Top Tips To Get An Entry-level Job In The Book Publishing Industry

There is hardly any literate person on earth who can claim to have never read a book. Irrespective of whether the book is academic in nature or otherwise, all of us have read some book at some point in our lives. Now, one can only imagine the number of literate people on earth and the number of books that need to be printed for the benefit of such people. This obviously creates a huge employment potential for hundreds and thousands of youngsters all over the country.

This article explores some of the jobs that are currently blooming in this industry.

Book Editors

The role of these people is to find work that is worthy of publication and then work in close collaboration with the authors in order to mould the work and deem it fit for publication. Necessary editing is also carried out by the book editor.

One needs to be passionate about reading and have an eye for storytelling to succeed here. The average salary for fresher here is as high as INR 20,000 per month.

Copy Editors

These people work with editors in order to make sure that the manuscript submitted by the author is free from grammatical and spelling mistakes before it hits the publication. This line of work may be performed either as a full-time job or may be taken up as something that is part-time.

Fluency in English and a good reading speed is an absolute must for somebody who wants to make a successful career here. The average starting salary for a fresher in this field is somewhere close to INR 15,000 per month.

Production Editors

The job role of these people includes ensuring that the manuscripts are edited, designed, proofread and finally printed in a manner such that it is completely free from any type of error. Needless to say, this involves quite a fair bit of time, people and resource management skills.

One needs to be the perfect combination of a voracious reader and a good designer in order to succeed here. The starting salary here is close to INR 15,000 per month as well.

Publicists

These people are responsible for getting the books their due attention. They work in close collaboration with both authors as well as agencies in order to make sure that the reach of the book is sufficiently large. The work of these people often takes them to websites, media outlets and literary scenes.

Since the amount of money that a book makes is directly dependent on its sales, and publicists play an important role in getting the book its sales, the take-home salary of these people is pretty good. For fresher's the value stands at INR 18,000 on an average.

Now, having understood the immense job potential in this field, we are sure that many of you are now eager to pursue a successful career here. In order to give you an edge over your peers, this article discusses some tips that will help you land yourself an entry-level job in this field.

Do Your Research Well

Most people look to a career in book publishing simply as an extension of their love for reading.

Although being a reader does help, if you really want to make it big here, it will be wise on your part to invest your efforts in finding out which particular job you would want in the industry, the skill set required for the same and ensure that you are in possession of all of that before you begin your career here.

Choose Your Sector

Understand that there is more to the publishing sector than publishing bestselling books. There are local publishers, academic publishers, professional publishers, specialist publishers and a lot more.

It will be wise on your part to make a conscious decision about which of these areas you would want to work in before you take the plunge. This will also enable you to remain focused and prepare you for a worthy lifelong career in your chosen field.

There Is No Room For Grammatical Mistakes

One of the major tasks for any career in this field is to make sure that what you publish is free from grammatical mistakes. In such a situation, if the CV that you are putting up in front of a company or agency has grammatical mistakes, the credibility of your work is questioned.

Make sure that you do not bring in this sort of a negative impression for yourself. That is why it will be a good idea to have your CV proofread by someone else before you submit the same to a prospective employer.

Be Prepared For Rejection

Publishing is one of the most competitive businesses that exists and no matter how good you are at your work, it is inevitable that you will face rejection at some point or the other. You must not take such rejections to heart and must be prepared to deal with the same.

Understand that despite its challenging nature, if you are committed to pursuing a career here, there is nothing that can stop you from carving a name for yourself in this field.

With these tips, you are now equipped to take on the myriad of challenges that this field of work brings along and explore the various career opportunities that have been discussed in this article. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and plunge into the industry of book publishing and carve a niche for yourself here.