Contact Lynn Palmer Executive Recruitment
If you’re hoping to work in New York City, set up an early appointment with Lynn Palmer Executive Recruitment (212-883-0203, email: careers@lynnepalmerinc.com ). This agency specializes in placing people with magazine and book publishing companies, and they actually have a good track record of finding decent jobs for bright entry-level types. (Note: Know how to type before going, and be prepared for rather brusque treatment.)

Plan the job hunt
Give yourself a reasonable window of time to interview and find a job. A week isn’t enough. Two or three weeks might not be enough. If you’re not from the city, and if you don’t have family living in the immediate area, prearrange your living situation by asking a series of friends to let you stay on their couches or futons for a few nights at a time.
     If you don’t have a lot of friends in the city, it can be very tough — but it can be done. Save up some money and get a room in a reputable hotel that books rooms by the week (check tourist guidebooks for a list). Many of these places cater to foreign travelers and transient job-seekers, and aren’t too expensive ($300–$400 a week). The surroundings can be a tad austere, but nothing worse than Peace Corps living.
     Of course you should consult the want ads, and it’s fine to send out cold resumes to personnel departments — but don’t fully expect to find your job that way. Few ever do. Accordingly, budget your time and energy wisely by devoting less time to scouring the newspaper, and more time to either capitalizing on, or making, personal contacts.

Prepare for the Interview
Know the background of the company to which you’re applying: How old are they? Who are their “heavy hitters”? Are they publicly or privately held? What are their modi operandi in terms of hiring, acquiring assets, etc.? What books or articles did they publish in the last year that were particularly profitable or notable? It’s not necessary — in fact, it’s probably not a good idea — to volunteer this information apropos of nothing during the interview; but a well-timed, well-executed reference or extremely subtle name-drop can show that you’re that much savvier than the glassy-eyed recent college grads going after the same job.
     Assume that everyone being considered for a given position is Harvard-educated, fluent in four languages, the former editor-in-chief of their school paper or literary magazine, and possessor of a savage, rapier wit that makes perfect strangers admire them instantly upon being introduced. Then assume that the only way to distinguish yourself from the pack is to bring out, within the context of the interview, whatever quality it is that you know you have that they don’t. All the candidates are going to be smart and affable and capable. But they’re not all going to have read the same books you’ve read, or subscribe to the same journals and magazines you do, or hold the same opinions you hold. Or, for that matter, been in the Peace Corps. Don’t be afraid to speak up about a matter or issue that’s not directly related to the job, as long as it comes up naturally in the course of conversation. Remember that in publishing, unlike in many other professions, your intelligence and general ability to think independently will usually work for you, not against you. Books and magazine articles are ultimately conceived and shaped by people who exhibit these characteristics, not simply the ability to say “yes” or to toe a company line.
     If you’re interviewing for any kind of publishing job, you’re going to be asked: What do you read? Have a solid, respectable list of titles and authors, some classic, some contemporary, ready to go. Don’t struggle with this question; it makes you look dull. And don’t just answer with “Your books!” or “Your magazine!” That’s not what they’re fishing around for.
     You know this already, but it must be said: Dress well (which usually means conservatively, even if the place seems casual and informal); smile and look into people’s eyes; keep talking, no matter what. And of course, send a thank-you note. Immediately. I mean mail it that day.

A Summer School Program Can Help You
If, after all of this information and help, you still don’t get a job, you might think of taking a summer graduate course in publishing. Three of the most famous ones are at Columbia University, New York University, and Rice University.
     The advantage of these programs is that not only do you get a solid grounding in magazine publishing, but you also meet key people within the industry. All three of these programs are “hands on” and students do projects while in class. For example, one project in all three programs is to create a new magazine, defining its audience, frequency, editorial slant, and artistic feel, while addressing how it differs from the competition. For book publishing, students have to review actual manuscripts and prepare them for publication, including designing the book jacket.
     As you might expect, English majors abound in publishing, but the breadth of the industry accommodates those with backgrounds in other humanities, journalism, business, arts, social sciences, and even the hard sciences. All of them have one thing in common: they love the printed word and the process that brings it to the page and world. If you are that person, then publishing has a place for you. Check out a few of these hot resources which may help you with a career in publishing:

• Columbia Publishing Course
  (Formerly know as the Radcliffe Publishing Course, in 2001 it became part of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism in New York City).
  

  The Graduate School of Journalism
  at Columbia University
  2950 Broadway New York, NY 10027-7004
  Telephone: (212) 854-4150 Fax: (212) 854-7837

This six-week summer course is an intensive introduction to all facets of book and magazine publishing.

• The Rice University Publishing Program

  School of Continuing Studies, MS 550
  PO Box 1892
  Houston, TX
  77005-1892
  Tel (713) 527-4803; Fax (713) 285-5213
  E-mail: scs@rice.edu

The focus of this four-week program is on book and magazine publishing.

• Summer Institute in Book, Magazine, and Electronic Publishing, at New York Univerisity.    
  2001 Fee: $4,195
  For a brochure and an application, write or call:

  Center for Publishing
  School of Continuing and Professional Studies
  New York University
  11 West 42nd Street, Room 400
  New York, NY 10036-8083; (212) 790-3232.

  This is an intensive seven-week introduction to the complex worlds of book and magazine publishing.