Jobs, Careers and Occupations

Publishing Jobs, Occupations and Careers

Publishing

Publishing companies publish books, newspapers, periodicals, baseball cards, directories, comics, greeting cards and specialty publications.

Publishing occupations include publishers, creative writers, editors, journalists, reporters, publication managers, editorial assistants, desktop publishing, technical writers and copywriters.

Publishing is the activity of putting information in the public arena. Although this can mean something as simple as making an announcement in a pub or market square, for some centuries it has usually referred to the business of producing books, magazines, newspapers and other printed material.

Communicating through the written word, writers and editors generally fall into one of three categories:

• Writers and authors develop original fiction and nonfiction for books, magazines, trade journals, online publications, company newsletters, radio and television broadcasts, motion pictures and advertisements.
• Editors examine proposals and select material for publication or broadcast. They review and revise a writer’s work for publication or dissemination.
• Technical writers develop technical materials, such as equipment manuals, appendices or operating and maintenance instructions. They also may assist in layout work.

A modern book or periodical publishing company (or publisher) is usually involved in buying or commissioning content, editing it, and preparing it for printing. It usually also controls the advertising and other marketing tasks. However, it is usually not directly involved in retail sale of the product.

It is usual for publishing companies to subcontract various aspects of the process. Book publishers rarely own printing presses and binderies, although newspaper and magazine companies still often do. Freelancers might do book editing, proofreading and layout, and the finished product sold to a distributor. If the entire process up to the stage of printing is handled by an outside company or individuals, then sold to the publishing company, it is known as book packaging.

Technically, radio and TV also publish information, but this is more usually called broadcasting. Internet publishing is a reversion to the original meaning of the word, as the information so published is often not produced by a business and is often not a commercial product.

Publishing Related Industries

• Advertising
• Graphic Arts
• Printing