I’m Sean Scarisbrick, a Marketing Manager on the Author Marketing team at Sage. I have worked in the publishing industry for 8 years and have been in my current position at Sage for 3 years. Here’s a quick overview of me, my role, and what I enjoy about it.
What today looks like for me
- Manage a rehearsal for the upcoming How to Do Research and Get Published webinar.
Running a webinar involves a few steps ahead of the live presentation. This technical rehearsal ensures that the real thing runs smoothly. - Solicit panelists for future webinars.
I’ll reach out to relevant academics in advance of our summer webinars to make sure we have external expertise on our panels. - Strategize future webinar topics based on feedback from our audience.
Keeping in touch with what authors need from us is the name of the game! - Map out 2025 email marketing strategy
It’s important to ensure we provide relevant information at the right time without over-emailing or spamming our audience. - Plan a new webinar program with potential certification. Watch this space!
My favorite parts of the role
- Working with a global, dynamic audience: During the live webinars, I communicate directly with people from every corner of the globe. Some people have published before, and many haven’t published anything; some people are mentors and others mentees. I am afforded the excellent opportunity to speak with them all, hear their pain points, and provide additional support wherever possible.
- Providing support to researchers: I recently bought a house and struggled through the nuances of the real estate market. Agents, lawyers, and inspectors spoke quickly and off-hand about the process. I frequently needed to ask for further clarification and explained that what they perceived to be self-evident was not to someone outside of their industry.
This is something I understand for our audience. As a publisher, we understand the nuances of publishing, but should not expect the same from our authors. We need to acknowledge that most of our authors aren’t “authors” by profession. Academic authors are researchers, lecturers, librarians, doctors, lawyers, students, and so much more. And of course, that doesn’t account for people’s personal lives as parents, children, spouses, etc. We need to recognize that publishing journal articles is not “their job,” but rather an aspect of their profession. As a publisher, it’s our responsibility to make what could seem self-evident to us truly clear to those outside of the industry. People don’t publish every day, and we need to support people through the process when they have research that is publication-ready. - The breadth of work: Every day is different, and I work on something new every day. Working in marketing at an academic publisher isn’t simply what my 3-year-old son says: “Answering emails.” (Although to be clear, I do answer many emails.) I work across channels (email, webinars, social media, and blogging to name a few) and across departments to deliver useful, relevant content to our audience.
- Being a trustworthy partner to authors: In today’s environment of disinformation, finding a trustworthy publisher is crucial. The fact that our team also educates prospective authors on identifying untrustworthy actors is important to me. The primary goal is for authors to trust their research with a reputable publisher. My secondary aim is to encourage authors to publish with Sage. Prioritizing researchers is essential for the continued success of the academic community.
Marketing, and author marketing, is changing daily. I learn more every day from across the industry and from our audience. We will continue to deliver support to our audience even as things change and progress. And I look forward to evolving our author support.
