Thursday, April 20, 2006

More on How to Get into This Crazy Industry

Anna Louise answers the perennial question:

Q: How does one get started in publishing? (question from jadzia325)

A: One gets started in publishing by moving to the city The Company Of Your Dreams is located in, and submitting your resume. If you want to work for Tor, you come to the New York area. If you want to work for a company out of Boston, move to the Boston area. If you want to work for a company out of Los Angeles.... you get the picture?


This echoes what Teresa Nielsen Hayden said in the comments to my answer to the "How does one become an editor?" question, and while it doesn't quite reflect the path that I took, both these ladies work in an enviable corner of trade publishing, so if you want to edit fiction for a living, you should probably heed their advice.

If you don't want to move to the city in which the Company Of Your Dreams is located, you may have to resign yourself to editing whatever can be found in the place where you live. In Toronto, this means Harlequins, textbooks, magazines, daily newspapers, and a small amount of trade fiction (yes, I know, technically Harlequin has trade imprints. In addition to Harlequins is what I meant), and, if you're freelance, anything else that pays the bills. None of this sucks, but if you have your heart set on editing for Tor, Toronto isn't the place to be.

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