ABSTRACT
The selection of book publishing as a career will be less accidental if one has first looked at both the alternatives and at oneself. Book publishing relies heavily on a kind of apprentice system for filling its professional ranks. In the key functional areas of editorial, production, and marketing, a love of books and ability to learn on the job often carry more weight than specific skills or preemployment training. The organization of every publishing house reflects its own history, its business and publishing priorities, its size, and the style of its management. As the technology of book manufacturing changes, jobs in the production and design areas offer continuing challenges to find new and better ways to get things done. Jobs in marketing require increasingly diverse skills as the world's economy affects publishing marketplaces. In the editorial departments of general publishing companies the most common beginning positions are those of editor's assistant and copy editorial trainee.
