn’t noticed ourselves… Quite unusually, this year we have taken on two authors with partial manuscripts (Bethan Roberts, My Policeman, and Neel Mukherjee, The Lives of Others) – two very different novels but both utterly convincing and taking us into worlds that we didn’t want to leave. 

Q5 - And as a reader – what do you read in your time off and who are your favourite writers? (No Chatto authors allowed for this question!)

It’s a struggle to find time to read ‘non-work’ books… and I don’t really have favourites… but on this Friday afternoon I’m going to say Doris Lessing

Q6 - Last question – what title are you working on right now?

 At the moment I’m working on a wonderful new book by Anna Del Conte (much loved and award-winning Italian cook – you may have heard her on this/last week’s Desert Island Discs)…. Inspired by Anna’s granddaughter, Cooking with Coco is a recipe book for cooking with children, starting with really little ones and progressing as they grow older and learn. Anna is funny and brilliant, the recipes are easy and delicious and the photographs are gorgeous – it’s going to be the most important book in my kitchen, I think, I can’t wait to get it home and start cooking with my son. The perfect cookbook for all parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends… you get the idea….

That's it - we're done! Huge thank you to Poppy for agreeing to be interviewed – and if anyone reading has a burning question that I didn’t think of, please post it on the comments below and I will get Poppy back to answer them.