bookpublishing

The question I most often hear is “How did you get a job in book publishing?” In case you haven’t read my About section, I’ve worked for a leading book publisher since October 2008. I began as an assistant production editor and after seven months, was hired as an assistant project manager for the “outdoor rec” group, which handles outdoor recreation (climbing, paddling, etc.), fishing, hunting, sports, nature, and local interest books.

I’ve known since college that I wanted to work in publishing—preferably book publishing, but I was happy with any type. When I began as a first year student at Denison University, I began working at the college’s Writing Center, where writing consultants tutored students on their papers, resumes, graduate school applications, etc. After four years of editing students’ papers and perfecting my grammar skills, I was aching to do it on a professional level.

Getting a job in publishing is a difficult task and a lot of it depends on luck and timing, since there are so many candidates that are well-qualified and motivated to take the same jobs you want. Working in a large city is one option: There are many more available jobs, but the competition is also higher. At this time, I don’t have any direct experience with working at a large publisher in a large city. But I will certainly share anything I learn about that process.

If you have the means and opportunity, a publishing internship is extremely valuable. Most don’t pay anything, but the knowledge and experience you gain from that position will pay off later. After working a part-time job during the summer after I graduated, I was lucky enough secure a paid publishing internship at a publishing management company. The company handles the management duties that a publisher might outsource: writing and keeping track of contracts, updating and sending royalty statements, handling rights, etc. My job required a lot of filing and data entry but I learned how to read a contract and a royalty statement, and I gained some useful contacts in the industry.

But the internship was part-time, and I needed a full-time job with benefits, so I only stayed there a few months. After working some time at a non-publishing job, I was eager to get back in the industry. I heard about an opportunity to proofread for a local newspaper. They couldn’t pay me anything, but I was able to take an hour-long lunch to do the work and I learned a lot of useful editorial skills there, like how to use standard proofreading marks and working with deadlines.

I took another full-time non-publishing job and had many interviews for publishing jobs, mostly for magazines, before a book publisher I really admired expressed interest. They were looking for someone with publishing experience, my work with Denison’s Writing Center, my short internship, and my work at the newspaper were applicable—and very useful. I was hired as assistant production editor, one of two people who worked on the Copy Desk, which reviewed each and every book getting published toward the later stages of editing. More info on the Copy Desk will follow in later posts. For now, I hope I gave you an idea of my transition from college to publishing. After graduating in May 2006, I began at my company at October 2007—a fairly quick move considering the difficulty of getting noticed in this competitive industry.