[Juliwan]

Hi all:

Are any of you working mommies in the publishing industry?

I am a nurse. I put myself through nursing school and graduate school, and then realized that nursing's not my bag. Major bummer.

So, I'm thinking of going back to school to get my English degree (which is what I should have done in the first place, but my narcissistic mother didn't see it that way - a long, boring story), and I was wondering if anyone here had any advice for me.

I have always enjoyed reading and writing. I'm hoping that getting a degree in English will help me get into the publishing world and that maybe I'll BE published someday. I am not in any big hurry, and I'm not doing this for the bucks. I'm doing it because I believe it's what I was meant to do.

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

THANKS!

 

[Ellien C]

Well - I WAS in publishing. It didn't pay very well. My undergraduate degree was in biology and I worked for a medical publisher. So you might not need to go back to school. At my publishing house we really didn't like to hire frustrated writers or people who thought they wanted to be writers. I think there was a fear that they would always be frustrated writers or would simply agonize too long over the professional writing they had to do. We only used the English Lit majors for copywriters. Most of the developmental and acquisitions editors had other degrees.

I will say that I'm still in touch with people from my old company, which was bought be Reed Elsevier and no one is happy. That arm of the industry has really consolidated into a very few large players.

 

[lisalou]

I was in publishing as well, business to business. I was in the circulation end of things but know a lot of editors and writers. A good deal of them have a background in something else and then came to writing. So maybe using your nursing experience you could write for a nursing magazine.

In college I started out in journalism school. It's a much different writing style than what english majors are asked to do. Frankly it always seemed english lit majors were the worst editors in terms of cutting copy. The journalism program I was in had you also do a 20 or 25 hour minor in something else (the amount of hours was about 3 away from a major so everyone double majored). The idea was j-school gives you a skill, writing, now you need something to write about. I dropped out of j-school for a number of reaons mainly the very, very low starting salary and discovering that newspapers weren't really as much interested in the truth as pacifying stockholders.

I think magazine writers have to be very outgoing. You have to get sources for your stories and if you are a freelancer (that's where the money is at if you can get the gigs) you have to convince people to use you to write the story.

I also have friends in the book publishing industry. If that's what you mean. I would suggest if you go for a creative writing program for that and network, network, network as well as go to artist retreats, etc., etc. You sort of need to know people in order to get published and it can take years. Most english lit majors in that industry are book editors not book writers.

 

[stirringleaf]

are you serious that the publishing industry will not hire a creative writng person? that seems so prejudicial and unfair to me. yes, i am a creative writing student right now.

i also do very small press publishing on my own and have been for around 10 years. ( in the form of zines and chapbooks) . I am extremely interested in the publishing side of things. i love doing layout, design, and making books. i am a freak and love making copies, and love the act of typing just as much as i love writing. its really discouraging to hear i will face that kind of prejudice if i try to get a job in a publishing house

anyway i am sort of starting my own business right now. I also started a nonprofit group that is a collaberative small press group where we are looking for funding and help emerging writers/publishers pubulish thier own work. I want to do community publishing projects, like where i go do a workshop with differnt groups and then make a zine/book out of it. I am really into underground/alternative/independant publishing. I care about it as much as i care about writing. does someone like me really have no chance?

also, if i do have any kind of chance, do you think it is possible to get work at a publishing place as an undergrad?

 

[monkey's mom]

I worked in publishing doing marketing. It was a lot of fun. My degree is in Sociology, but knowing how to write was much more important than educational background. I wrote press releases and jacket copy. A style that can easily be picked up on the job.

My advice to anyone looking to change or start a career is to do an internship at your dream place. If you're able to go to school, they should be able to help you set up an internship or co-op where you can work for a publishing house you want to and still get credit for school. Free labor is always appreciated and if you do a good job/like the employer, you should be a no-brainer for them to hire once you're ready.

Good luck and kudos to you for following your dream!!

 

[Dragonfly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ellien C Most of the developmental and acquisitions editors had other degrees.

If you don't mind my asking, what sort of degrees did some of them have?

Quote:

Originally Posted by stirringleaf also, if i do have any kind of chance, do you think it is possible to get work at a publishing place as an undergrad?

stirringleaf - You could always try for a summer internship! I know Random House has a program:

http://www.randomhouse.com/careers/cg_intern.html

I still wish I had done this. It looks like a fantastic experience!

Here is their main job page:
http://www.randomhouse.com/careers/

I was an English Lit major and have always wanted to go into publishing. I'm feeding my love for it in law school by helping professors to edit their books. I do hear that it's a bit of a slave industry for all but the highest-level employees... but if you love it, I imagine it might be worth it.

 

[stirringleaf]

yeah most internships are not really feasable since i cant leave my son for a whole summer , (i mean if the internship is out of town) nor can dh just up and quit his job. but i will check into some around here probably next summer, cuz hopefully by then we will be able to afford childcare.... its a really good idea. and actually i worte to the printing press that does stuff for the university and asked if i could ever do an internship and they were open to it. i just didnt have the free time then to do it. but i will!

 

[Defenestrator]

I worked for a company that was publishing-related. It didn't suit my temperment at all (I hate desk jobs) but in general was not a bad job. I now work as a midwife, which suits me a lot more.

I did go to school for a liberal arts degree (literature and linguistics, if you must know) and landed myself a clerk job at a bookstore while I was waiting to figure out how to do something else. That job lead to a corporate training job at Borders and eventually to managing a music store for Borders. I knew a lot of people who worked for that company, either in the corporate office or in some management/professional capacity at the stores who eventually went on to take marketing or sales jobs for publishing companies. I think that working for a book-related industry could be a way to get experience.

Anyway, my story is this. I ran my music store in Chicago. I met a lot of record label folks because it is a big market. I wanted to move back to my home town, Ann Arbor, and saw an ad in one of the local newspapers looking for editors at this place callled All Music Guide. I had spent a lot of time previously doing freelance writing, mostly book reviews and other short non-fiction, and thought I would try to apply. I interviewed and got the job. I think, in retrospect, that they hired me for my record label connections, not for my knowledge of music. I also think I am a decent writer and the job required some writing.

I didn't really understand what AMG did until I started to work there. They published encyclopedia-style books about music, and originally had done just that. But, at the time I started to work for them, they were selling all of the information that they had compiled while putting together the books and selling it as a database to people like Apple Computer (for use in ipods) and Amazon.com. I spent a lot of time editing databases and not such a lot of time editing books.

Pay is low in the publishing industry. I remember talking to a friend who had an entry-level job at one of the big NYC publishing houses and was trying to live in New York on her $8 per hour salary. I think things get better once you get promoted, but it is hard to get that first job out of the way.

 

[audone]

When you talk about going into Publishing are you talking about being on the publishing end (editor, etc.) or on the writing end?

I am aspiring to break into the writing end of things. I am already a Languge Arts Teacher at a high school, but writing is really my passion and I have only recently started writing and submitting stories/articles (and being rejected) in earnest. One day something will break through. I don't expect to make a million, but I enjoy it and am having fun.

If you just want some inspiration and guidance there are some options for courses. Long Ridge WRiters Institute, Institute for Children's Literature (which I am just finishing), and others from WRiter's digest and others. Just plug away!

 

[lisalou]

I don't think the publishing industry has a bias against creative writing types it just depends on what you want to do in publishing. If you want to work for a newspaper or magazine that isn't a literary one, then yes, you will probably encounter some bias. Other than that, I really doubt you would. I get the feeling from my friend who works at Random House is that book publishing is filled with creative writing types.

btw off topic, I love your screen name defenestrator! Who or what exactly do you throw out of windows?

 

[Tine]

Hi, Juliwan-

I work in the publishing industry right now (and have been in the biz for 13 years). I'm the editorial director at a book publishing company.

My personal opinion: Unless you're getting into academic or some other very specialized type of publishing, your skills are far more important than your degrees. I wouldn't recommend getting an English degree on top of your other degrees unless you just really want to.

It seems to me that you need to decide what you want to DO in publishing. Writing? Editing? Acquisitions? Marketing? Publicity? A great way to figure that out and to get a feel for the industry in general is to attend any one of the many "publishing institutes" offered at various universities. (I went to the one at U. of Denver, which was fab, but there are other good ones, too.) They're usually 6-week summer programs that offer workshops in all the various types of publishing careers and opportunities to network with publishing professionals. Also, many universities offer professional editing courses. When I'm hiring entry-level editors and interns, I look for these types of things on resumes. Obviously a rookie won't have editing experience, but I want to know that s/he has some idea what the industry is REALLY like and has decided THAT (not writing the Great American Novel) is what s/he really wants to do.

If you have other specific questions, feel free to PM me. Glad to help you if I can.

 

[Tine]

Juliwan, I just noticed you're in Texas. Rice University in Houston has (or used to have, at any rate) one of the better publishing institutes. Might be worth looking into.

 

[Juliwan]

Tine:

Thank you for that response. I love words, love reading. I would be interested in acquisitions or any position where I get to read. Editing would be fun, too, but I like the idea of being the one who finds that special author! I think I'm a pretty good judge of writing these days (I can always find errors in the books I read!), but I wasn't sure how to go about getting my foot in the door. Thank you for the suggestion of finding a publishing institute - I will research that!

Since I last posted, I already visited with the English department of the college I was checking out. They were a bit dismayed that I wanted to get another degree, if you can imagine! I decided that I would just teach myself what I need to know, and a publishing program sounds great. I don't mind doing a few internships to get some experience.

Thanks again to everyone who has responded. All good suggestions!

Julie

 

[kaydee]

Great advice from other mamas!

I have worked in publishing in various roles off and on (mostly on) for about 15 years. I've worked for the big publishing houses in NYC, but since leaving the city, have found it difficult to find work in book publishing (which is very centralized in NYC). I have since worked as an editor for government and nonprofit organizations since then.

Although you do need a college degree to be an editor (for the most part), you probably don't need a specialized degree, unless you go into academic publishing. Internships or reputable publishing courses/instututes can help you get a leg up, in terms of experience and connections.

It is a very poorly paid field, except for a very few high-profile editors. People do this work because they love it (or at least like it a lot! :LOL) not because it is lucrative. It can also be a somewhat difficult field to break into if you are an older adult--although that is true of many professions. It is also a field where, for the most part, you will have to spend quite a while doing low-level "grunt" work; you will not be acquiring your own manuscripts, in all likelihood, for several years, until you work your way up the food chain.

I do think that many people who really want to write think that editing is a similar job, but it's truly not. If what you really want to do is to be a writer, then I would think hard about whether being an editor--being behind the scenes, not having creative control, juggling a mutlitude of responsibilities, many of which are not creative/artistic--is the right role for you.