Career Change Filter: From Scholarly Publishing to ?
February 13, 2016 12:57 AM Subscribe
Publishing is in its death throes, and I REALLY need a new industry to work in. But which? Details inside . . .
I’m currently an acquisitions editor at a major publisher. I enjoy the work very much, and I love working with scholars and scholarship, but the publishing industry is in bad shape and all signs point to it getting worse in the coming years. I’d love to find work in another industry, but I’m not sure where/how.
What I have:
-PhD in a humanities field from the top-ranked department in the field and a B.A. from a(nother) Ivy League institution [and I mention these specifically because they seem to be liabilities when applying to non-academically-oriented jobs]
- 15 years of experience in publishing
-I’ve taught students, lots of ‘em
-My current job is to convince academics to do things (write a book, review a project, take a chance on newfangled digital technology) and to help and cajole them into doing those things in the ways my employers want them done (quickly, cheaply, and well). I’m basically a broker/salesperson/writing coach/therapist.
Skills I can plausibly sell: :
-Copyediting, developmental editing, writing
-Project management
-Research
-Being the “face” that represents and organization to a user and/or author community [in my current industry these communities are one and the same]
-Lots of contacts/relationships in my academic subfield
Things I like doing but am not trained or certified in: :
-Wrangling large amounts of information
-Database building
-Conceptualizing taxonomies and organizational schemes
Other possibly pertinent factors: :
-I’m a woman approaching my mid-40s
-I’d need a salary of $75K-$100K
Given all this, what can I do besides publishing? Library school (I’m not opposed but I’d rather avoid another degree if possible, and I’d want to be SURE there would be a job at the other end)? Some kind of programming credential, and if so what? Anyone have any ideas or made a similar transition?
I’m currently an acquisitions editor at a major publisher. I enjoy the work very much, and I love working with scholars and scholarship, but the publishing industry is in bad shape and all signs point to it getting worse in the coming years. I’d love to find work in another industry, but I’m not sure where/how.
What I have:
-PhD in a humanities field from the top-ranked department in the field and a B.A. from a(nother) Ivy League institution [and I mention these specifically because they seem to be liabilities when applying to non-academically-oriented jobs]
- 15 years of experience in publishing
-I’ve taught students, lots of ‘em
-My current job is to convince academics to do things (write a book, review a project, take a chance on newfangled digital technology) and to help and cajole them into doing those things in the ways my employers want them done (quickly, cheaply, and well). I’m basically a broker/salesperson/writing coach/therapist.
Skills I can plausibly sell: :
-Copyediting, developmental editing, writing
-Project management
-Research
-Being the “face” that represents and organization to a user and/or author community [in my current industry these communities are one and the same]
-Lots of contacts/relationships in my academic subfield
Things I like doing but am not trained or certified in: :
-Wrangling large amounts of information
-Database building
-Conceptualizing taxonomies and organizational schemes
Other possibly pertinent factors: :
-I’m a woman approaching my mid-40s
-I’d need a salary of $75K-$100K
Given all this, what can I do besides publishing? Library school (I’m not opposed but I’d rather avoid another degree if possible, and I’d want to be SURE there would be a job at the other end)? Some kind of programming credential, and if so what? Anyone have any ideas or made a similar transition?
Sorry, meant to add: what's your academic specialty?
posted by orrnyereg at 3:03 AM on February 13, 2016
posted by orrnyereg at 3:03 AM on February 13, 2016
Sorry, me again. (Why isn't anyone else responding?) I realize this is the other side of the same industry, but possibly a literary agent?
posted by orrnyereg at 3:21 AM on February 13, 2016
posted by orrnyereg at 3:21 AM on February 13, 2016
There are a lot of paths you can take. What do you enjoy doing the most? Editing? Working with students? Data wrangling?
Three options to look into are content strategy/information architecture, technical writing, and data science.
What about something in the content strategy/information architecture field? You already know how to wrangle data and likely know how to present information. You can learn more about IA at http://www.iainstitute.org/.
Another option would be something in the technical writing space.
If you want to pursue programming more, I'd recommend looking at data science. There are great online resources for learning statistics, statistical programming, and data visualization. You could work at the intersection of data science and humanities at a university.
posted by JuliaKM at 3:41 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Three options to look into are content strategy/information architecture, technical writing, and data science.
What about something in the content strategy/information architecture field? You already know how to wrangle data and likely know how to present information. You can learn more about IA at http://www.iainstitute.org/.
Another option would be something in the technical writing space.
If you want to pursue programming more, I'd recommend looking at data science. There are great online resources for learning statistics, statistical programming, and data visualization. You could work at the intersection of data science and humanities at a university.
posted by JuliaKM at 3:41 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
The problem with publishing isn't that people don't want content -- especially scholarly content, and even more so content presented in innovative ways -- but that readers are paying less per unit for it. Academic publishing is perilously dependent upon R1 libraries paying absurd journal subscription rates and single copy prices for monographs, and that's probably on its last legs.
What you are supposed to do is start your own company doing what you do now with a far lower cost model and a more aggressive and flexible revenue model that isn't premised on defending that R1 library legacy cash flow from cannibalization.
posted by MattD at 5:07 AM on February 13, 2016
What you are supposed to do is start your own company doing what you do now with a far lower cost model and a more aggressive and flexible revenue model that isn't premised on defending that R1 library legacy cash flow from cannibalization.
posted by MattD at 5:07 AM on February 13, 2016
Academic Technology Coordinator, at the university or private school level. Might be at the lower range of your pay range. You could apply for those things without any new schooling. It is a bit tech support-y but depending on where you land, there is a lot of variety for your day.
It would be basically what you wrote here:
My current job is to convince academics to do things (write a book, review a project, take a chance on newfangled digital technology) and to help and cajole them into doing those things in the ways my employers want them done (quickly, cheaply, and well). I’m basically a broker/salesperson/writing coach/therapist.
posted by coevals at 6:05 AM on February 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
It would be basically what you wrote here:
My current job is to convince academics to do things (write a book, review a project, take a chance on newfangled digital technology) and to help and cajole them into doing those things in the ways my employers want them done (quickly, cheaply, and well). I’m basically a broker/salesperson/writing coach/therapist.
posted by coevals at 6:05 AM on February 13, 2016 [2 favorites]
Higher ed administration
posted by cotton dress sock at 6:07 AM on February 13, 2016
posted by cotton dress sock at 6:07 AM on February 13, 2016
Came in to say academic technology or the ed tech sector in general. I moved from textbook publishing to academic technology a few years ago and the skill sets are very similar.
Send me a MeMail if you'd like some more details on my job transition--and if you're in the Boston area, I might have a lead or two for you.
posted by JuliaJellicoe at 7:09 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Send me a MeMail if you'd like some more details on my job transition--and if you're in the Boston area, I might have a lead or two for you.
posted by JuliaJellicoe at 7:09 AM on February 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'd go for some sort of technical writing, especially if you can wrangle something that is close to your PhD field. I am doing that currently, and my experience there boosted by my teaching credentials were a huge bonus. You can always sell teaching as being able to organise, consolidate, and communicate information effectively.
posted by the_wintry_mizzenmast at 11:59 AM on February 13, 2016
posted by the_wintry_mizzenmast at 11:59 AM on February 13, 2016
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You say that you work for a publisher. Do you mean a university press? If not, I assume you've already looked there?
posted by orrnyereg at 3:02 AM on February 13, 2016