Help with college for an HS junior

[m!ssemmx0]

I'm a junior in high school, and I've started thinking about what I want to major in in college. After a bit of thinking, I've decided that I'd really like to go into book publishing/editing. My issue is that most colleges near where I live (NY/NJ/CT area) don't offer publishing as a "real" major.

What majors could help me get into the book publishing/editing field? I was thinking of English or literature (possibly with a minor in business), but I'm not 100 percent sure.

 

[laurie31]

think that you are correct, but do you have a guidance counselor you can ask?

My best friend is an editor, and she was an English major. You have to learn grammar and sentence structure very well in order to be able to edit properly, so majoring in English is the way to go, I think. Good luck!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Hopefully you get someone on here that is in the business. However my suggestion is to look at places of employment for interships and job requirements for entry level.

For example, Random House.

http://careers.randomhouse.com/wms/bmhr/index.php?ci=3932&language=2

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I will bet you a great deal of money that you will change your mind about your major a number of times before you have to declare one in college.

Relax. Enjoy your youth.

 

[ashleybea]

My one friend wanted to become a publisher (she changed her major already) but she went into school as a Public relations major. Maybe you would be able to major in english and minor in public relations.
But defiantly talk to your guidance consular at school. or you can even call the undergraduate admissions office at the schools you are applying to and ask them/

 

[AllisonK]

I'm a junior in high school, and I've started thinking about what I want to major in in college. After a bit of thinking, I've decided that I'd really like to go into book publishing/editing. My issue is that most colleges near where I live (NY/NJ/CT area) don't offer publishing as a "real" major.

What majors could help me get into the book publishing/editing field? I was thinking of English or literature (possibly with a minor in business), but I'm not 100 percent sure.

I know that my school, Hofstra University, has a Publishing Studies concentration within the English major. Two of my friends graduated from the program recently (one in May 2009 and one in May 2010) and both had great internships while in school, one is working and using her degree now and the other is still looking for a job. I know they both enjoyed the program and got a lot out of it. I'm a journalism major and actually I've taken a few of the same courses as they did (mainly desktop publishing and magazine publishing - although in my magazine class we wrote articles and actually produced a physical magazine).

 

[princessmom29]

The one person I know in the field was an English major, Business minor. From her experience and can tell you to be prepared to pay your dues for several years before landing a "real job" that pays a real wage! It is a very selective business and opening are few and far between.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Yes, major in English.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I am a librarian and I am very curious about the future of book publishing; mainly how the explosive rise of ebooks will affect everything. I don't see things continuing as they have. It will be very different world and business, I'm sure! But good luck on whatever you major in!

 

[marcyinPA]

My friends son is a freshman at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh and is an English major, but interested in editing/publishing. He also looked at Emerson and Northeastern when he was looking at colleges.

 

[redlight]

I will bet you a great deal of money that you will change your mind about your major a number of times before you have to declare one in college.

Relax. Enjoy your youth.

I agree. Take a variety of courses and see what you want. Literature classes or anything that forces you to write would be good, but having knowledge in a subject area is also useful.

 

[NotUrsula]

I am a librarian and I am very curious about the future of book publishing; mainly how the explosive rise of ebooks will affect everything. I don't see things continuing as they have. It will be very different world and business, I'm sure! But good luck on whatever you major in!

So am I, but I think that the editorial process will continue to work very much the way that it traditionally has; what will change is the distribution chain that people like us deal with.

What I would advise for the OP is that if you want to work directly in the editorial process, do your best not to go into any debt for your education.
New editors are paid even less than librarians, and interns are normally expected to work for free (often in NYC; you can imagine the expense.) Quite a few editors are independently wealthy; the dues-paying period is a lot easier to deal with in a practical sense if you have a trust fund to fall back on.

 

[Hannathy]

May I suggest that along with the English you consider getting as much computer knowledge as you can. My SIL was a magazine editor in NYC till she got tired of the long commute and long hours and she was able to move up because of her computer knowledge and training. It is critical in the field because everything is done electronically. (and English majors are a dime a dozen) but not all have the other knowledge. It is a long road and lots of low paying jobs and long long hours.

But it is good that you are exploring what you are interested in so you have an idea of what kind of classes to take you last year or two of school and what kind of extra curricular things to get involved with. Are you on the newspaper? and also it helps narrow down the college search cause you can't apply or review all of them.

 

[golfgal]

We have some good family friends that own a publishing company. They were English teachers early in their lives and moved into the publishing world. Their DD also was an English major and worked there right out of college as well. I know the school we attended (they graduated from the same college I did) had an English major for education majors and one that was for non-Education majors that focused more on the publishing industry.

The DD of some other friends is majoring in technical writing-writing manuals, etc. for companies. Something else to consider.

 

[HM]

There are other areas in the publishing world besides editing. You could do production work, creating the book's look, or perhaps on the financial side, helping create budgets. I agree that a good base knowledge of computers and progams will be most helpful to you no matter what you decide.