Dreaming Big Publications is a small press publisher based in Mississippi. (Small press publishing just means that the company is not a large corporation, and that its annual sales fall below a certain level.) It was founded by a woman with a background in social work and mental health services, and it originally began as a niche-publisher for mental health professionals. Since then the company has expanded to publish works of fiction and poetry, among other things. It still maintains a focus on mental health, and most of its employees are college interns.
The editor-in-chief of DBP is located in Mississippi, but the majority of the business is run online. All of the student interns work remotely, and we’re located all over the country, from New York to Arizona.
At first it seemed a little weird to work in an internship that’s entirely online. I was used to communicating with my boss and other employees face-to-face, in a traditional office space. With DBP, I’ve never met my boss in person. I only have a vague idea of what she looks like. The primary way I communicate with her is through email and Slack, which is a messaging app for employees and companies.
It’s definitely weird to communicate with your boss solely through messaging and never actually see them in person. In the beginning of my internship I had the vague fear that I was being catfished in some way—that this internship would all turn out to be a sham. Luckily, this has yet to happen. I’ve worked for DBP for nearly a year now, and as far as I can tell, it seems like a real company. With roughly 30 other interns, if it turns out I’m being catfished, at least I’m not the only one.
The editor-in-chief of DBP is located in Mississippi, but the majority of the business is run online. All of the student interns work remotely, and we’re located all over the country, from New York to Arizona.
At first it seemed a little weird to work in an internship that’s entirely online. I was used to communicating with my boss and other employees face-to-face, in a traditional office space. With DBP, I’ve never met my boss in person. I only have a vague idea of what she looks like. The primary way I communicate with her is through email and Slack, which is a messaging app for employees and companies.
It’s definitely weird to communicate with your boss solely through messaging and never actually see them in person. In the beginning of my internship I had the vague fear that I was being catfished in some way—that this internship would all turn out to be a sham. Luckily, this has yet to happen. I’ve worked for DBP for nearly a year now, and as far as I can tell, it seems like a real company. With roughly 30 other interns, if it turns out I’m being catfished, at least I’m not the only one.
Because email is the primary form of communication between my boss and me, I have to be professional and careful in the emails I send. With my teachers at NAU I can send a brief email asking for a clarification—after all, I had just seen them in class—but with DBP, I have to send detailed emails fully explaining my question or the document being attached, because I don’t have the chance to explain it in person. I’m also more careful to make sure my emails are professional and error-free, because this is the only “picture” of me my boss will receive—I don’t have a chance to make a good impression in person.
Slack is faster and more informal than email. It operates in a similar manner to Facebook messaging—with Slack, you can send brief messages to individual people or groups. The DBP interns and our boss are all grouped together in a team, and we can send a message to the entire team or someone in particular. I actually prefer Slack to email, because it makes it easy to send a quick question or bounce an idea off the entire group of interns. We even have a “random” message thread, where we discuss favorite TV shows and offer book recommendations to each other. Within Slack it’s easier to see the personality of all the interns and make jokes with them.
Although the idea of an online internship took some getting used to, I’ve come to really enjoy it. It’s pretty nice to complete my work for the day while sitting in bed with my pajamas still on. As my boss says, you have to be self-motivated in this position, because there isn’t anyone standing over you, making sure you get your work done. Communication is key, because if we don’t check in with our boss regularly she won’t have any idea whether we’re working or not.
Although the idea of an online internship took some getting used to, I’ve come to really enjoy it. It’s pretty nice to complete my work for the day while sitting in bed with my pajamas still on. As my boss says, you have to be self-motivated in this position, because there isn’t anyone standing over you, making sure you get your work done. Communication is key, because if we don’t check in with our boss regularly she won’t have any idea whether we’re working or not.