A Brief Interruption in the Scheduled Programming

And we now make a brief interruption in the scheduled programming for this update...

I thought I'd take a brief break in between all the reviews I have coming up to tell you a little bit (and yes, I only mean a little) about the Summer Internship. You may or may not remember that I posted a couple months ago on this very blog about my book-related summer plans, including the Summer Internship as a children's marketing intern at Macmillan. I'm not bringing this up again to brag (though I would love to, that's how awesome my internship is!). Instead, I do so to let you know how this internship has affected this blog as well as my overall internet presence.

Regarding my overall internet presence:
For those of you following the MacKids blog, Get to the Point, you may have noticed a new weekly feature (perhaps ominously) titled "The Intern Chronicles." And guess what? It's written by yours truly. So, if you want to know what I've been up to over in the Flatiron building, you know where to go, but if you don't, I'll remind you once more: head on over to the MacKids blog! Seriously, you don't know what you're missing out on*. Go read my first post here: http://mackids.squarespace.com/mackidssquarespacecom/2011/6/3/the-intern-chronicles-a-field-journal-by-rachael-stein.html

Regarding this blog:
The Summer Internship has raised a question of conflict of interest, as I am both working for and reviewing books received from the same publisher. I am of the opinion that a book is a book is a book. Basically, Macmillan isn't paying me to like their books; if I happen to like them, it's a plus for both of us. Yet, at the same time, I do have much more access to Macmillan's books. Does this mean I should stop reviewing Macmillan books in general? What do you think? Does it violate the integrity of this blog if I still review Macmillan books though I am an intern there?

For the moment being, I will continue to review books published by Macmillan. I don't feel that most of the work I do there (e.g. mainly stuffing books into padded envelopes) so far is sufficiently complicated enough to sway my opinion. Furthermore, the Macmillan books I have chosen to review here have been selected and borrowed from the office shelves of my own volition; nobody is telling me what to read. Should the latter situation arise, or any that comes close, I will likely choose to refrain from reviewing that title here.

Anyway, sorry if the last half of this post has been a bit of a downer....perhaps it's time to remind you again of the lovely little posts at the MacKids blog....


*okay, so I may be a little bit biased, since I write the posts, but hey, you never know, you might get a good laugh out of it anyway