Publishing Executive Overview

You have all by now read and re-read Arundhati Roy's God Of Small Things, Shobha De's Surviving Men and Upamanyu Chatterjee's English August. But have you ever even for a moment wondered about the person who actually deemed these books worthwhile for print? I mean if it weren't for David Davidhar of Penguin Publishing, we would have no Shobha De or even Arundhati Roy! So, a publisher is the unsung hero with a foresight of what will sell and what will not.

 

If you are an avid reader in love with language and possess good marketing skills a career in the publishing industry is the answer to your prayers. Interesting? Here's more…

 

Did you know that India ranks 10th in the world book trade, exporting books, periodicals and journals to over 80 countries? Well, now you know.

 

But before that you have to know that publishing is an industry and not a profession. A publisher's main responsibility involves converting an author's manuscript into a finished book and reaching it to the readers. 

 

Publishing houses specialise in the nature of the books they bring out - textbooks, paperbacks that include fiction and non-fiction, academic/technical books, periodicals and art books. 

 

A publishing company is usually divided into five major departments: 

* Production (including manufacturing, editorial and administration)

* Editorial 

* Marketing

* Finance 

* Operations

 

Now let's see what you'll do in each of these departments:

 

* Editorial Department: The creative minds can hop in here. As a publisher, your work will involve identifying authors, commissioning manuscripts and fixing deals and contracts with authors. If that sounds boring you could even double up as a writer, author or translator on a freelance or full-time basis. Basically you'll judge the market potential of the manuscripts handed to you. Let's see if you spot another Arundhati Roy or Jumpa Lahiri. 

 

* Illustrator: In the field of publishing as an illustrator, you can bring out your creative skills for designing the artwork for books, book jackets and covers and also develop graphics and illustrations to enhance their content.

 

* Production department: In the field of publishing as a department head, you'll decide on the appearance of a book  in consultation with the editor, in terms of its shape, size, cover, number of pages, type of paper, font style and illustrations. You'll also co-ordinate with suppliers like printers, paper merchants and bookbinders. 

 

* Marketing Department: If selling is your forte, in the field of publication you'll plan sales campaigns, write 'blurbs', and research for review lists. Visiting schools, universities, bookshops, libraries and other potential customers, to provide them with information on forthcoming publications and collecting orders is part and parcel of the job. 

 

Publishing also covers a number of similar activities: 

 

* Distribution: This is exclusive to sales and marketing. There are some publishing offices that only handle the distribution of books and periodicals. Your work will involve promotion, supply and retail of all kinds of books. 

 

* Desktop Publishing: This is a recent development, involving a personal computer, which makes it possible to edit, design, layout and typeset copy. Cheap production cost has made this branch of publishing very popular among companies to produce brochures and newsletters for their internal circulation as well as for books with small print orders and limited sales. 

If you need more information on how to reach your goal feel free to contact us Now.