Industry insights - Publishing
Publishing includes a range of industries concerned with the production and distribution of information including newspapers, magazines, books, journals and directories.
It is a rapidly changing sector. Developments in online publishing and digital technologies are changing the landscape of the industry. While there has been a slight decline in employment generally within the last three years, some areas have seen a much greater decline. Employment in newspaper publishing, for example, has fallen by about one quarter.
However, new technology has led to potential opportunities for people with skills and interest in areas such as digital publishing and multimedia production. For graduates, training, industry knowledge and work experience are key to finding employment in the publishing industry.
Within publishing houses separate departments are usually responsible for different stages in the publication process. Work can include:
In addition, newspaper and magazine publishing will tend to have roles in:
Over a third of publishing jobs are based in London and half are based in London or the South East of England. Outside London there are clusters of publishing jobs in Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol, Bath, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and smaller concentrations of jobs in the South West and East of England.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland account for 10% of jobs overall. There are many small publishers in these areas.
Freelance work is relatively common with almost half of publishers employing freelancers. It is more common in book publishing than in other parts of the industry.
For jobs available worldwide, see opportunities abroad.
Statistics from Skillset: The Sector Skills Council for Creative Media, 2011.
The following profiles are examples of key jobs that exist in the publishing industry. To find the job roles that best match your skills and interests, login to what jobs would suit me?
For even more career ideas, take a look at types of jobs.
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Employers look for a number of skills and attributes. These can be developed through work experience and will often include:
Additionally, graduates looking for work within design or production need experience of desktop publishing software packages such as Quark, Photoshop and InDesign.
Work experience placements in publishing houses are ideal places to develop these skills. Work experience in other sectors can develop transferable skills. Voluntary work and training courses may also be worth considering.
Most companies will look for a good first degree. Literacy skills may also be demonstrated through your academic studies. Some degree courses have modules in publishing or related subjects, which may help build your knowledge and interest in the publishing industry. A strong academic background is particularly important in book publishing.
Publishing can be a very competitive industry to get into, and work experience is often the key to standing out from the crowd. Working on your university paper, magazine or students' union website can be valuable experience.
Some of the major companies have placement and internship schemes that are promoted and advertised through the trade press and organisations such as your university careers service, BookCareers or the The Society of Young Publishers (SYP) .
However, the majority of work placements are not advertised so you may need to contact companies directly. Research an organisation to find out the name of the head of department in which you would like to work. Contact them, attaching your CV and a covering email or letter, enquiring whether work experience is on offer and outlining the reasons why you would like it.
Attending industry events and using any personal contacts you have to get an introduction to people working in the sector can also be a useful way of finding out about opportunities.
In the book and journal publishing industries, people often gain a specialist qualification at postgraduate level before entering the profession. Postgraduate study may help you develop relevant skills and knowledge and provide access to professional networks but it is not essential. A number of universities run postgraduate programmes in publishing and details are available at the SYP.
In newspaper and magazine journalism, gaining an accredited technical or vocational qualification is much more important, and often essential, to entering the industry.
Training courses are also available in areas relevant to publishing such as editing, rights and contracts, copywriting, desktop publishing, proofreading and graphic design. Employers may support further training in specialist areas once you are working for them. However, competition for entry to the profession is such that you may be expected to have basic competence in most areas before you start.
Training providers include:
There are many opportunities for career development. In larger companies there may be opportunities for structured career progression through a hierarchy of roles. Smaller publishers may offer less structured progression options but can give employees much wider experience in the industry, facilitating progression to a broader range of jobs.
Responsibility and creative input increase with seniority and experience. Editorial posts are often seen as the top jobs in book publishing, although there may be opportunities at the highest levels for editorial directors and publishers. Progression to senior roles requires commercial acumen and leadership skills. These are skills that may be built up through employment or additional qualifications.
Often there is no typical career path and it is important for employees to be alert to opportunities in the sector. Networking and maintaining professional contacts may be an important way to identify opportunities, particularly if you are interested in freelance work.
The publishing industry in the UK is dominated by European and global business conglomerates, many of whom own a portfolio of media businesses. One example is the Pearson group - the largest publisher in the world - with divisions covering many sectors across the industry including Penguin, Pearson Education and the Financial Times Group.
The four main consumer publishers in the book industry are:
Other companies include:
Educational, academic, specialist and technical publishers include:
A publishing house is usually made up of several divisions, each concentrating on a different area of publishing, e.g. fiction/non-fiction, textbook/monograph, journal/directory. Each division manages its own subdivisions, such as adult fiction or children's fiction. These divisions or subdivisions may publish books under a separate brand name known as an imprint. Examples of the more popular imprints within the Penguin Group include Dorling Kindersley, Ladybird, Puffin and Putnam.
Large consumer magazine publishers include:
Business media, data and directory publishers include:
There are a number of agency publishers, these include:
Newspaper publishers in the UK include:
Larger companies are more likely to operate formal graduate recruitment schemes, although the number of places offered is often small, normally between two and ten. The role usually consists of working on rotation in the different areas of the business before choosing an area in which to specialise on a more permanent basis.
SMEs are organisations with fewer than 250 employees and an annual turnover of no more than £44million. Working for a smaller company can be rewarding because you are more likely to forge a path for yourself within the company, although opportunities to try other departments may be limited.
SMEs are unlikely to use the testing and assessment techniques of larger companies or follow lengthy recruitment procedures. SMEs are more likely to advertise their vacancies through the local press, university careers service bulletins, local graduate vacancy listings, jobcentres, and word of mouth, rather than rely on their reputation and a presence at graduate recruitment fairs.
Your university careers service should have listings of jobs with small firms. See also the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) .
The publishing industry has a significant number of influential small and independent publishing houses, with almost 90% of companies having ten employees or fewer (Creative Skillset: The Sector Skills Council for the Creative Industries , 2011).
Freelance work is common in the publishing industry, and employers are predicting the level of freelancing to increase.
Publishing companies typically employ freelancers for writing, graphic design, proofreading, editing and research. Freelance work is more common in book and journal publishing than in newspaper publishing.
Find out more about self-employment.
The publishing industry is global and opportunities for graduates exist in many countries outside the UK.
Many of the large publishing houses are owned by multinational companies with head offices outside of the UK. They may also have functions around the globe, so chances of getting a job overseas are good.
UK qualifications are often recognised globally and a UK degree is usually valuable when working abroad. UK work experience is also recognised as useful.
Although most of the work is coordinated from the UK, opportunities may exist in other English-speaking countries in particular.
International students, and those with knowledge of relevant languages other than English, may have an advantage in applying for jobs outside of the UK.
Many UK-based jobs in publishing may require a great deal of national and international travel including attending trade fairs and conferences.
There have been major changes in the retailing of books in recent years. Large supermarket chains are now selling books in-store at highly discounted rates and, alongside the high-street chain Waterstones, account for a large proportion of book sales. Success for publishers can depend on a handful of bestselling titles being sold in large quantities.
The growth of online book shopping is also having an impact on the industry. Book publishers are increasingly recognising the value of online selling and are looking to develop ways of nurturing this retail channel and retaining control over it.
Publishers are increasingly large, multinational organisations working across a number of countries. Rights to books may be sold internationally, and export sales account for a large proportion of publishers' revenue. Aspects of the business such as typesetting, and even editing, may be outsourced to other countries. The use of digital technologies and online publication allows publishers to reach a global market easily.
The rise of digital technologies is allowing consumers to access publishers' products in different formats from a range of platforms. How to maximise the potential of new technologies is a key concern for publishers. Business models are moving from business-to-business to business-to-consumer models and books and newspapers are increasingly seen as brands that consumers buy into. The development of websites, blogs, a social media presence and associated merchandising are all important in brand creation. Accordingly, publishers need individuals who are comfortable working across these different platforms and have the ability to think strategically and creatively.
New technologies and consumer demand is resulting in more books, journals and magazines being published in digital formats. The number of books sold is decreasing year on year and digital sales are rapidly expanding, with total consumer digital sales leaping by over 300% from 2009 to 2010 (Publishers Association (PA) , 2011).
In the digital environment, consumers typically access large amounts of content for free, but revenue may be generated from paid-for services, advertising and subscriptions. As digital technologies continue to develop, new ways of selling and marketing to customers, and of managing customer relationships, are emerging.
Newspapers and magazines now commonly publish some content online free of charge and book publishers may make chapters of books free to access online. Because online texts can be accessed, searched and archived more easily, the journal publishing industry has also seen significant change, and there are on-going debates about the advantages and disadvantages of different business models, including open access models.
Accessing material online is also challenging copyright and intellectual property rights issues. As with the music industry, downloading books and articles may lead to issues of 'sharing' material and piracy. Publishers increasingly need employees with an understanding of the legal implications of the digital environment.
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