If you love books and have a good eye for literature — as well as for what makes a book sell — then a career in the exciting and fast moving world of book publishing may indeed be just the job for you. Literary agencies and publishing houses across the country employ a wide range of people and you can find publishing jobs online at Publishing Crossing.
Act Now! Activate a FREE three days trial to PublishingCrossing.com, because you know how important it is to know about all the jobs.
Here is some detailed information about a few of the key positions in the publishing world: book editors, content editors, copy editors, and literary agents. Having some knowledge of the duties and opportunities in each will help you focus your job search, and help you find publishing jobs that might be right for you.
Book editors have many different categories but one of the best job duties for book and acquisition editors is the enviable job of finding literary talent that is still raw or unknown. They will then work with those writers to help them get their manuscript completed and ready to publish. As the title implies, editors have the responsibility to edit books and help make them into marketable products for bookstore shelves.
Technically, a true acquisition editor will work with some new talent, but they specialize in finding and signing talent. Content editors work with the author personally and make sure that the content is correct and the feel of the manuscript is right. Production editors manage the more technical aspects involved in the actual publication process.
There are always numerous editors at different levels that are associated with any of the major publishing houses. These employees will actually read unpublished manuscripts and then decide whether the publishing company should buy the work and publish it. It goes without saying that all book editors should love to read, as they must read through a large number of manuscripts – and there will be both good and bad selections that must be reviewed. While you may be looking for US publishing jobs, you should keep in mind that publishing opportunities in this industry exist throughout the world.
That volume of reading includes having to look through many manuscripts that will never be published and a larger number that will simply be trashed. An understanding of the book market is one of the big factors that drive an editor's decision to purchase an author's manuscript. Sometimes, though, you need to have faith in your perception of a particular work and be willing to put everything on the line in order to give the book and an author a chance. Editors who deliver a lot of bestsellers are the ones who get ahead in the publishing world.
The responsibilities for an editor are much more involved than just reading and editing books, however. These people will also have a role in searching for new literary talent and then developing the author's abilities. Many authors will often have only one editor during their entire career with one of the major publishing companies. For this reason, editors associated with high-profile authors are quite valuable to publishing houses. Sometimes where the editor goes in the industry, the author will follow as well.
Most book editors have college degrees, usually in English, but most important is a passion for literature and editing skill. The increasing specialization in the publishing world means that editors should be knowledgeable of the subject matter in which the publishing house for which they work specializes.
There are many jobs at publishing companies that involve workers who hold copy editor positions. Once an author's manuscript is accepted for publication, the material must be closely checked to ensure it is free of any and all grammatical errors. You might consider this position to be that of the "grammatical, quality control specialist" of the publishing world.
Copy editors must be meticulous as they read over content – or, copy, as it is referred to in the publishing industry. They must check everything from typographical errors to misplaced commas.
Copy editors work not only in book publishing houses where they work closely with book editors, but also in other media fields, such as newspapers and magazines. Virtually any company producing printed content will need a copy editor to ensure all material is grammatically correct. A love of language and a firm grasp of proper usage are essential skills for copy editors. This job almost always requires a college degree, although there have been some individuals who have literally worked, learned and earned this position without a college degree.
Literary agents are the ones whose total focus is on finding and publicizing new literary talent. In this respect, they are similar to book editors, but that is where the resemblance ends. Literary agents represent authors and work to sell their books to book editors. For their services during this representation, the agents receive a percentage of the authors' sales.
Agents should have big personalities, salesmanship, an affable nature, razor sharp business acumen, and keen marketing skills. Knowing how to package and market a writer, as well as understanding what it takes to produce a bestseller, are important job tools for literary agents. Most authors who are trying to angle for a book deal will use a literary agent to improve their chances.
A career as a literary agent generally begins by working as an assistant at a literary agency. Most of these agencies are in New York City, which also is the home of most of the major US publishing houses. Successful agents need to have ready access to the top editors; therefore, most of the top agents are also located in New York.
Some agents, after years of experience at an agency will go on to start their own literary agencies. Like editors, agents will first have to read unpublished manuscripts before deciding whether to accept a new author as a client. Because agents receive a cut of an author's sales, it is in their best interest to sign authors they think can get publishing deals and sell books.
PublishingCrossing Fact #128: PublishingCrossing isn’t just a website -- it’s a revolution! Come see why so many have signed up to get on the career paths they want to pursue!
Derek , Arlington, TX
I got a job through PublishingCrossing. It was very helpful as I could focus towards the particular listings I wanted.
Deborah , Lighthouse Point, FL
I found it really helpful as I got a couple of job leads through PublishingCrossing, and got my new job.
Leigh , Denver, CO
I liked the 'My hotlist' feature on PublishingCrossing. It was the best of the abundant of features on the site.
Mandie , Quincy, MA
PublishingCrossing has a large quantity of jobs which are updated very frequently--ensuring freshness.
Jennifer , St. Louis, MO
The quick search option and the advance search engine are the best options on PublishingCrossing. They also save a lot of time.
To compare PublishingCrossing with other job sites
You Are Bright, Can Relate to People on Their Own Level and Deserve Approval
Top jobs are scattered on the websites of tens of thousands of companies, organizations and other job boards. It requires creativity, breaking from routine and cooperation to bring everyone together: Through creative and energetic research we are able put these jobs in one place and give you the ability to see a variety of jobs you would not see elsewhere.
You are extremely intuitive and perceptive about people: Use us to analyze and evaluate the jobs you are interested in collected and organized from over 50,000 websites.
Intermediate Offset Pressman Simultaneous Printing United States-TX-Fort Worth
Department: Department of the Treasury
Agency: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Sub Agency: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Job Announcement Numbe...
Publisher jobs in the publishing industry are composed of skilled technicians, writers, and editors. In this article, we will see how the expert hands of prepress, binders, or finishers do printing. Some printing methods are replaced by digital imaging requiring workers to upgrade their training and applicants need proper graphic communications cou...
See Every Publishing Job We Can Find on the Internet!
Unlike other sites, PublishingCrossing works for you and does not charge employers to post jobs and actually goes out and researches jobs for you. The jobs you see are the jobs we find for you and not the ones employers are paying us to post.
To compare PublishingCrossing with other job sites
You Are Bright, Can Relate to People on Their Own Level and Deserve Approval
Top jobs are scattered on the websites of tens of thousands of companies, organizations and other job boards. It requires creativity, breaking from routine and cooperation to bring everyone together: Through creative and energetic research we are able put these jobs in one place and give you the ability to see a variety of jobs you would not see elsewhere.
Your future is about to change: See all the jobs logically and rationally organized in one place. Your natural leadership and people skills will all pay off when you have access to:
Publishing jobs from every job board we can find.
Publishing jobs from every newspaper classified ad we can find.
Publishing jobs from every specialized Publishing publication we can find.
Publishing jobs from every federal, state and local publising career page we can find.
Publishing jobs from every publishing, nonprofit and other career page we can find.
Tell us where to send your access instructions:
Today at PublishingCrossing
88 - Jobs found in last 24 Hours589 - Jobs found in last 7 Days2,098 - Total Jobs Found
Your privacy is guaranteed. We will never give out, lease, or sell your personal information.
PublishingCrossing - #1 Job Aggregation and Private Job-Opening Research Service — The Most Quality Jobs Anywhere
PublishingCrossing is the first job consolidation service in the employment industry to seek to include every job that exists and not charge employers to post jobs on its site.
PublishingCrossing uses sophisticated technology and manual work to comb employer websites and other job boards for jobs and bring them all to its site.
