The publishing industry involves a wide variety of jobs from editing to sales to layout and design. Whether you're a manuscript reader, a managing editor, a graphic designer, or a sales professional, jobs in publishing offer great career opportunities for anyone who loves the written word.
So, what do you think of when you think of a publisher? Do you imagine a huge stone building in downtown Manhattan, where literary giants bring new manuscripts to learned editors? Or do you think of slick, sophisticated magazines that talk about the latest trends in fashion, art, or finance? The fact is, all of these images are have some basis, and they are just a few of the many faces of publishing today. Publishing jobs run the gamut from newspapers to magazines, to fiction and nonfiction books — even paperless publishing on the web! Not only does publishing involve handling the written word, but it also involves skilled graphic designers, printing professionals, buyers, salespeople, publicists, managers, and many other positions.
A Publishing Industry Overview
Before we dive into the many types of publishing jobs available, let's start with a quick overview of the different kinds of publishing. In general, publishing breaks into book publishing, magazine publishing, newspaper publishing, specialty publishing, and online publishing.
- Book Publishing: This is what most people think of when they think of publishing. But it's a huge category, spanning textbooks, novels, fiction, non-fiction, and custom publishing jobs. There are huge publishers that dominate the New York Times bestseller list, and small publishers that produce only a few dozen copies for specialized audiences.
- Newspaper Publishing: Although this field is rapidly transferring to the web, newspapers are still a viable publishing job option. The biggest change is in the type of papers, as small local community papers replace the large dailies of yesteryear. But even though many newspapers are now on the Internet, the same design and writing skills apply.
- Magazine Publishing: From glossy tabletop magazines to small press, magazine publishing covers everything from specialty publications to glossy four-color products.
- Art Publishing: Think all publishing involves books? Art publishing jobs involve the printing and distribution of fine art — as posters, art books, graphics, and related materials.
- Game Publishing: From the world famous tabletop games such as Monopoly to book-format role-playing games, this is a constantly viable field, including recent innovations such as collectible card games.
- Comic Publishing: Comics aren't just kids stuff anymore. With four-color, high gloss products, these ''graphic novels'' fill the gap between storytelling and fine art books. And with recent ''manga'' imports from Japan, this area of publishing is expanding at an amazing rate.
- Online Publishing: In this most explosive area of growth, the need for good writing, editing, and graphics skills are heavily in demand. And for those who can code in Flash, Java, and other webpage languages, the sky's the limit.
- Writers: No matter what the final output, the publishing industry needs writers. And not only fine literary writers — the pressing need for feature writers, content writers, and advertising scribes has never been greater.
- Editors: Spellcheckers can catch the spelling mistakes, but they can't catch bad writing. Editors need to know the ins and outs of grammar, spelling, and good writing flow. And with a worldwide audience, editors who know these skills in other languages are worth their weight in gold (or yen, or kroner, or pounds…).
- Graphic Designers: Whether it's paper or pixels, graphic designers are always needed to structure words and art to make a pleasing, readable product. Graphic designers are also key to any web-based publication, bringing specialized skills in Java, Flash, and HTML to bear on complex web publications.
- Sales: Publisher sales reps not only have to place books, magazines, and other publications with distributors and book buyers, they must also be good at promoting new products in markets all over the world. Whether it's a magazine that needs advertising to stay alive, a website that needs to attract ''eyeballs'' to its content, or the latest teen novel certain to attract millions of rabid fans, nothing happens until the sales staff gathers orders and makes the final sales.
With so many kinds of publishing, there are many ways to get into the field. One of the best ways is to work as an intern at a publishing house — most publishers are desperate for new talent and often hire internees for full-time work when positions open up. Writers may consider working for a small, online web magazine or even starting their own blog to show off their talents — these sites are great ways to hone your skills and build up a portfolio of work. While getting an agent may be important if you're hoping to make it in the book field, getting work as a feature writer is a much simpler proposition. Graphic artists can also use the web to show off their skills. Web page samples and portfolios are a great way to get noticed by potential clients. Comic colorists and writers can also find work in the field; some of the best artists and writers around today live in countries far away from the publishers they work for.
In the past, sales staff often needed to find jobs in the publishing industry in order to work, but with the rise of new media, many sales reps work as packagers, bundling book or magazine projects to show to prospective buyers. Some act as publishers themselves, providing the talent and writing services to create a finished product which is then sold to a publisher who prints the actual product.
Conclusion
Are you looking for top publishing jobs? Then take a good look at your skills. If you've got solid chops in writing, editing, graphic layout, or sales, there's never been a better time to get into the publishing industry or to start your own publishing company.
