Graduation
Daze
FROM PUBLISHING
TRENDS (AUGUST 2001)
As
the flashbulb-packed parties hosted by Condé Nast’s
Steve Florio wind down — and the well-burnished
résumés mound up — you know the summer’s publishing
courses are drawing to a close. Amid the ritual job
fairs and commencement speeches, PT checked in
with the summer courses to see how this year’s crop
of candidates is faring as their mortarboards flip off
into the global economic dust storm.
“I
had fallen into the trap of generalizing about a whole
generation, and this one was, to me, the Napster-stealin’-where’s-the-quick-moolah-Gimme
Generation,” says Book Sense guru Carl Lennertz,
who was on hand at the Columbia Publishing Course
to expound upon Book Sense’s successes, shortcomings,
and future plans. “What I got was a jolt of energy from
and hope for the next generation.” The amps may be cranked
up due to the program’s new quarters at Columbia’s Graduate
School of Journalism, where the course formerly known
as Radcliffe moved from Harvard. “There’s a big
difference being at Columbia,” explains Director Lindy
Hess. “We’re at a place where they understand and
like books and magazines.” Another bonus is that students
can start hitting up brokers and doormen the moment
they land in the city. “The transition from Cambridge
to New York has been very difficult for students to
make,” she says. “Now they can interview for jobs and
look for apartments while they’re here.” The six-week
course is at its 100-person capacity, Hess says, and
has 19% persons of color this year. The Class of ’01
is also “a little more sophisticated” and “slightly
more conservative” than in years past. Find out for
yourself at the job fair (see below), but don’t be late,
as over the last five years the program has averaged
93% job placement.
Meanwhile, the summer institute at NYU’s Center
for Publishing unleashed 69 graduates from the six-week
course last month, says Program Coordinator Megan
Gleeson, adding that many students had landed jobs
even before the program wrapped up on July 13. Agent
Peter Rubie came on board this year as core faculty
for the book program, and has been pleased with the
results. “I’m happy to be a reference for any one of
them,” Rubie says of the grads. “These kids are really
sharp knives.” The most riveting issue for students
this year? “It wasn’t technology,” says Rubie. “It was
multiculturalism and diversity. They were looking for
great foreign writers who should be translated, as well
as books that spoke to a much broader audience than
the publishing world commonly addresses.” Look out,
New York. Call 212 790-3232 or email pubcenter@nyu.edu.
Beyond Manhattan, the University of Denver’s
Publishing Institute boasts its largest class ever this
year, with 99 students enrolled in the four-week session,
which concludes on Aug. 3. Now in its 26th year, Denver
focuses solely on book publishing, rather than splitting
time between books and magazines, says institute Director
Elizabeth Geiser. About 85% of graduates get
jobs within the first post-grad months, and the institute
maintains a database of all graduates for recruiting
and networking (call 303 871-2570 or email egeiser@worldnet.att.net).
The Denver climate doesn’t hurt, either. “People think
it’s a great place to be in the summer,” Geiser says.
“It sure beats being in Manhattan.”
Also getting high marks for low humidity are the two
summer courses for mid-career professionals. The nine-day
Stanford professional course wrapped up on July
28 with 170 students, according to Director Holly
Brady, who notes that the number of international
participants has “skyrocketed” to about 40%, and says
the book-to-magazine ratio is about 50/50. With enrollment
up, the cooling economy certainly hasn’t cut into those
tuition checks. “We were worried about a slump in registrations
this year, but we didn’t see it,” says Brady. “A lot
of people are finding this a time to regroup, rethink,
and retool their own career skills.” Nearby Silicon
Valley also serves as the course’s high-tech talent
pool. Call 650 725-5311 or email hbrady@stanford.edu.
And the University of Virginia’s six-day summer
course finished up on June 29, with about 30 senior-level
publishing types enrolled, according to Director Beverly
Jane Loo. Now in its third year, the course targeted
a broad range of epublishing issues. “The biggest mistake
a lot of trade houses made was to hire techies to run
their new media divisions,” Loo says. Now’s your chance
to repent. Call 804 982-5345 or email beverlyloo@virginia.edu.
©2001
Publishing Trends
