a question for any literary/communication sorts out there...

[soulforophelia]

I'll be (hopefully) meeting with an advisor once I'm back at school and settled in... however I figured I could get a jump start on things by asking all of you

Comments

[brittdreams]

You can go directly into editing without graduate school. Many of the major publishing houses have year-long programs that rotate new hires through various departments. I'm thinking of Random House and Penguin specifically, though I'm sure there are others.

[soulforophelia]

Oh! Thank you so, so, much. I didn't realize publishing houses do that. Do you know if Random House or Penguin have those programs? I'm familiar with both and have looked into them quite a few times when it comes to publishing. But thank you again!

[cosmicwonder]

Random House and Penguin definitely have those programs and they also have summer programs. However, they are extremely competitive and I'm not sure how they select - i.e. it might be easier to get in if you know of someone there. I was able to do editing for a smaller publishing house in New York and working for the National Writer's Union.

I have a friend who did the summer publishing institute at NYU and that helped her land editing jobs in New York.

[soulforophelia]

Ah, cool. I'll definitely have to look into that. I live closer to Philly then NY and def can't afford NYC apartment costs... but it's definitely an option and I can always look around for some relatives to live with. My cousin works for the editor of Allure so maybe she can help me too. =\

With the summer publishing institute, that basically aimed for publishing... not creative writing, journalism, that type of stuff I'm assuming...?

And thanks so much for your help!!!

[tigg]

To ditto brittdreams, you don't need a grad degree for those jobs, and an English major will work fine.

Look into internships, or look into the summer publishing institutes that are offered in Colorado and in NY (try googling "summer publishing institute" and that should do it). These are pretty much guaranteed ways to get into publishing and work up the ladder, if you want to go into book publishing.

For newspapers, it won't matter - but you'll want to get some writing experience, like with your school newspaper or something similar. If there are journalism classes - or a journalism program - that's even better. Just beware that journalism pays very little and can have the worst hours ever. :)

[soulforophelia]

Thank you very much :) I really appreciate your advice. Do you think that doing an internship after you already graduated from college would be a bad thing? I'll be graduating in May and don't live close enough to a city to do an internship during the year. =\

[tigg]

Oh, no - not a bad thing at all! I think it's actually more common for such interns to be college grads - it's a full-time gig, from what I understand. The trick will be getting one of those internships; my perception is that they're pretty competitive.

[soulforophelia]

Eek. Okay, I'll have to look into it all a bit deeper. Thanks!

[shadows783]

Depending on what specifically you want to do, you might be able to get a full-fledged job right after graduating. I landed a job copyediting for scientific journals two months after I graduated. Internships are a good idea as well, of course, but because I was supporting myself, that wasn't exactly an option for me.

[soulforophelia]

Ah, cool, congrats on that quick job! I hope I have that kind of luck. :) I'd be so happy if I could get an internship, I'll definitely have to look into it!

[kriskoekk]

To kind of echo what others have said, a graduate degree is not really necessary for work in editing/publishing. In fact, almost everyone starts at the bottom regardless of whether they have a graduate degree or not. So a higher degree is, in my opinion and many others, not worth what you would pay for it. Internships are your best bet, but they are competitive and most do not pay. Be prepared to work hard to get one and have a way to support yourself (other than a salary) for the first year or two. You may want to look at some of the smaller publishing houses too--there are several really excellent ones in the Twin Cities.

[soulforophelia]

Thanks so much. :) I guess every city has good publishing houses? I have extended family near the Twin Cities... that would be cool. I really do appreciate all the advice!!!