Publishing

Have a look at Prospects and targetjobs to find out what roles in this sector involve and how to get into them.

These are some of the job profiles available:

• Commissioning editor
• Editorial assistant
• Lexicographer
• Literary agent
• Picture researcher / art editor
• Print production planner/administrator
• Publishing copy editor/proofreader
• Copy editor
• Proofreader
• Publishing rights manager

Many other non-editorial/commissioning roles also exist within the publishing industry in areas such as marketing, advertising and sales.

The skills required to work in publishing can vary, depending on the role. There are a number of key skills that are common across most roles:

• excellent oral and written communication skills
• the ability to manage multiple projects and meet tight deadlines
• teamworking
• attention to detail
• administrative and organisational skills
• IT skills and an awareness of how technology is impacting on the sector
• commercial awareness and negotiation skills

Starting salaries for graduate jobs in this sector can vary depending on the position.

To get an idea of typical starting salaries use the following resources:

• our Discover your Earning Potential Pathway offers access to The Pay Index. This shows you how salaries vary across different roles, industries and locations
• job profiles, such as those listed on Prospects or targetjobs
• vacancy sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn

For information about how to negotiate a salary, visit Handling job offers.

• browse our NCL Graduate Employment Outcomes directory. See examples of what our graduates were doing 15 months after their studies
• use LinkedIn’s Alumni tool to find out what Newcastle graduates are doing now. You could ask to connect with them, to gain advice and insights into their career. See Newcastle Alumni on LinkedIn to help you get started or watch our quick tutorial on Getting inspiration from others [3:13]
• search our NU Work Experience Directory. You can see where our students have had internships and placements in the last five years. To see all results in a search category, keep the search field blank
• attend alumni events, such as Newcastle Develop, to hear directly from our graduates
• sign up for mentoring support with Graduate Mentor and The 1 Hour Project. These aim to match students with industry professionals who can provide invaluable insights. Register to be connected for a one-hour meeting
• attend events, including recruitment events and employer and sector insights. Hear about graduate jobs, placement schemes, build your network and ask questions

Searching for reviews online can be a useful way to get an idea of what to expect from certain roles or employers. Reviews are written by employees with different opinions about what makes a good employer.

Use the following review sites for inspiration and insight into the recruitment process:

• RateMyPlacement placement year reviews written by students.
• The Job Crowd – graduate job reviews
• Glassdoor – company reviews from employees

Read career guides for this sector, such as:

• Prospects: Media and internet - includes How to get into book publishing
• The Publishers Association – Careers in Publishing
• Guardian Careers: Publishing
• Penguin – Work in publishing

Use online magazines and journals to follow news from your industry. Reading about trends and developments can be useful for applications and interviews.

Examples include:

• The Bookseller
• BookBrunch

Attend events to hear directly from professionals in the industry.

Open-days, talks and other sector events give valuable insights and the opportunity to make useful contacts.

• Society of Young Publishers – organise regional networking events.
• Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading – organise regional and national networking events.

Regular events for this sector include our annual Creative Careers with speakers from a range of careers in the creative sector. For more events, see Careers Service events.

Use social media to find industry insights

Join sector-specific groups on LinkedIn to keep up to date. Posts often include news, events and opportunities. You can also find useful insights on careers on X and TikTok. Treat these with caution, as not all content may be accurate.

Find out more about how to use social media for your career.

Consider joining a relevant professional body/industry network

Professional bodies often:

• run networking events
• have specialist groups you could join
• post vacancies on behalf of their members
• have member directories, useful for speculative applications

Key organisations include:

• Publishers Association (PA)
• Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP)
• The Society of Young Publishers (SYP)
• International Publishers Association (IPA)
• Women in Publishing

Finding professional bodies worldwide

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of professional bodies. Find them under ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each individual country guide.

The Careers Service runs flexible term-time and summer internships with local employers and on campus. NCL internships are aimed at all students, from any stage.

You can search for these under Vacancies on MyCareer - just type in ‘NCL internship’ into the text search box.

Access GoinGlobal for internships in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:

• additional vacancy websites
• CV, application and interview advice
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

If you’re looking for inspiration, try searching our NU Work Experience Directory. You can see where our students have had internships and placements in the last five years. To see all results in a search category, keep the search field blank.

• MyCareer - search for graduate schemes and graduate jobs in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts
• Graduate Jobs – lists graduate vacancy sites

• theBookseller.com Jobs
• bookcareers.com
• Guardian Jobs: Publishing Jobs
• IPG Jobs

See  for details of overseas vacancy sites.

Access  for job adverts in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:

• additional vacancy websites
• CV, application and interview advice
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world.

Start by identifying organisations you are interested in. Our guide to finding organisations below can help. Then use the following steps to approach them speculatively about possible opportunities:

1. Identify a contact name to address your cover letter to. Call or email to find out who handles recruitment within the organisation. Or, find a key contact in the department you want to work in.
2. Send them a tailored CV and cover letter. Express your enthusiasm for the sector. Show that you have researched the company.
3. Follow up your speculative application with a phone call, or email, around a week later. This shows you are serious and motivated.
4. If your application was unsuccessful, ask for feedback or advice, and keep trying!

You can use this approach at any point in the year. We recommend that you:

• start your research as early as possible to gather relevant contacts
• contact organisations around three months before you want the opportunity to begin

• find organisations on MyCareer. Select ‘search' then 'organisations’
• use the business directories and databases on our  page
• search for companies on LinkedIn. The Find Alumni tool shows you where Newcastle graduates are currently working
• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed

• Find companies on MyCareer - click ‘Search' then 'Organisations’ to find companies the Careers Service has worked with. Can filter by keyword, sector and region.
• targetjobs: Employers - search by sector, eg publishing
• PPA Publisher Members Directory
• Publishing Scotland Members List - directory of Scottish publishers and related organisations
• Writers' and Artists' Yearbook - comprehensive media directory where free registration is required
• Northern Fiction Alliance - a group of eleven independent publishers in the North of England.
• LinkedIn Find Alumni tool – search through Newcastle University graduate profiles for inspiration. Filter by location, area of work, degree studied and skills to see where they are working. Consider how they got into their career, where they have worked, what kind of experience have they had etc
• Researching employers – includes ways to source and research companies
• Professional body websites sometimes include member directories, which are helpful for finding employers.

Publishers Global includes an international directory.

Search GoinGlobal’s employer directory for company information in 196 countries. Their country guides list professional bodies around the world.

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of recruitment agencies in specific countries. They are listed under the following headings:

• Staffing agencies and temporary help firms
• Executive recruiters and search firms

Recruitment agencies may not operate in the same way in different countries. In the UK agencies are free for job seekers, but this may not be the case elsewhere. Explore the terms and conditions of an agency before signing up to use them.