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M.S. in Publishing: Digital & Print Media

From the Publishers’ Perspective: “HTML5, EPUB 3, and a Little Merlot”

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(l-r) Publishers Sarah Crichton, Bob Miller, Ana Maria Allessi and Brian Tart speak at NYU's Center for Publishing

It was anything but the usual doom and gloom at the latest event in the NYU Media Talk series hosted by The Center for Publishing at The New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Far from expressing apprehension about the transitional nature of the industry and the demise of print, the four panelists—all members of the Center for Publishing faculty—discussed their excitement and optimism. Speaking to an audience of NYU students and faculty as well as industry professionals, panelists Ana Maria Allessi, Sarah Crichton, Bob Miller and Brian Tart spoke candidly of their triumphs and failures, and how they’ve used these learning experiences to improve their business practices. The talk was moderated by Michael Cader, the founder of the widely-read newsletter Publishers Lunch, who was similarly upbeat about the state of mainstream publishing: “Ninety-nine times out of 100, the story a publisher has to tell about their success in real numbers is very convincing,” said Cader. “I wish Simon and Schuster were up there telling how many books the Steve Jobs biography moved the first day because I think it’s a very powerful statement. I don’t think a startup can do that and I don’t think a web-only company can do that… There are still things here that established companies and experts who have done this for 20 or 30 years can do very well, and probably do better than anyone else.” [Read more…] about From the Publishers’ Perspective: “HTML5, EPUB 3, and a Little Merlot”

“You’re Hired!” One Student’s Story

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Daniell Maupai: from the Capstone to a job at Condé Nast

“I was SO nervous,” remembers Danielle Maupai of the moment she stood up at an NYU Center for Publishing Board of Advisors meeting and summarized key elements of her graduate thesis, or “Capstone.”  After delivering a flawless Capstone presentation the week before in front of her fellow graduate students in the NYU M.S. in Publishing program, Maupai had been selected to tell the Board members about her thesis.  Maupai knew this was a wonderful opportunity to outline her business plan for a new magazine for American teachers in front of executives like Nina Link, President and CEO of MPA: The Association of Magazine Media; John Q. Griffin, former Executive Vice President of Time Inc. & President of Time Inc. News Group and current President of Griffin & Associates; and Louis Cona, Chief Marketing Officer for Condé Nast. [Read more…] about “You’re Hired!” One Student’s Story

Fall Faculty: New Faces

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Who’s new on the faculty for the Master of Science in Publishing program at NYU-SCPS? Each semester, as we add new courses and expand our faculty, we invite top industry experts into our classrooms to help us shape and refine our curriculum. This fall, for example, we are adding a new course called “EPUB and eBook Workflow” and invited Pablo Defendini of Open Road Integrated Media to teach it. We created a new course in Principles of Art and Design and asked Dan Revitte of Rodale to share his design knowledge with our students. Another new course in The Role of Video in Publishing will be taught by Godofredo Astudillo of TV Guide Magazine. Other industry leaders joining our faculty this fall are: Scott Alexander of American Photo; Seale Ballenger and Jonathan Burnham of HarperCollins; Daniele Campbell of MTV Networks; Shannon Casey of Hearst; Ruth Feldman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia; Rob Fisher of American City Business Journals at Advance Publications; Jane Grenier, Rick Levine, and Josh Stinchcomb of Condé  Nast; Robert Miller of Workman Publishing; Kate Rados of F+W Media; John Vlachos, formerly of Time, Inc; and Troy Williams of Macmillan. Please read on to learn more about them: [Read more…] about Fall Faculty: New Faces

Mag Lab: Carey and Carr Talk Shop

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Carey and Carr at NYU Media Talk

Are “two pizza” teams the future of media? Championing the value of start-up staffs being small enough to share, well, two pizzas, Hearst Magazines President David Carey praised the entrepreneurial spirit at the latest NYU Media Talk. Sponsored by The NYU-SCPS Center for Publishing, “Magazines 2011: The New Conversation” featured Carey and David Carr, Media Columnist for The New York Times, talking about important issues facing the industry. “There’s never been a better time,” Carey began about working in magazines. He described his faith in publishing as a ship that can change course, reroute and stay solvent (with proper leadership) in any tide.

Carey is widely known as an eloquent speaker about media. It was David Carr who had suggested him to Center for Publishing Director Andrea Chambers as perfect for the Media Talk. To be sure, Carey was a timely choice: earlier this month Hearst Magazines completed their $900 million acquisition of Hachette Lagardère, acquiring nearly 100 magazine titles in 14 countries, including Elle, Elle Décor, Woman’s Day, Road & Track, and Car & Driver. The merger is a bold gesture that now makes Hearst the largest publisher of monthly magazines internationally, and a dominant player in all sectors of lifestyle publishing. Carey addressed the importance of emerging markets for publishing  such as those in China and India) and commented that Hearst’s aim is to have a heightened presence in those climates, meeting the growing demands for consumer goods and Western culture. Next up for Cosmopolitan, noted Carey, was a possible move into Mongolia, though the magazine “takes a different tone” in such climates. [Read more…] about Mag Lab: Carey and Carr Talk Shop

Abu Dhabi Adventure: Part II

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Publisher Judy Galbraith speaks at the "Education Chapter 3" forum at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

While the main activity at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair was, well, selling books, there was also a major emphasis upon education. One of my jobs was to help staff “The Education Chapter 3” of the fair. The “3” indicates that this was the third annual Education Chapter, which brought together exhibitors, teachers, librarians, publishers, institutional buyers, and presenters in an effort to provide professional training to Arab teachers and librarians. [Read more…] about Abu Dhabi Adventure: Part II

Abu Dhabi Adventure: Part I

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NYU M.S. in Publishing Students (l to r) Karlyn Hixson, Courtney Sanks and Erin Cox with Program Administrator Jennifer Goodwin at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair

After a fourteen-hour flight from New York City, four graduate students from the Center for Publishing at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies (NYU-SCPS) stepped onto Abu Dhabi soil, eager to begin work as volunteers for the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. The four had been selected after an intense competition that included submitting an essay about their goals for the volunteer experience and appearing before a committee for an in-depth interview. This public service endeavor was made possible by Jane Dystel, a well-respected literary agent, president of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, and daughter of Oscar Dystel, a legendary leader in the publishing industry and former CEO and chairman of Bantam Books. Jane oversees the Oscar Dystel Publishing Research and Development Fund, which provided the resources for Joana Costa Knufinke, Erin Cox, Karlyn Hixson, and Courtney Sanks to travel to Abu Dhabi and work alongside Emirati volunteers and staffers of KITAB, a joint-venture between the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) and the Frankfurt Book Fair. Below, please read the first two posts on the students’ Abu Dhabi adventure:

[Read more…] about Abu Dhabi Adventure: Part I

The Art of Getting Hired

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Denise Cunningham of Sterling Publishing and Ali DeBiasi of Time Inc. provide valuable career advice to NYU-SCPS Center for Publishing students.

Wouldn’t it be great to know the secret thoughts of job recruiters—what may irk, what will work, and how you can ultimately convince them to offer you the job of your dreams? At a Career Panel sponsored by the Center for Publishing at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, graduate students were given the opportunity to do just that. Ali DeBiasi-Intrès, Executive Director of Staffing at Time Inc., and Denise Cunningham, Vice President for Human Resources at Sterling Publishing, gamely answered questions and even conducted mock interviews with two brave students, followed by a candid critique of their performances. Read on for discussion highlights, and don’t forget to make this your handy checklist before submitting your next job application.

[Read more…] about The Art of Getting Hired

The Social Network: The Panel

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Center for Publishing faculty member Katherine Tasheff (l) and Director Andrea Chambers at social media panel

You’ve seen “The Movie,” so now it’s time to read about “The Panel,” a conversation among high-powered social media experts who gathered at Harvard Business School last week for the 20th Annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference.  Entitled “Beyond the Buzz,” the social media panel was one of sixteen discussions focused on key issues such as work-life balance, managing teams in a global context and networking and selling with confidence.

The NYU-SCPS Center for Publishing was well represented on the social media panel by Director Andrea Chambers, who moderated the discussion, and by Katherine Tasheff, Executive Director, Digital Media and Marketing, Hyperion and Voice Books.  Tasheff teaches Introduction to Interactive Media in the Master of Science in Publishing program at NYU. To report on the many tips and tactics suggested by the social media panelists, two Harvard Business School first-year students, Alexandra Bochicchio and Valerie Galinskaya, offer this status update:

[Read more…] about The Social Network: The Panel

Digital Book World Day Two: Catering to Kids

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Blogger Stephanie Pitts
Blogger Stephanie Pitts

As a lover of children’s books, I was pleased to find that there were three panels on day two of Digital Book World devoted to this segment of the marketplace. So, once my volunteering duties at the coat check were over, I made a beeline for the first kids’ book panel of the day. (As my fellow NYU Publishing student Thea James noted in her post about day one, hanging up wet and snowy coats wasn’t a bad trade off for the chance to sit in on a conference where registration costs upwards of one thousand dollars!)

Kristen McLean of the Association of Booksellers for Children moderated a presentation of findings from the 2010 ABC/Bowker Pubtrack Consumer Study: Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer in the Digital Age. The study provided many insights into the children’s market and debunked two prevailing myths surrounding teenagers. The first myth is that teenagers are universal adopters of technology and a ready-made market for ebooks. In fact, the study demonstrated that no segment in the teen market shows significant ebook sales (5-6% average adoption compared to about 30% in adult trade). The panelists attributed this to the fact that teenagers tend to adopt technologies that are sharing in nature like texting and social networking. Ebooks with limited sharing capabilities are actually less social than print books, which are readily passed around friendship circles or classrooms. Furthermore, many teens still don’t have access to e-readers, and because not all have credit cards, they rarely shop online for books. [Read more…] about Digital Book World Day Two: Catering to Kids

Digital Book World Day One: Optimism and Excitement

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Thea James, NYU Publishing student and blogger

At 7:00 AM on a cold, snowglobe of a morning, I stood with three other students from NYU’s Master of Science in Publishing program outside a ballroom at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, bleary-eyed but eager to participate in one of the biggest and most relevant digital publishing events of the year. The second official Digital Book World conference (“DBW”) was about to begin in earnest, and there was much work to be done. As one of a small number of students lucky enough to snag a volunteer position at the event, I was determined to help pave a smooth experience for all attendees, even if that meant  working at the coat check in return for time in the actual conference sessions. Not a bad trade-off at all!

After the morning rush finally subsided and attendees settled into the main ballroom, the coat checker crew was invited to sneak away and catch one of the first panels of the day. In “A CEO’s View of the Future,” speakers Brian Napack (Macmillan), Jane Friedman (Open Road Integrated Media), David Steinberger (Perseus), Michael Hyatt (Thomas Nelson), and David Nussbaum (F+W Media) discussed trends in the digital publishing realm and fielded more than a few tough questions about strategic corporate decisions and preparations for the future. [Read more…] about Digital Book World Day One: Optimism and Excitement