One needs a marketing personality to sell used cars or aluminum siding-aggressive, outgoing, persuasive, and charming. A book is a different kind of product. A book salesperson, visiting the head of the psychology department at a university, needs a keen understanding of his book as well as its subject in order to persuade the professor to adopt the text for her classes.
Similarly, the sales manager for a large publisher must be conversant with the themes of her entire seasonal line, which may number a hundred books. Add intelligence and a love of reading to the other qualifications, and you have a book marketer.
Job Shifting in Book Publishing
As in most fields, particularly in the media and communications professions, job shifting in book publishing is a way of life. People move upward within their own company or by taking jobs at other publishers.
A regular feature in Publishers Weekly called "People" reports these changes. Readers may find this column useful in defining upward mobility in book publishing. Here are some examples:
Gilly Hailpam named publicity manager Avon books. She was associate director of publicity at Bantam Books.
Anne Yarowsky appointed senior editor in illustrated books department of S&S. She previously directed Yellow Press, her own company.
Paul Farrell named editor-in-chief of Henry How's computer book group. He was formerly an editor at John Wiley.
Susan Dalsimer named VP of publishing for Miramax Books, an imprint of Disney's Hyperion Books, launched in 1994. She previously worked for Warner Bros., acquiring books for films.
Mark Ciccone named VP merchandising Bantam Doubleday Deli. He was with Procter & Gamble.
Joan Schulhafer has been named director of publicity at Avon Books. She was an independent consultant.
Minorities and Book Publishing
African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians are as underrepresented in book publishing as they are in other communications professions. In terms of officials and managers, which includes executives in all phases of publishing, African Americans account for only 4 percent, while Hispanics and Asians account for about 2.6 percent in total. Even in office and technical jobs, the three minorities account for only about 20 percent.
Under the leadership of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), book publishers are moving aggressively to improve representation by minorities. The problem lies in misconceptions about the industry's requirements. For one, the notion exists that only English majors need apply. Publishing, the AAP maintains, is a business that needs people with accounting, law, production, public relations, and data processing skills. By offering scholarships and conducting an informational campaign, it is hoped that minorities will be attracted to book publishing.
The Range of Entry-Level Jobs
We have given some examples of entry-level jobs available in publishing. Here are some additional beginning jobs:
- Accounting clerk Assistant in subsidiary rights
- Clerk-typist
- College sales representative
- Customer service representative
- Mail room clerk
- Manuscript traffic clerk
- Production assistant
- Proofreader
- Publicity assistant
- Reference library assistant
- Secretary to an officer
