8 Publishing Internships for High School Students
If high school students have a strong interest in publishing, an internship can offer invaluable practical experience. An internship within the publishing industry can give students an understanding of the inner workings of book launches, author tours, literary conferences, and other important industry events. This kind of exposure gives students valuable skills and makes their resume stand out when applying to colleges, jobs, or even graduate school.
By taking part in these internships, students can develop an impressive professional network and learn about different career options in the publishing industry. These internships will give you a strong foundation regardless of your career goals—be they public relations, marketing, or event coordination.
This is a carefully selected list of eight internships in publishing for high school students that combine online and in-person learning opportunities. You can select the opportunity that most closely aligns with your objectives and areas of interest because each one has unique offerings.
1. Penguin Random House 2025 Summer Remote Internship: Subsidiary Rights
Penguin Random House, one of the largest publishing companies globally, offers a prestigious and comprehensive remote internship program for the summer of 2025. Interns will work in the Subsidiary Rights Department, gaining firsthand experience in managing the licensing of book rights. This includes handling contracts for translations, magazine excerpts, audio editions, and book clubs. The role involves a mix of publicity, marketing, and sales, offering a deep dive into the commercial side of publishing.
Interns will work closely with licencing experts to maximize revenue and publishing opportunities for authors. The experience includes exposure to the full publishing process, from contract negotiation to international rights management.
Interns will participate in panels, networking events, and an employee speaker series, providing them with invaluable connections in the publishing world.
Location: Remote (U.S. only)
Cost: Paid internship ($21/hour)
Internship Dates: Summer 2025 (June - August, 10 weeks, 28 hours/week)
Eligibility: High school seniors over the age of 18
Application Deadline: October 13, 2024
The Met's school-year internship program is intended especially for New York City high school sophomores and juniors through its school-year and summer internships. It's distinctive because it places students in a museum where they work in social media, marketing, editorial, and education, among other areas. Interns participate in career laboratories run by curators, designers, and other art professionals during the program, as well as workshops and mentorship from museum experts. The annual "Teens Take The Met!" festival, a grand celebration for teenagers in New York City, is the program's centerpiece. Students interested in event planning and publishing positions in the arts sector may take advantage of this opportunity as interns can help with wayfinding, event organization, and social media management.
Location: New York
Cost: Paid internship. Students receive about a $1, 100 stipend paid in one internship
Internship Dates:
Summer Program: June- August
School-year Program: January- June
Eligibility: High school students
Application Deadline:
Summer Program: March 8
School- year Program: October 28
This platform selects internships that are especially suited for young students who might not have any prior work experience. Interns have the opportunity to work closely with mentors, take part in real-world projects, and get ongoing guidance. This gives students the opportunity to develop important professional skills early on and investigate possible career paths.
Ladder Internships places a strong emphasis on accessibility by providing a variety of remote opportunities that allow students from various locations to participate without having to move. The platform assists students in creating resumes, practicing interviews, and learning networking techniques that will benefit them in their future academic and professional endeavors, in addition to connecting them with internships.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $2,490. Financial aid is available
Internship Dates: Winter Cohort starting on December 16, 2024
Eligibility: Students who are able to work 8–12 weeks at 10–20 hours per week. Students in high school, college, and those taking a gap year.
Application Deadline: Winter Cohort Admission Deadline: Nov 24, 2024
Cohort timing: Dec 16, 2024
The goal of this NGO is to help young people develop their writing abilities. There are several options available to interns, including instructional support, interview projects, and editing work. Students can customize their experience according to their interests thanks to this structure. Depending on the path they take, interns could help with teaching initiatives, interviewing for community storytelling projects, or running an online literary magazine. Mentorship and writing and publishing instruction are provided to interns. Students are empowered to follow their particular interests in writing and publishing when they have the freedom to select a focal area (editorial, teaching, etc.), which helps them develop their skill sets in practical settings.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Unpaid
Internship Dates: Eight Weeks: October 3 – December 19
Eligibility: High school students between ages 15-18.
Application Deadline: The exact application deadline is still to be announced but typically occurs in April.
High school students can engage in an immersive public service journalism experience through this program. It’s notable for its dedication to social justice since it encourages students to research and write about important topics in New York City. To promote a feeling of civic involvement, participants learn how to use their journalistic abilities to tell stories that highlight the realities of marginalized populations.
Research, interviewing, and writing are all done by interns, with a focus on creating narratives that represent the needs and perspectives of the communities they work in. Additionally, the program offers training on investigative techniques and media ethics, among other critical skills. A multilingual cohort and an English-speaking cohort are part of the program, which broadens the range of viewpoints and experiences.
Location: Virtual and In-person at CUNY Brooklyn or CUNY York College
Cost: $500 paid at the end of the program
Internship dates: Fall 2024: (8 Weeks) Oct-Dec 2024
Eligibility: Reside within New York City. High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors
Application deadline: Typically Mid-June
Interns play a key role in organizing youth programming and library events, creating social media content, and leading teen outreach programs. They also contribute to the design and development of technology and art installations targeted at teenagers as part of the development of Connected Learning spaces.
As liaisons between the library and their peers, interns assist in promoting library programming and events via digital and social media platforms, as part of the program's emphasis on community engagement. Additionally, interns participate in professional development workshops that teach them project management, communication, and teamwork skills in order to prepare them for college and future careers.
Location: Milwaukee Public Library, Central Library, and other branches.
Cost: The current starting salary (Pay Range 9MN) is $15.92 per hour, and the resident incentive salary range for City of Milwaukee residents is $16.40 per hour.
Internship Dates: Typically runs year round
Eligibility: High school students aged 16-18
Application Deadline: Year-round: Deadlines are usually announced annually.
Seniors in high school have a rare opportunity to work at the Smithsonian Institution through the Benjamin Lawless Internship. With an emphasis on creative storytelling influenced by the museum's vast collection, interns can investigate the narrative potential of artefacts through this program. Interns get an understanding of the relationship between culture, history, and narrative through this method of experiential learning. For five weeks, interns work full-time jobs and write narratives based on their experiences at the museum. Staff members at the Smithsonian provide them with mentorship and assistance, creating a rich learning environment. Interns have the freedom to demonstrate their talents in ways that align with their particular style by expressing their experiences through a variety of creative media.
Location: Remote
Cost: $3,200 ($400/week)
Internship Dates: January - March (8 weeks)
Eligibility: Rising senior high school students
Application Deadline: The application is on a rolling basis, but the deadline is typically around March
High school students are introduced to careers in the arts, culture, and creative industries through BAI, a paid summer internship program. This program, which was started more than 12 years ago, links incoming seniors from public high schools with employment opportunities in prestigious cultural institutions in a number of American cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and Washington, D.C. It exposes students to the realm of cultural work and arts administration while assisting them in developing important professional skills.
Location: Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
Cost: Not specified, bit it’s a paid internship
Internship Dates: Varies based on the specific internship program
Eligibility: High school juniors transitioning to senior year
Application Deadline: Tentative based on the program. However, the application for the subsequent year’s program opens in March.
Looking for an immersive internship experience?
Check out Ladder Internships!
Ladder Internships is a selective, virtual internship program where students work with startups and nonprofits from around the world! The startups range across a variety of industries. As part of their internship, each student will work on a real-world project that is of genuine need to the startup they are working with, and present their work at the end of their internship. In addition to working closely with their manager from the startup, each intern will also work with a Ladder Coach throughout their internship. Apply now!
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.