PUBLISHING INDUSTRY, CAREERS IN

Publishing is the activity of commercially producing, distributing, and selling literature or information. It is both a business and cultural-intellectual enterprise that makes the work challenging, exciting, and rewarding. Associated with and crucial to the intellectual, cultural, and educational roles of society, the products of publishing (books, magazines, newspapers, online resources, and so on) inspire different feelings than other commodities produced by industry. Publishing is a business and, therefore, vulnerable to the vagaries of the marketplace of supply and demand, fashion and taste, capital, profit, and investment. The finding, nurturing, and supporting of authors with all of their idiosyncratic needs must be coordinated successfully with the bottom-line business concerns of marketing, competition, profit, and cost. International mergers of publishing houses, the development of the Internet and electronic publishing, and the blending of publishing with multimedia entertainment all point to dynamic growth in publishing careers.

Background

The major publishing houses, small or specialty presses, newspapers, and magazines hire employees to fill a wide range of positions. Many of the larger publishing houses and news agencies maintain offices in Europe, Asia, the United Kingdom, Mexico, or Canada, where employment requires a high degree of competency in the local language.

Specific careers in publishing are generally divided into two broad categories: creative and business. On the creative side of the industry are the editor-in-chief, editorial staff, designers, photographers, writers, researchers, multimedia producers, and translators. On the business side of the industry are the publisher, marketing staff, advertising staff, production staff, permissions coordinator, foreign and domestic rights manager, and literary agent.

Experience is essential in this highly competitive industry. One of the best ways to enter the field is to attend a publishing program to make contacts and learn the basics of the industry. Some of the best known programs of this type are the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, the New York University Summer Publishing Institute, the Radcliffe Publishing Course, the Rice University Publishing Program, and the University of Denver Publishing Institute.

Creative Careers

Writers are generally self-employed or free-lance. Depending on the circumstances, writers might submit their work directly to publishers or producers, or they might submit their work through literary agents who act as liaisons between the writers and the publishers or producers. Only in very select careers, such as a copy writer for an advertising agency or a reporter for a newspaper, are writers hired as full-time staff employees. Writers contribute to all aspects of the publishing industry. Scholarly writers, writers for children, screenwriters, writers for television, and technical writers have skills that are unique to the type of writing they do. For example, technical writers should understand the specialized area that they are working in, such as engineering, education, and telecommunications. Such knowledge is necessary to write effectively for the specialized market. The technical writer may also oversee technical operations such as preparation of illustrations, photographs, diagrams, or charts that accompany the technical material.

Editor-in-chief and managing editor are the top slots in the editorial track. The career path to a managing editor position requires comprehensive understanding of the editorial process, usually gained by starting as an editor at the entry level. Editors (who may work in either print, multimedia, or online environments) perform a variety of duties, such as overseeing the layout for the way the final product will look and revising the content of written material in preparation for final publication. These positions require an excellent command of the English language and an understanding of the communication and media industry. Writing comprehension, originality, sensitivity to problems, and attention to detail are the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for starting out on the editorial track. Since the managing editor directs and coordinates the editorial operations and formulates editorial policy, a person in that position must know about administration and management responsibilities, be able to manage personnel (i.e., the editorial team) effectively, and have a working familiarity with computers and electronics. As for specific education, a bachelor's degree in any area is appropriate, but most editors come to publishing with humanities and social science degrees.

Book design, particularly of the book cover, is a critical aspect of marketing, and most book designers have a degree in graphic or fine art. A publisher may have a book designer on staff to provide these services. Some designers and illustrators work on a self-employed or freelance basis or are hired on contract to illustrate, design, or supply technical drawings or photographs that are needed for a publication such as a technical manual or a children's book. The newspaper and magazine industry employs staff photographers in addition to using freelance talent.

In addition to writers, editors, illustrators, and graphic artists, there are opportunities in publishing for translators, researchers, fact checkers, copy editors, proofreaders, and outside readers of manuscripts of books, plays, scripts, and other material.

Business Careers

The publishing industry is a business and employs personnel who watch the bottom line of the business. Managing the business side is the president, chief executive officer, or publisher, along with the directors of departments concerned with marketing, advertising, and production. An education in business management, finance, or marketing plus an in-depth understanding of the publishing industry is essential.

Agents guide an author's career. They understand the industry, and they know which people should be approached with ideas. They negotiate contracts on behalf of the author, forward promising manuscripts to publishers or producers, and handle foreign and subsidiary rights. Literary agents have many contacts in the industry and understand the process, generally having worked within the industry itself before moving on to become agents.

Literary scouts, who can be either self-employed or publisher employed, seek out writing talent around the world. They do so by reading broadly and attending readings and book fairs, such as the Asia International Book Fair, the Frankfurt Book Fair, BookExpo America, the Bologna Children's Book Fair, the Guadalajara International Book Fair, the New Delhi World Book Fair, and the Zimbabwe International Book Fair.

With the increase in electronic publishing and desktop publishing, publishers hire technical support personnel to manage the technological aspect of publishing. Positions may include computer support personnel with skills in computer hardware, software packages, computer networks, telecommunications, and information technology in general. Knowledge of specific software packages for design, publication layout, and computer graphics is a trend in the industry, and employment opportunities will continue to grow in the electronic, multimedia, and web-based publishing environments.

Women, Minorities, and the Future

Conditions for women and minorities in the publishing industry could be improved. Although not a female-intensive profession, women have been traditionally better represented in publishing than in some other fields. The numbers of editors, journalists, and publishers from racial or ethnic minority groups, however, remain disappointing. To compensate for this and to fill the need for a minority voice in publishing, independent publishing houses have been founded by females and by members of minority groups.

Movies, videos, television, computer and video games, and the Internet compete for people's leisure time. Nonetheless, the outlook for publishing careers is strong, for there is no indication that the book-reading public is dead. The increasing numbers of magazines aimed at specialty markets and online "e-zines" indicate that there is a high demand for the technologically equipped and educationally prepared individual. International and national organizations also work to protect the right to read and to write so that free expression can exist. With free expression, there is publishing.