NYU Summer Publishing Students Prepare for Jobs

Editor’s Note: We are delighted that the article (below) on the NYU-SCPS Summer Publishing Institute has been picked up widely by the media. Please see the links after the cut and do read the story and give us your feedback.

Step Right Up: Publishing Predictions for 2021

Perseus CEO David Steinberger talks to SPI students.

“The first book published was the Bible,” announced David Steinberger, CEO of the Perseus Books Group. “And the second book was  ‘The Demise of Publishing.’” Laughter ensued as the NYU-SCPS Summer Publishing Institute (SPI) students listened to the final address of the 2011 six-week program. In fact, Steinberger depicted publishing as far from its demise, vibrant and alive with a spirit of adaption and improvement.

Steinberger led students through his own predictions for what publishing will look like in 2021. Despite the ephemeral nature of publishing today, Steinberger—if anyone—is in a great position to forecast future trends for the ever-evolving industry.

Listen up: the future according to Steinberger could become our reality. Here are the Perseus CEO’s predictions:

Tips and Thrills: Just a Day in Publishing

Macmillan CEO John Sargent with students

“You guys are the future of publishing.” The NYU-SCPS Summer Publishing Institute students heard those words recently from John Sargent, CEO of Macmillan Publishing. As classmates headed off to book industry visits at Penguin Group USA, Simon & Schuster, Open Road Integrated Media, and Workman Publishing, my colleagues and I had the opportunity to visit Macmillan’s headquarters in the historic Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue.

In his office with a balcony overlooking Madison Square Park, Sargent began his talk to the students as if composing a choose-your-own-adventure novel. He offered to address current issues in publishing, describe the history of the company or volunteer career advice. “You choose!” he said. The CEO didn’t seem at all surprised when the students wanted to hear his tips on a career in publishing.

Blogging for Love (and Maybe Money)

Bloggers Sarah Wendell, Jennifer Hart, David Gutowski, Rachel Deahl and Sarah Weinman at NYU's Summer Publishing Institute

“When it comes to social media, I fly by seat-of-your-pants airlines. I have a lot of miles there,” quipped Sarah Wendell, who runs the well-known book blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.  Wendell was participating in a blogging panel at the NYU-SCPS Summer Publishing Institute.  The moderator was Sarah Weinman, who created the blog Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind (currently on hiatus) and is now a reporter for Publishers Lunch. Under her deft guidance, the conversation turned to the need to change and adapt to a constantly evolving online landscape. Four bloggers, who came from all corners of the publishing and blogging landscape, were eager to share their thoughts.

When asked how publishers’ relationships to bloggers have changed in the last ten years, Jennifer Hart, Vice President and Associate Publisher of HarperCollins and the creator of the blog Book Club Girl, didn’t hesitate with her answer: “Tremendously!” she said, noting that bloggers are invited to parties, author events and receive galley copies. “Publishers really rely on them to be our word of mouth in the world.”

“Ten Things You Might Do to Get a Job” (And More!)

AAP's Tom Allen addressing SPI students

“You may well have signed up for this summer institute because you want to edit fiction or nonfiction,” Tom Allen, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), told the students in his keynote address at the beginning of the book session of the NYU-SCPS Summer Publishing Institute (SPI). “But in a few weeks, you’ll learn what that [editing] entails,” Allen counseled, and then added:

“You’ll also gain insight into the breath of jobs in this industry in finance, production, rights, marketing, to name a few, that directly affect the success of books. In publishing, it takes a village. It really takes a village. I urge you to be open to the many—what I think will be unexpected—opportunities that you come across that will offer you a fulfilling career within the community of literate, engaged, and interesting people.”

After this brief appeal, Allen then launched into a discussion of the effects of the digitization of books on the publishing industry. When more than half of the SPI attendees told Allen they read on digital devices, it would have been remiss for him not to focus a majority of his talk on this topic.  Still, I wondered, if digital was so important, why would he have urged us to stay open-minded to all the opportunities that the publishing industry affords? As I listened to the panel discussion that followed on the future of book publishing, I had a far better understanding of what Allen meant.