I’m highly educated. As of June of this year I have a Master’s Degree in Book Publishing from Portland State University. So what did I learn in the two years of studying Book Publishing?
- You are never done learning.
- What you research in grad school may shape the rest of your career. I studied work life balance and have so far set my sights on human resources within the book publishing industry.
- It’s really a business degree. I swear what I learned in graduate school for Book Publishing has more in common with an MBA than with an MFA in English.
- You learn to work with others. I spent most of my time working alongside other writers and editors getting a feel for the work.
- This is an on the job course of study. We work directly with manuscripts before publication to make them shine. Every piece of work that passed my desk was a real world example of what we do when we’ve graduated.
- Marketing is the most important skill. If you aren’t good at marketing you’ll never make it as a freelancer, and it will also help you when landing your dream career.
- Work-back schedules are the new norm. Once you know your end date the rest falls into place.
- Like Marketing, Networking is your next best tool. Make friends.
- When in doubt ask your mentors. I found that having a mentor made a huge difference in what I took away from the program.
- Go for the graduate assistantships. They will make grad school affordable.
Hopefully you find these ten things helpful in your decision whether or not to pursue graduate education.