When Opportunity Presents Itself: What Yellow Arrow Interns Do and Why it is So Important
By Hannah Bishoff, written December 2025
Over the years, Yellow Arrow Publishing has taken on many great interns to help support and fulfill its mission of uplifting women’s voices through publication and access to the literary arts. Not only is it important to provide each and every intern, each young woman in college, with the necessary experiences and skills learned throughout their internship, but it is also essential to bring on as many helping hands as possible to be able to continue doing great work. Being a part of a small press like Yellow Arrow, one that focuses on uplifting women writers and creatives and providing opportunities for women publishers, is also inherently unique and even more so significant for the functioning and diversity of the publishing world and the individual female experience.
Going back in time, you will find that women were never regarded as an important aspect of the publishing industry. In fact, publishing came to be known as a gentlemen’s career where women largely served as secretaries or published under a pseudonym, as their skills were always doubted when compared to higher-ranking positions. One of the first woman publishers in American history has collectively been named as Elizabeth Timothy, who inherited the South Carolina Gazette in the 1730s and 1740s after her husband’s death. Yet she still did not even publish under her own name, but the name of her teenage son who had legally taken over his father’s business. There are plenty of other examples of early American female publishers who followed this same path as Elizabeth Timothy—inheriting the business from a father or husband who died, making all the decisions, but using the name of a male relative to publish the work under. A specifically rare instance of a woman who did not hide behind a male pseudonym was Mary Katherine Goddard—the second printer for the Declaration of Independence, whose name appears just below John Hancock’s as the printer of the document.
Throughout this time, female authors were able to break through the literary industry. Works from authors like Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, and the Bronte sisters, dating all the way back to 1818, began to show proof that women could indeed write “compelling literature with complex themes and important social commentary.” But while light began to be shed onto female authors in the industry, female publishers still had work to be done. As women started to edit and publish under their true identities, they were only able to work on areas deemed as “female”—those of fashion magazines or related to domestic life.
Flashing forward to the present, this so-called “gentleman’s career” is now overwhelmingly dominated by women. A report from 2024 done by The Publishers Association shows that 68% of their respondents identify as female, which was even a slight increase from two years prior in 2022. This was also based only on responses from 9,707 people from 52 publishing companies. So the work from women before us seemed to have paid off. As more and more of these women in the 20th century graduated from college with humanities degrees, a career in publishing just became more attractive. Women would be hired for lower-level, secretarial positions, but this did not deter them from pursuing a true career in publishing. A 20th-century shift led to an opening of editorial positions that were previously dominated by men. But even though women today make up most of the publishing industry, it is true that these female-dominated roles are mainly lower-level positions, and that the male influence still has some control over the industry. And though a recent emergence has begun to place women in some executive positions, much work is needed to be done if we want to strive for complete relevancy of the female voice. It is true that “women are less likely to obtain a . . . mentor who is highly placed in a firm and who can provide the kinds of career assistance . . . that is critical to career success.” And this is where the work of Yellow Arrow comes to play—being part of an organization that advocates for female voices is integral not only for professional experience but also for overall female success.
Now—you are thinking about becoming an intern with Yellow Arrow but are not sure what one does? Well, you have come to the right place. As an intern myself, I aim to shed light on my experience, as well as that of my counterpart, this fall semester. I truly believe this experience has been a crucial one for my professional career—and for any young woman who strives to work in publishing, literature, or even just to give back to other women. It is incredibly important to be a part of a female-dominated space like Yellow Arrow to contribute to overall diversity in the creative fields and to understand the need for more female voices in today’s society. (See also another intern’s, Jackie Alvarez-Hernandez’s, point of view about interning with Yellow Arrow in 2022 at yellowarrowpublishing.com/news/week-yap-publications-intern-alvarez-hernandez.)
To give a little backstory, let’s flash back to earlier this year—the summer of 2025—when I first applied to be the fall publications intern at Yellow Arrow. I had found this opportunity through my school, Towson University’s, English department web page. After diligently filling out the application, it quickly fell to the back of my mind as something that would probably not work out, but at least I applied, right? I had nearly forgotten about it until I received an email from Annie Marhefka, Yellow Arrow’s executive director, wanting to set up an interview. I almost did not respond, but I am so, so glad I did. (So this is me encouraging every prospective intern to respond to that email!)
The tasks that ensued during the months to come were everything that I had hoped for. As publications intern, I focused on the specific works that were to be published during my time, and others that were recently published. These included the last chapbook of 2025, Naming a Dying Thing by Vic Nogay, the second journal edition of 2025, Vol. X, No. 2, KAIROS, and the first chapbook of 2026, februaries by Michele Evans. After many (many) rounds and rounds of proofreading and copyediting, these pieces worked their way into a special place in my heart. With Yellow Arrow, mundane tasks such as countless proofreads and copyedits are not just what they sound like they might be. They are tasks that further connect you to Yellow Arrow’s overall mission of uplifting women’s creative voices. They are tasks that make you feel like you really are a part of this project, this mission, and that you are in yourself helping to make a difference in a world where it really is necessary.
Not only do interns get to work firsthand on publications, but I was also tasked with copious promotional work for these pieces. Tasks like these are just as important as getting pieces ready for publication because they work toward putting these women’s voices out there, to hopefully be heard and be read by as many people as possible. I made graphic promotional images and even created social media and blog posts to further grow the emphasis and collection of content on female writers and creatives. Along with this, I also helped prepare and submit publications for nationally recognized awards. Knowing that women are being nominated and acknowledged for literary prizes through your work and the hard work of the entire Yellow Arrow community just proves how integral organizations like Yellow Arrow are to the literary and creative worlds.
Similar to the work of the publications intern, Yellow Arrow also takes on a program management intern. And while she also works to further Yellow Arrow’s mission of uplifting women’s creative voices through access to the literary arts, the program management intern, rather than focusing on current publications, focuses on Yellow Arrow’s countless programs which go to increase participation and growth of creative female minds. A program management intern should expect to also help with copyediting and proofreading publications, but instead of working to promote these specifically, she creates social media posts about workshops and current events and even takes control of the monthly newsletter.
I asked my counterpart this semester, Avery Wood, about her experience as well and what being an intern with Yellow Arrow meant to her, and it is clear that our ideas and outcomes are quite similar. When asked why working with a small press like Yellow Arrow means to her, she wrote, “At an early age . . . I was drawn specifically to women’s stories. They were my own. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized there weren’t nearly enough of them out there and that I wanted to change that by empowering women-identifying writers with reservoirs full of untold narratives.” Interns at Yellow Arrow work to not only further Yellow Arrow’s organizational mission, but to fulfill her own personal goals and values as well. Like my own experience, she also wrote, “The most rewarding thing will always be helping edit and create a brand new beautiful work of art to be published.” Being an intern at Yellow Arrow, working to grow the world of female literature and women-run publishing, is a truly rewarding experience.
Looking back in time, it is clear that these opportunities were not always available to us. This just makes it all the more important that we take these opportunities whenever we are given them. And that we work to provide as many opportunities for as many other women out there as we possibly can. There is so much work out there to be done, and we interns at Yellow Arrow are glad to be a part of it.
Several sources were used to write this blog:
Caplette, Michele. “Women in Book Publishing: A Study of Careers and Organizations.” In Books: The Culture and Commerce of Publishing, edited by Lewis A. Coser, Charles Kadushin, and Walter W. Powell. Basic Books, 1982.
Claro, Lyndsey. “Women in the Gentleman’s Career of Publishing.” Princeton University Press blog, March 6, 2020. press.princeton.edu/ideas/women-in-the-gentlemans-career-of-publishing?srsltid=AfmBOoriVFaAQHtzoiTJXWzHr_PCw3pc7GKAi8zcaxQX7PDKZWzR2y8h.
Lavrack, Nicole. “Pioneer Women in Publishing: A Timeline.” The Society of Young Publishers blog, September 13, 2025. thesyp.org.uk/2025/09/pioneer-women-in-publishing-a-timeline.
Joynson, Jasmine. “2024 Workforce Report Published.” Publishers Association, December 5, 2024. publishers.org.uk/2024-workforce-report-published.
Hannah Bishoff is a senior English major at Towson University with a minor in business, communications, and the liberal arts. On the weekends, she works at a coffee shop in Towson and when not in class she enjoys reading, drawing, shopping, and watching TV. She hopes to continue working in publishing in the (near) future, if all goes well.
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Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women-identifying writers through publication and access to the literary arts. You can support us as we LUMINATE a path for women-identifying creatives this year by purchasing one of our publications or a workshop from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, for yourself or as a gift, joining our newsletter, following us on Facebook and Instagram, or subscribing to our YouTube channel. Donations are appreciated via PayPal (staff@yellowarrowpublishing.com), Venmo (@yellowarrowpublishing), or US mail (PO Box 65185, Baltimore, Maryland 21209). More than anything, messages of support through any one of our channels are greatly appreciated.