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English lit/publishing/work experience

Ok, I have quite a few questions!

Firstly, I've decided that I would love a career in publishing. Is it best to choose a degree which offers English literature and Publishing as a combined degree, or could I just study English literature to begin with and then do some sort of publishing course after this? If so, what kind of course could I do? I'm really confused, I don't know how I can fit in both English lit and Publishing.

Is anyone here hoping to go into publishing? Do you have any advice on how to go about it? How valuable is work experience?

Reply 1

blueprints

Work experience is super-hard to get at all the big publishing houses, so apply ASAP for some, or maybe try and get some at a smaller, independant publisher. I'm sure that would be just as valuble.

Reply 2

Madelyn

13

You can do Eng Lit at uni and then publishing afterwards, no problem - that's what my aunt did and she now works for the Folio Society. And it keeps your options open.

Reply 3

sophieD

2

loughborough do a degree with publishing, it looks interesting and the grades aren't that high so it might be worth applying for that even to have it as backup option, and apply for straight english for ure other 5 choices

Reply 4

etherised

1

I should think that you would have a better chance with a first degree in Eng Lit, and a postgrad in publishing. Given that you can do a one-year postgrad course, you probably don't need to spend three years studying it (work experience would probably teach you more about publishing than a degree). And I would think publishers would value the English degree.

Reply 5

kateykat

OP

Ok thanks everyone!

While we're on the subject, in your opinion do you think it's more valuable to have a combined lang/lit degree rather than simply doing literature? At first I just wanted to do literature, but now I'm not so sure because I think language teaches a lot of valuable skills.

Reply 6

Tyler Durden

17

elbow_fan

Ok thanks everyone!

While we're on the subject, in your opinion do you think it's more valuable to have a combined lang/lit degree rather than simply doing literature? At first I just wanted to do literature, but now I'm not so sure because I think language teaches a lot of valuable skills.

Personally I feel that the best courses are often the straight no-nonsense ones. English Lit is very competitive and will equip you with the fundamental skills you'd need for publishing (or many other jobs). All future employers would place a lot of value in an Eng. Lit. degree and then you could either take further training to become a publisher or go into on-the-job training.

Reply 7

rottcodd

3

Someone mentioned earlier that doing work experience would help - if you happen to live near london there are loads of companies there that offer work experience throughout the summer. I remember last summer sending loads of emails off to different publishers, and most seemed to reply asking me to meet up with them to discuss hours and things, which I thought was very positive. One of the publishers I emailed absolutely ripped me to shreds, replying with a hugely dense paragraph about how I had made grammatical errors in my email. Which was kind of funny, but didn't exactly encourage me to give them a ring!

So yes, contact loads of local publishing firms as most of them seem to offer work experience. Just spell everything correctly.

Reply 8

*starry_eyed_*

14

I think a starigh degree in english lit would be much better, because it leaves more options and variety, particularly if you decide you don't want to go into publishing (can't see why you wouldn't want to!)

Reply 9

kateykat

OP

Ok thanks everyone! What I think I will do is apply for English literature at York and Newcastle and use those as my top 2 choices, then I will apply for the combined course at other unis such as Manchester and Sheffield (which want ABB/BBB).

I feel a lot more sorted now, thanks again. :smile:

Reply 10

kateykat

OP

steerpike

One of the publishers I emailed absolutely ripped me to shreds, replying with a hugely dense paragraph about how I had made grammatical errors in my email. Which was kind of funny, but didn't exactly encourage me to give them a ring!

Christ, that was charming of them! :rolleyes:

I suppose they're bound to be a bit like that though, what with publishing being such a competitive sector. I'm going to work on toughening myself up a bit! :wink:

Reply 11

cloudofcalm

1

Publishing is ... like trying to find diamonds in a pile of horse manure. It doesn't happen.

Publishing interns will work for free for the experience. If you work there, expect to be started off filing, making coffee, and possibly organising the slush pile by reading through books.

It's a hard field to crack, but so far's been some decent advice. Work experience, with whatever company you can get hold of. Try getting a copy of this year's 'writers and publishers' handbook, a list of all the agents and publishers in the country, whether they select unsolicited material, and what genre they publish.

It has addresses, phone numbers and emails too, but you'd be better off looking in the library as the thing is roughly forty quid in Waterstones.

English lit/publishing/work experience

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