Our publishing field school’s trip to New York City was one of the most fulfilling trips that I have ever been on because it gave me the opportunity to briefly immerse myself in the vast world of publishing to gain a better understanding of where I feel I belong within it. We met with five publishers, every meeting bringing valuable new insights to my attention.
The first publisher we met with was Harper’s Magazine, a publisher that focuses on real-world events and expresses opinions on them through journalism and literature. During this meeting, we learned about their mission as a publisher, their rigorous editorial and fact-checking practices, and their hiring process. Going into this trip, I was open to all work opportunities in publishing, but I wasn’t feeling the spark that I usually felt when discussing work in publishing. I have a lot of respect for the people working in this field, but publishing literary/political magazines might not be for me, which is okay as this is still a valuable takeaway.
Our next meeting was with Macmillan, one of the “Big Five” English book publishers. Staff from various departments gathered in a meeting room to tell us about their professions, and I felt that spark return every time I heard from the editors of their fiction imprints. We discussed the company’s acquisition methods, how editors interact with authors, and the evolution of book marketing with the rise of social media, among other topics. One answer in particular even helped me settle an internal conflict that I was having. It was in response to a question about what they do when a book faces lower sales than expected, and they simply said that it’s just how it is. There just aren’t enough resources to allocate towards the promotion of one book over the many others that they have to sell because even if they do, it’s not guaranteed to pay off. This answer comforted me because after doing everything they can for a book, what matters at the end of the day is that it found its audience, no matter how big or small.
Another publisher we met with was Feminist Press, an independent publisher with a mission of amplifying marginalized voices. It was interesting to see how the publishing process differs between a smaller publisher like this and larger, more corporate ones like Macmillan. While the editorial work is quite similar, Feminist Press had noticeably more freedom when it came to acquisitions, and their books covered topics that I didn’t see represented as often in fiction.
Immediately after meeting with Feminist Press, we visited another independent publisher called Ugly Duckling Presse that publishes poetry and translated works. The staff was very welcoming, and they clearly had so much love for their craft. I’ve never seen books like the ones they make. I really appreciated the care that they put into all of their products, from the cover designs, to the to the page formatting, to the binding of each book. It felt so unique and high quality! Like Feminist Press, they also had a lot of freedom in choosing the projects they picked up. While I don’t think poetry and handmade books are for me, I am still very grateful to Ugly Duckling Presse for letting us into their world for a bit and showing us how they create works of art.
The last publisher that we met with was Penguin Random House, another one of the “Big Five.” My biggest takeaway from this meeting is an understanding of how competitive it is to land a job with a large publishing company. While it is certainly possible to be lucky enough to get hired by being in the right place with the right qualifications at the right time, it is also very important to have perseverance and a strong network. The person who hosted us, Lindsey, told us about how it took her eight months and over 200 job applications before she landed her current job. She also taught us the art of meeting with professionals for informational interviews, which I will definitely be using, going forward.
After meeting with all of these publishers in New York, I have narrowed my interests in publishing jobs to primarily editorial positions and possibly even marketing and publicity in fiction. I actually have a strong interest in entering the field of webcomics in the publishing industry, which is different from what all of the publishers we met with offer, but I believe the takeaways regarding editorial work, marketing, and competitive hiring processes are still applicable. I also have a better idea of the work I need to put in to get to where I want to be.