A Day with... Juliane Rebstock
Editor at Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart
Upon completing a graduate placement at Ernst Klett Verlag, Juliane Rebstock knew one thing for sure: She wanted to stay! Now one of the publishing house's editors, Juliane designs digital offerings for teachers and school-age students. It's a job that takes creativity, a structured mindset, and a knack for communication.
From school to publishing house
8:57 a.m.: Juliane steps off the bus at the Feuersee stop, which is just a short walk from the Ernst Klett Verlag building.
9:03 a.m.: Once she's inside, she says good morning to her colleagues. Like several of them, Juliane earned a teaching degree (in German and English) at university. After completing her school placement, however, she decided that a career as a high school teacher wasn’t for her. “I realised that working in the field of didactic methodology was just more my thing than actual teaching,” she recalls. A graduate placement eventually brought her to Ernst Klett Verlag. When she completed it nine months later, an editorial position opened up, clearing the way for Juliane to stay on. She has now been developing ideas for Klett's Green Line textbooks for four years. In particular, she's responsible for digital products, which is more about adapting existing materials for digital media than creating new content.
Part of the editorial team
10:30 a.m.: It's time for the first big item on the day's agenda: All the members of the Green Line team – group directors, editors, and editorial assistants – have gathered for their weekly meeting. For the next two hours, the editors will provide updates on the status of their projects. How are things proceeding in manuscript creation? What about in their collaboration with external partners? Which issues still need to be sorted out? How are the sales figures trending?
12:30 p.m.: Juliane and her colleagues typically spend their lunch break together – sometimes at a nearby restaurant, but more often in the company's canteen. “We like coming here because the food is quite good,” she explains.
What do I like most about my job? I get to contribute to the success of quality teaching. I've taught before myself, so I'm familiar with the teacher's perspective. It gives me a good sense of how our publishing house can provide support through its materials.
1:15 p.m.: During the relatively calm hours that follow her lunch break, Juliane reads through and edits manuscripts from external authors and works on a number of new concepts. Developing quality textbooks requires comprehensive knowledge of the German education system, the particularities of the country's individual states, and the differences between the eight- and nine-year high school schedules.
Every year, a new Green Line textbook is adapted for digital use. “You develop a certain routine after a few years, of course,” Juliane says. “You learn a lot of things you can apply to the next year's edition. The content always changes, though, and the technical possibilities obviously do as well.”
Juliane believes that the experience she gained at university and during her school placement is a boon in her everyday work. “I get to contribute to the success of quality teaching,” she affirms. “I've taught before myself, so I'm familiar with the teacher's perspective. It gives me a good sense of how our publishing house can provide support through its materials.” Juliane also gets regular opportunities to see whether “her” digital teaching materials are achieving that aim. Twice a year, she visits a classroom and finds out how the they are being put into practise.
3:06 p.m.: The phone rings: It's a co-worker in marketing who has received an enquiry about Klett's digital teaching assistant, which enables teachers to prepare their lessons using a variety of media. Part of Juliane's responsibilities for the products she oversees is providing assistance to colleagues who support these offerings after they are released, be it in marketing, field sales, or customer service.
3:22 p.m.: The next order of business is to test a variant of the digital teaching assistant. Once the editorial team has selected the desired content and the production department has put it into a suitable format, the product is filled out. The editors then put the product through its paces before it is made available to customers. Is all the content correct? Can users find their way around the programme? Does the assistant run as it should? “A certain affinity for technical things helps me do my job as an editor, particularly because I mainly support digital products,” Juliane points out.
5:07 p.m.: In just a few weeks, Klett plans to publish eBook pro, a digitally enriched version of book four in the Green Line series. It’s now time to check the image rights it contains – not the favourite activity of a creative-minded person like Juliane, but eBook pro is a product near and dear to her heart. She has played a fundamental role in its design from the very beginning. “Presenting the results of our work at the education trade fair Didacta was a personal highlight for me,” she reveals.
5:30 p.m.: It's time for Juliane to head home. The days can get longer just before a new product is released, but she has an appointment this evening: She’ll be taking part in a reading circle at Stuttgart's "Literaturhaus".