Fall Faculty: New Faces

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:

Secrets of the Freelance Life

Being stood up by Britney Spears in Las Vegas, going on free vacations, and filing stories from sweatshops in Mexico all come with the territory, a panel of freelance journalists told students at NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute (SPI).

Virginia Sole-Smith

As Donna Sapolin, Magazine Director of SPI, deftly moderated, four top freelance writers and editors generously shared secrets and advice about how to get published happily and steadily in some of America’s leading publications. How to get started? Virginia Sole-Smith, who has filed stories from sweatshops in Mexico and whose bylines appear in the Progressive, the New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, and Elle, among other publications, suggested setting up a schedule to help keep on track. When she was starting out, she made a list of potential stories and publications which might run them, and then resolved to pitch three stories a week. Within three months, Sole-Smith was a published journalist. “Set your own goals and deadlines and be strict with yourself,” she emphasized.

Spotlight on Marie Claire and Good Housekeeping

Students visit Good Housekeeping and talk with Editor-in-Chief Rosemary Ellis, (third from right, back row)

The skies were grey and rainy, but the mood inside the Hearst Tower was upbeat and optimistic as a lucky group of NYU Master of Science in Publishing students visited the dramatic, eco-friendly building. The message from two of Hearst’s powerful editors-in-chief was simple: Take risks, and don’t be afraid to do what you love.

During the visit, students toured the Hearst Tower, got a behind-the-scenes look at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute laboratories, and capped it off with chats with Rosemary Ellis, Editor-in-Chief of Good Housekeeping, and Joanna Coles, Editor-in-Chief of Marie Claire.   Students learned that the future is indeed looking bright for two of America’s leading women’s magazines.