
I took 3 classes at NYU: The Business of Publishing, Publishing Law, and Copyediting. The first two were incredibly helpful, and the last one made me want to stab myself in the eye with a pencil (I am not meant to be a copyeditor.) But the thing is, I waited until I already had a job in publishing. Most full-time jobs, as a part of their benefits, have a tuition benefit. Which means that your

I knew a couple of editorial assistants who did this full publishing program.

Here's the current NYU class listing for the publishing program:
- Graphic Print Production
- Prepress to Binding
- InDesign I: Foundations
- From Writer to Reader: An Introduction to Book Publishing
- Children's Book Publishing
- Publishing Online: Site Planning and Management
- Fundamentals of Copyediting Books
- Freelance Indexing
- How to Be a Book Editor: An Inside Look at the Editorial Process
- Grammar Intensive: Mastering Style and Sentence Structure
- Fundamentals of Proofreading
- Book Manuscript Editing Workshop
- Fundamentals of Electronic Copyediting
- Introduction to Online Media
- Book Publicity and Promotion
- Creating Author Platforms
- Book Marketing Strategies in Print and Online
- Legal Issues and Book Publishing: Contracts, Content, and Copyright
- The Business of Book Publishing for the Non-Financial Manager
- The Role of the Literary Agent in Book Publishing
- Self-Publishing: How to Create and Sell Your Own Books
- Freelance Opportunities in Book Publishing
- Publishing the Graphic Novel
- Social Media: Strategies for Marketing Success
- Beyond Google: Research Tools That Deliver
- Digital Strategies in the Book Industry
- Promotional Writing That Works:
- How to Create Great Marketing Copy in Print and Online Blogging Workshop
In my experience, a lot of the information in these classes you learn on the job. For instance, I don't think editing can really be taught. And at a large publishing house, while it's good to work with other departments, I don't know how much an editor needs to know about publicity, and vice versa. (At a small house, it could be much more helpful as there will be more overlap between departments.) I opted to only take the classes I thought would be helpful.
Of course last week we heard from my friend Emily who got a Master's in Publishing, about her experiences with a publishing program. It can certainly be a foot in the door, and a way to get a start in the publishing industry, but it's no guarantee. Both of us think it doesn't exempt anyone from having to do the heavy lifting of job hunting.
1 comment:
This is helpful. Thanks :)
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