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Columbia Publishing Course |
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Zadie Smith signs books after an informal talk at the Publishing Course. Welcome to the Columbia Publishing Course, the shortest graduate school in the country. It would take you a year in an entry-level position in publishing to learn what you will learn in six-weeks here, and ten years to meet all the people you will meet. For almost sixty years, the course has been training young men and women for careers as editors, literary agents, publishers, designers, publicists, and more. Graduates can be found in every kind of job, at major magazines and publishing houses across the nation. If you are considering a career in book, magazine, or electronic publishing, the Columbia Publishing Course will give you the tools and the training you need to succeed:
Highlights of 2007Students in the sixtieth session of the Columbia Publishing Course were introduced to all aspects of book, magazine, and online publishing, from editorial and publicity to circulation and page views. The 100 students attending the course heard from over 125 publishing professionals and leaders in the industry—writers, editors, publishers, design directors, advertising experts, and publicists—many of whom are also course graduates. This year Jonathan Burnham, senior vice president of Harper Collins, delivered the keynote address and focused on the business-side of book publishing. Famed editor Nan Graham of Scribner spoke about editing memoirs; fiction; and short stories, and legendary editor Bob Gottlieb shared his experiences working with Nobel Prize laureate Doris Lessing; former president Bill Clinton; and children’s book author Kaye Thompson. Chip Kidd, associate art director at Knopf, Sessalee Hensley, Barnes & Noble fiction buyer, Morgan Entrekin, president and publisher of Grove/Atlantic, and many other notable guest lecturers offered insight into the book publishing industry on all fronts; and a visit to HarperCollins Publishers let students observe the day-to-day operations at a publishing house. Vanity Fair editor-in-chief, Graydon Carter introduced the magazine portion of the course. For many students the highlight of the magazine section was attending editing seminars with Corby Kummer of The Atlantic Monthly, Ilena Silverman from the New York Times Magazine, Chris Knutsen of Vogue, Lauren Brody of Glamour, Genevieve Roth of Details, Mamie Healy, of O, The Oprah Magazine, Isabel Burton from Cosmopolitan, and Cori Murray of Essence. During these small seminars students received feedback on their editing skills and heard about the typical career-path of magazine editors. Tom Florio, publisher of Vogue, introduced students to the business-side of magazine publishing. Condé Nast hosted the class in the Frank Gehry executive suite, giving students the opportunity to talk to the editors and publishers of many of their favorite magazines like The New Yorker, Gourmet, and Glamour. In the final week of the course, students covered Online media with blogging panels featuring Jesse Oxfeld of NYMag.com, Ben Leventhal from Eater.com, Faran Krentcil of Fashionista.com, Julia Turner of Slate.com, and Ana Marie Cox from Time.com. The course ended with our annual job fair with over 40 companies in attendance. Many students have already been placed in excellent positions at places like Riverhead, Knopf, Scholastic, LJK Literary Management, Paper magazine, and Men’s Vogue. After six weeks of extensive guest lectures; hands-on workshops and seminars; and comprehensive discussions, this year's students are well prepared to enter the publishing field. 2008 Dates
June 23 - August 1, 2008 Contact the Columbia Publishing Course Lindy Hess, Director
Susan Caplan, Assistant Director
Email the CPC
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