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Help Wanted: Book Publishing Welcomes a New Breed of Talent

Good News and Advice to Graduating College Seniors

New York, NY – May 11, 2011 – There is good news for graduating college seniors. For those who love books and want to go into book publishing, there are jobs to be had. According to Publishers Weekly publisher Cevin Bryerman, “Not only traditional jobs, but jobs for digital editors and apps-writers and digital IT techies.” With sales of tablets and smartphones unceasing, Bryerman predicts there will be an even greater call for tech-savvy talent in the world of books.

“E-books are booming,” says Bryerman, who notes that fully ten percent of major publishers’ revenues are now derived from sales of e-books. One year from now, he expects that number to double, to twenty percent of revenues. Will this trend plateau at some point? Bryerman is doubtful. “It will only continue to trend upward,” he says.

This does not, however, bode ill for graduates who prefer traditional publishing and printed books. There is a wealth of opportunity within the industry for traditionalists.

Bryerman recommends that new job-seekers use all their resources, including Publishers Weekly’s recently launched JobZone job board, available for free and with no log-in required on the Publishers Weekly Web site. Publishers’ Web sites, he notes, offer another ripe opportunity where publishers frequently post their entry-level openings. Tried-and-true networking and word-of-mouth augment classified postings.

Sarah Gold, senior feature editor and head of internships at Publishers Weekly, concurs. “Internships, whether paid or unpaid, are a good way to see the process of publishing from the inside; to demonstrate your skills, dedication and ability to work well with others; to gain experience of working in an office; and to make contacts that could lead to a full-time job.”

Contacts are especially important whether seeking traditional or nontraditional publishing work. In Gold’s experience, there seem to be fewer entry-level editorial jobs than in the past, because of massive layoffs a few years ago; in that context, contacts become all the more vital.

Adult-education and summer publishing courses, some of which run only two weeks, show initiative and seriousness of purpose to potential employers. Bryerman, who gives nearly a half-dozen talks per year at colleges, universities and trade events, says the future of publishing depends now more than ever on technologically adept employees. Even those with a bent toward social media can carve out a space that was once not so long ago reserved for unpaid interns.

“All entry-level employees should have qualifications in digital technology,” Bryerman says. “With even a modicum of experience in digital technology, college graduates can find a place in book publishing.” He adds, “And don’t rule out moving to Seattle or elsewhere outside of New York.” On PW’s JobZone alone, there are at least twenty-five new job postings per month, and at times nearly half of those are located outside book publishing’s traditional mecca. “The book-publishing industry welcomes, and certainly needs, new talent as the industry transitions into digital.”

Bryerman is on the advisory board of Pace University in New York. He has taught at the University of Michigan and as part of the New England Publishing Association. Most recently, he was the keynote speaker at The English Language Publishers Association of Quebec’s 2011 annual general meeting (AGM) in Montreal.

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For more information, or to schedule an interview with Cevin Bryerman, contact Christi Cassidy, +1-505-986-1142, or e-mail ccassidy@publishersweekly.com.

About Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly (PW) is the international newsmagazine of the book publishing industry and was founded in 1872 and published continuously since then. In addition to the weekly trade magazine, PW publishes five newsletters, including PW Daily, four blogs, a robust Web site, a mobile edition and an eponymous app. Publishers Weekly reviews more than 8,000 books each year, in addition to featuring author interviews and news about bookselling, marketing, merchandising and the publishing trade, along with regular columns on rights, people in publishing and bestsellers.

Web sites:

Publishers Weekly – www.publishersweekly.com