“Saying ‘yes’ doesn’t mean I don’t know how to say no, and saying ‘please’ doesn’t mean I am waiting for permission,” Amy Poehler wrote in Yes Please, the celebrity’s bestselling memoir that spent 23 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list.
“Our students have knowledge, opinions, and experience,” said Andrea Chambers, Director of The NYU-SCPS Center for Publishing. Turning the tables on the student/teacher dynamic, she moderated a lively panel discussion at Book Expo America: “Lessons Learned in the Classroom: What Publishing Students Teach Their Professors”. Sharing their experiences in the classroom were veteran Center for Publishing faculty: Brenda Copeland, Executive Editor, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan; Justin Chanda, Vice President and Publisher, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Simon & Schuster; Matt Baldacci, Vice President of Marketing, Scholastic Trade Publishing, Scholastic, Inc.; and Susan Weinberg, Group Publisher, Perseus Books Group. All teach in the Center’s M.S. in Publishing: Digital and Print Media program.
[Read more…] about Studying the Students: What Publishing Professors Learn in the Classroom
How would you like to walk past Harry Potter art and merchandising paraphernalia every morning on your way to work? Or pass through halls filled with well-known and beloved children’s books? Or pat a large, stuffed Clifford the Big Red Dog in the hallway? Does being surrounded by posters which all carry the same motto, “Read Every Day, Lead a Better Life,” sound inspiring to you? If so, you’ll want to pursue a career at Scholastic.
[Read more…] about Scholastic: Work Digitally, Think Globally
Students wearing neon green T-shirts with the slogan “Keep Calm and Read On” seemed to be everywhere last week at Book Expo America. There they were in the autograph area controlling crowds, at publishers’ booths helping with signings, at conference sessions, and at author breakfasts. Forty-nine Master of Science in Publishing: Digital and Print Media and 2013 Summer Publishing Institute students were roaming the massive BEA space at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center serving as volunteers and picking up industry knowledge—and plenty of great swag as well. Advanced reading copies anyone? ARCs were there for the picking from bestselling authors like David Baldacci, Scott Turow, Lisa Scottoline, Cassandra Clare, and more. All in all, getting the chance to volunteer at the largest book conference in America was a great treat for students and an awesome way to kick off a summer of studies—and reading!
[Read more…] about BEA 2013: Volunteers and Voices of Change
During the intense six weeks of The NYU Summer Publishing Institute (SPI), we’ve listened to many speakers, panel discussions and attended countless workshops, but we’ve never sat in on a conversation between an editor and her author. Not until the great Amy Einhorn, Publisher and Vice President of Amy Einhorn Books, and Lyndsay Faye, author of The Gods of Gotham, appeared together on one of the final days of SPI to enlighten us about the unique symbiosis between an author and an editor.
“It’s a team effort. What I say to my authors is: ‘These are all suggestions’,” said Einhorn to illustrate the collaborative, not imperative, way to propose changes to an author. And some authors may be amazed with how much freedom they have: “Authors who are also journalists are often surprised [when going through the book editing process] at how much autonomy they have; they are used to far heavier editing,” revealed Einhorn.
Faye agreed and praised the subtle work of book editors whose job is to gently help authors improve their work and provide moral support during the sometimes long, and rarely easy, path to the shelves. In fact, when asked about self publishing, Faye noted the importance of the editing process in improving a literary work. “I have nothing against self-publishing… if you can find your audience on your own [without the help of a mainstream publisher], it’s bloody fantastic! Still, you have to have a stone cold eye about your own work. You need outside feedback. It can work without it, but you need to be extremely focused,” she summarized.
Even if authors have great control over their manuscripts, a good editor is one who is committed and engaged: “When publishing, you’re getting married, not dating. It’s a long, interactive relationship for years and years,” said Einhorn.
As SPI draws to a close, we have come to realize that this statement describes not just the relationship between an author and editor, but among the members of the entire publishing team. This has been emphasized repeatedly throughout SPI because publishing at its very heart is a team business. While making books may begin with a solitary author like Faye, the combined efforts of dozens leads to a successful final project that reaches and engages an audience.
Collaboration was a buzzword as well in our final SPI projects. By working on intensive group projects, meeting with human resources directors to revamp our resumes, attending Book Expo America, networking with alumni, visiting bookstores, magazine and book publishing companies, and meeting with the 250 (!) publishing professionals who came to share their expertise with us, the 116 of us truly learned that publishing is about content just as much as it is about the people who work to create, perfect, and distribute content. As we finish the program and reflect on all that we have learned, it is with great enthusiasm that we look forward to a stable marriage with this industry we love so much.
by Laura Sangrà Herrero
After the first three days of classes, NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute (SPI) students experienced a change of pace from the classroom when they attended Book Expo America (BEA) at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The conference center was transformed into a huge mall where every “store” featured the same thing: books. Even better for the students, the big books for fall were not only prominently displayed, but in some cases given away as advance reading copies. [Read more…] about Book Expo America: Rock Concert for Book Lovers
Three notable graduates of the NYU M.S. in Publishing program recently spoke with current student Seth Harris, a digital business development analyst at Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., about their newest roles within the publishing industry. They also discussed how they are applying aspects of the program to their current jobs, and advice for new and current students.
Till Wirth recently was promoted to manager of digital content and product development at Random House Children’s Books. He began working at Random House as an intern while a graduate student in publishing at NYU, where he received the program’ s Oscar Dystel Fellowship and 2008 Excellence in Achievement Award in Book Publishing. Before coming to New York, Wirth managed his family’s book publishing house in Germany. [Read more…] about Spotlight on M.S. Publishing Alumni