The Young Publishers Association, a new organisation set up in the US

Posted on December 9, 2024 in UK

The Young Publishers Association: A New York based organisation supporting early-career American publishers

At the Society of Young Publishers (SYP), we are always excited to learn about organisations across the globe that support the next generation of publishing professionals. Recently, we had the pleasure of connecting with Noah Perkins, Chairman of the Young Publishers Association (YPA) in the United States. At SYP, we are predominantly focused on supporting those based in the UK and Ireland, so it has been great to see initiatives like YPA start from across the pond and learn more about their vision, goals, and points of shared connection. In this interview, Noah shares insights into the YPA’s mission, its plans for growth, and how it aims to champion young professionals in the US publishing industry.

What made you want to develop the YPA?

The primary driver of my creation of the YPA was a sense of loneliness and isolation. After years of internships and freelance work, I had finally landed my first job in publishing. Unfortunately, this job was remote. While I had joined the industry that I had spent so long trying to be a part of, it was hard to feel like I was in community working completely from my bedroom. I knew that there had been past organisations who created spaces for young people in publishing, but they had all fizzled out, the most recent a casualty of the pandemic.

The YPA was one of those 3am thoughts, the ones you have when you’re lying awake unable to sleep. If those spaces don’t exist anymore, then it was incumbent on me to create one. I fully intended to host a single bar night, but seeing as I was unable to pony up $500 to promote the event on a publishing industry listserv, I thought I was doomed to failure. However, this unknown staff member suggested that they would consider promoting a notice from me, if I was forming an organisation. A year ago, I could never have imagined what this group was going to become. Filing paperwork for not-for-profit status with New York State and hosting a sold-out ball sponsored by the Frankfurt Book Fair were the furthest things from my mind. But there has been a clear need for connection, and we have been so blessed to have found support for our work withing the industry. I am incredibly proud of the work of our volunteer staff and cannot wait to see where the next year takes us.

What have been the biggest challenges in setting up the YPA?

Finding a way to create an online presence and maintain a listserv on a shoestring budget have been among the most difficult parts of the entire ordeal. Relying on the craftiness, and personal contributions, of our organising committee while finding places that are willing to host us for free have enabled us to function. The response has been so robust that we are having to build the plane in the air, so to speak. A great problem to have, but you do have to scramble when you are approaching the ceiling of your listserv membership. An exciting benefit of our upcoming incorporation is a newfound ability to fundraise allowing us to expand our offerings to our membership.

What kinds of events or resources do you plan to offer, and how do you see these growing in the future?

I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from the SYP as they currently offer quite a lot of things we hope to provide one day. In 2025, we are planning more exclusive ticketed events, such as editor/agent speed dating and more non-bar centered networking activities. Our mentorship program is currently under development, and we intend to start a job board and regular newsletter on our revamped website that we will be launching in the coming months.

How important is networking for young publishing professionals?

I believe that connection to a larger community is vital to the mental health and wellbeing of young professionals, career aspirations aside. That being said, we are blessed and cursed to work in an industry that is greatly based on interpersonal relationships. Your peers are the ones that you will be moving through this industry with and access to mentors for both professional development and referrals for future jobs are necessary. Publishing is an apprentice-based industry, and the wealth of knowledge that can be gained from chatting up more experienced publishing professionals is invaluable for honing your skills and furthering your career.

What are the main challenges for young publishers in the US?

An unfortunate byproduct of the consolidation of publishing houses in the US is that there are fewer and fewer opportunities for the same pool of talented and qualified applicants. This scarcity requires job-seekers to work harder and harder, taking on more internships, often unpaid, or freelance work in order to compete for a full-time position. This funnel continues past entry-level positions, with fewer opportunities for advancement. This crunch causes many to leave behind an industry, which we may love to pieces, but the low pay and long hours for some roles often make staying difficult to justify. This may sound bleak, but I am heartened by the future prospects for the industry as more people who have experienced these hardships make it into leadership roles and have not forgotten the difficulty in getting there. This combined with a boom of independent presses will hopefully lead to a more diverse publishing landscape and more opportunities for young professionals.

What trends are you seeing in the US publishing industry that young publishers should be aware of?

One of the developments that I am most excited by is how the stark divides between genres are blurring. More authors are becoming unafraid of crossing genre conventions, bringing these elements to new readerships. As a reader, I love seeing magical plot elements that I adored in high school being combined with high level prose to create excellent upmarket fiction that is firmly grounded in its own world. By removing these imposed constraints, we are entering a new era of freedom and creativity, and I cannot wait to see what these authors think up next.