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.
