Publishing careers

What kinds of publishing are there?

This guide is concerned primarily with book publishing, which is traditionally quite distinct from magazine/newspaper publishing. The publishing of academic journals and reports is closely related to book publishing and quite often one organisation will do both.

Publishing can be broadly categorised as follows:

Trade/consumer publishing

In trade publishing, publishers sell to wholesalers and retailers (the trade), who then sell the books on to the end consumer. These are the books we see in bookshops and supermarkets, the multi-million pound bestsellers, as well as less prominent literary titles, etc.

Trade publishing is further divided into other categories, including fiction, non-fiction (from biographies to self-help books) and children's.

As 'the public face of publishing', this side of the industry is understandably the most popular for aspiring new recruits. For this reason, it is also the most difficult to get into. It does offer some exciting opportunities, however, such as the chance to work with prize-winning authors, or with celebrities, or on film/TV tie-ins.

Academic publishing

Books and journals for academics and professionals, such as lawyers, doctors and engineers, are sometimes published by independent companies, sometimes by university presses and sometimes by what's known as 'learned societies' (which will normally be called something like 'The Institute of X'). Occasionally, a society will contract out its publishing programme to an external publisher. Although not as glamorous as trade publishing, academic/professional publishing is at the cutting edge when it comes to delivering content electronically.

Other kinds of publishing

Lots of other organisations publish in one form or another, including government departments, think tanks and charities. Many borrow the practices and organisational structures of book publishing.

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