About us
Women in Publishing works to promote the status of women working in publishing and related trades by helping them to develop their careers.
Through regular WiP meetings there are opportunities to
- learn more about your area of work
- share information and expertise
- give and receive support
- and take part in practical training for career and personal development.
- Our activities are open to all women interested in publishing.
Our aims
To provide a forum for the discussion of ideas, trends and subjects of interest to women in the publishing trades to
- encourage networking and mutual support among women
- provide opportunities for sharing information and expertise
- support and publicise women’s achievements and successes
- promote the status of women within publishing.
These founding aims – to encourage networking, to provide opportunities for sharing information and ideas and to offer training for career and personal development – still stand in the so-called ‘post-feminist’ era, where women dominate the publishing industry by sheer numbers, but have barely broken through the glass ceiling. Women in Publishing UK can be found on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Our history
Women in Publishing began in March 1979. The first open meeting of what was to become WiP was in December 1979 in an upstairs room at the Globe pub, opposite Baker Street tube station. The meeting was chaired by Anne McDermid and the discussion led by Liz Calder and Ursula Owen, co-founder of Virago with Carmen Callil. About one hundred women attended the first meeting.
Further meetings led to a more formal declaration of aims, and the first WiP committee. Our meetings embody what WiP is all about – members and non-members meet to network and learn about a specific aspect of the publishing industry.