How to get into Publishing

Posted on June 5, 2010 in Uncategorized

There can be no doubt that this year’s volcano stricken London Book Fair was a noticeably quieter affair. One thing there is never a shortage of though, are people hoping to get into publishing. Thus this years fair saw Earls Court’s Conference Room packed full on the Tuesday for the first of the SYP’s events, How to get into publishing. This year’s panel of speakers included Nick Canty, Lecturer in the MA publishing course at UCL; Greg Avaristo, MD of ‘Gregory Martin Search’ (specialist book publishing recruiter); Alessandro Gallenzi, founder of Hersperus Press, Alma books and Oneworld classics ; and Suzanne Kavanagh, Publishing Sector Manager at Skillset.

Nick Canty

One route that many have taken to get into publishing in recent years is opting to undergo extra study in the form of a publishing MA. Traditionally, the idea that the ‘skills’ of publishing were something that could not be ‘learnt’ anywhere outside an office, employers are increasingly starting to realise the benefits these courses can have,

Publishing is an industry where many people seem to have fallen into what they do, therefore learning as they go along. One of the benefits of doing an MA is the opportunity to learn about all aspects of publishing. Obviously, publishing is an industry where the streamlining of different departments is extremely important to the success of the overall operation. Being able to clearly understand what each department’s responsibilities and roles are is a necessary skill to have. For example, you may not need to understand rights at the beginning of a career in editorial but if you ever move to a smaller company or wish to start your own, this is knowledge that you will need to learn at some point.

The UCL course acknowledges that editorial is where a large portion of people want to work and thus focuses heavily on skills for this area. The course, as with most other MAs in publishing, also covers publishing business plans and budgets, contract negotiation and copyright management, electronic publishing and new media (an extremely important area to learn about at a time like this when new models are forming) and also back office functions and day to day management issues.

While learning about all the different aspects of publishing undoubtedly makes you a more attractive prospect for an employer it can also help open up your view of what your ‘career path’ should be. Nick said that he found that most people who came on the course had a very fixed idea of where they wanted to be, i.e. working at a trade publisher, in editorial. The exposure to the industries provided on a course like this can encourage people to consider areas like academic or educational publishing, often finding that they are sometimes more suited to different areas and the markets involved.

Obviously an MA in publishing is a big investment. However, in terms of whether it is a good time to be studying publishing or not, it is important to remember that what it will do is provide you with solid skills and, more importantly, new skills that the industry needs in a time when it is going through such a degree of change. Moreover, investing and committing to an MA, or a similar course, shows an employer just how serious you are about wanting to enter the field of publishing; it makes a strong statement that you know, and are certain of, the direction you are taking.

Suzanne Kavanagh

Suzanne’s advice came in the form of nine separate points she had highlighted that employer’s were looking for:

1. Attitude

Most employers will agree that it is a potential employee’s attitude that makes the difference. Put simply,this is a can-do enthusiastic attitude. A willingness to show that you are happy to roll up your sleeves and help out will go a long way. Also, be tenacious, if you can show that you are able to sell and promote yourself then you will also be seen as someone who is capable of doing the same for the company.

2. Research and Study Demonstrate that you have the ability to properly research your application. It may sound obvious but you need to know everything about the company, the sector and who their main competition is. This takes more than merely looking up the company’s website.

3. Technical and digital knowledge

This is an important one. Twenty-five percent of publishing employers spend most of their training budget on improving their employee’s technical and digital abilities – thus highlighting the shortage of skills in this area. As well as making sure your general office IT skills are up to scratch you should also highlight any html skills that you have. Also, do say if you are on Facebook or Twitter but make sure if they can see any pages like these that they are edited employer-friendly pages.

4. Communication

Answering the phone, dealing with enquiries and the ability to write an appropriate email – all basic skills that you can show you are capable of throughout the application process.

5. Literacy and numeracy

Another obvious one, but make sure that your C.V. and covering letters are well written and free of errors. Text is the tool of the trade in publishing so it is more important in this field than any other. Also, any proof you can give of numerical skills is always good as this is still needed for areas such as website analysis.

6. Organisational skills

Another key skill that employers find many people are lacking in.

7. Project management

Try and give examples of project management. You might not have any specific projects examples from within the work place, but showing that you are capable of pulling people together and making an event happen will demonstrate that you are capable of this point – it could be organising a party, for example.

8. Problem solving skills

You don’t need to have the answer or ability to solve every issue that arises but showing how you contributed towards solving a previous problem shows you have initiative.

9. Team working

There are many different types of people working in different departments in publishing and the ability to show you will be able to work well with all personality types is something that is extremely valuable.

Greg Evaristo

Greg opened with the following quote: ‘People will tell you that it is hard to get into publishing – it is not harder than any other sector, or any easier. The challenge is the same: you need to stand out from the crowd.’

Greg explained there are only three things that employers want to know:

· Where have you come from? (History, experience)

· Where are you going? (Motivation)

· What are you looking for? (Signifies prospects at company)

The illusion of an interview is that the employer is interested in ‘you’. This is true to an extent – employers are interested in ‘you’ – but only in terms of what ‘you’ can do for the company. The good news is that in an interview you will only ever get asked three questions. These might be disguised but every question is really asking one of the following: ‘Can you do the job?’ (experience),’ Will you do the job?’ (motivation), and ‘Will you fit in?’. This last one is the most difficult of all and depends on the culture of the company and the chemistry between you and the interviewer – put simply, do they like you as a person?

It is important that everything on your C.V. works towards answering these three questions. If a point on your C.V does not contribute to one of the above, then get rid of it. If you do not have any specific work experience then just take out any references to a particular job; neutralise your C.V. thus making your skills transferrable. Greg also emphasised that you should not just list your job description for previous roles. All this does is highlight what you were supposed to do rather than proving that you did it. It needs to be result focused with examples of your experience.

Your C.V. should be treated as an agenda for the interview and you should therefore tailor it as such. If you know your C.V then you know what you will be asked.

Alessandro Gallenzi

Allesandro started by acknowledging that getting into publishing is not only difficult but, if anything, it was probably getting harder to do. What was particularly interesting was hearing that every single employee Allesandro has taken on are those that have undertaken work experience with him. All work experience placements at Alma Books are for a minimum of three months and they currently receive around a dozen applications per week. When interviewing a potential candidate for work experience the first question he always asks is ‘Do you have a sincere passion for books?’.

Throughout the question and answer session that followed there was debate over whether unpaid work experience was ethical and concern over the fact that what is not always a viable economic option seemed to be a perceived necessary stepping stone into the industries. However, the fact remains that publishing is a competitive industry to get into. Rather than seeing work experience as unpaid labour, Alessandro reminded us that it should be viewed as a valuable learning experience; the opportunity to receive what is essentially in-house training from a small company for a substantial period of time is arguably one of the beneficial steps you can take, providing it is a realistic option.