Summer Internship - Independent Bookstore Marketing & Sales - Naperville, IL
Ready to launch your career in book publishing? Join Sourcebooks, the fastest growing publisher in the U.S., and the home of an unparalleled number of bestselling books where creativity, innovation, and storytelling collide. We’re a team of passionate book lovers who bring extraordinary authors to readers in bold, data-driven, and entrepreneurial ways.
👉 This isn’t a coffee-run internship. You’ll contribute meaningfully to projects, collaborate with publishing professionals, and discover how your ideas can impact readers everywhere.
This internship is ideal for a current college student or recent graduate eager to dive into the world of book publishing — especially the side that connects books with media, events, and promotion with the readers. You’ll get hands-on experience working on real publicity campaigns, collaborating with passionate team members, and you’ll learn how publicity helps stories reach new audiences.
About the Program
- When: June 9 – August 13, 2026
- Where: Naperville, IL ($17.00/hourly)
- Schedule: 24 hours/week (2 days in-person, 1 day remote)
- Who: Current college sophomores, juniors, seniors, or recent grads
Summer Independent Bookstore Marketing & Sales Internship Responsibilities:
- Assist with coming up with ideas for advanced copy mailings
- Send out mailings to key booksellers
- Assist with writing descriptive copy for titles
- Receive training in Canva and work on graphics for newsletters
- Working on preorder campaigns
- Assisting with YAMfest, a YA festival hosted by Anderson’s Bookshop
- Write copy for newsletters, ads, social media posts, and other marketing materials
- Create submission letters for opportunities for authors
- Account information data entry
We want to know why you want to intern at Sourcebooks. Your cover letter is your chance to tell us:
- Why publishing — and why Sourcebooks — excites you
- What you hope to learn and contribute
- How your creativity, curiosity, or love of books shines through
Why Sourcebooks?
- Named #2 Most Loved Workplace by Newsweek (2024)
- Recognized by Fast Company as one of the Most Innovative Companies (2024)
- Over 300 million lives changed through books — and counting
- A culture built on creativity, innovation, and impact
Application Deadline: January 20, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. CT - Applications will be reviewed after the deadline.
Sourcebooks values the array of talents and perspectives that a diverse workforce brings. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status.
Sourcebooks Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Sourcebooks and has not been reviewed or approved by Sourcebooks.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous PTO, paid holidays and sick days, and a sabbatical program are highlighted, with additional closure between Christmas and New Year’s. These elements collectively indicate a wide range of time‑off options.
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Parental & Family Support — Generous parental leave includes six weeks paid for both parents that can be combined with FMLA, alongside family medical leave. This reflects structured support for caregiving needs.
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision coverage are provided along with life insurance, short‑ and long‑term disability, FSAs, and mental‑health benefits. The package spans core health protections and ancillary supports.
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What We Do
“Sourcebooks, a legitimate contender for the title of ‘most innovative company in book publishing.’”—Mike Shatzkin, Idealog Innovators. Always looking for ways to bring new experiences to our readers, data is the backbone that gives direction to our creativity and informs our innovative spirit. Put Me In The Story, now the #1 personalized book platform in the U.S., is one of three e-commerce businesses we operate. We are committed to innovative publishing and to exploring new publishing platforms and models. Owners and Entrepreneurs. We take pride in being pioneers. Each of us is a leader invested in creating breakthrough for ourselves, our company, and readers everywhere. Starting with just one book in 1987, we now publish more than 300 new titles each year. With millions of books sold and more than 80 New York Times and USA Today bestsellers—and more—Sourcebooks publishes authors, not books. Constantly Learning. Not content to rely on yesterday’s knowledge, we know tomorrow’s opportunities can be discovered only with a passionate desire to explore new ideas. We Create Amazing. Every book and product we create and every life we touch is an opportunity to deliver the unexpected and the extraordinary. Our award-winning books earn accolades from Parenting Media Awards, YALSA Lists, Texas Bluebonnet, state awards, the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal Award, and more. Book Business Magazine named Sourcebooks 2013 Publishing Innovator of the Year. From children’s, young adult, fiction, and memoir to personalized books, inspirational gifts, reference, poetry, and beyond, we believe books change lives. It is the heart of all that we do. We are excited to work with passionate authors, booksellers, librarians, designers, media, brand partners, and others to create a vibrant future for books. FIND US ONLINE www.sourcebooks.com www.putmeinthestory.com www.simpletruths.com www.123magic.com
