MS in Publishing students got a rare opportunity to meet one-on-one with publishing industry leaders including Sara Nelson, VP & Executive Editor at HarperCollins; and Jean Feiwel, Senior VP and Publisher at Feiwel & Friends, at the program’s first Speed Mentoring event.
Students moved from table to table, talking with five industry professionals of their choice. Some of those professionals included alums like Clare McGlade Perret, Senior Production Editor at Simon and Schuster, Jessica Napp, Associate Director of Publicity at Rizzoli International, Ebony LaDelle, Senior Marketing manager at HarpersCollins; and Maggie Gibson, Children’s Production Assistant at Penguin Random House. Others were: Phoebe Ye, VP and Publisher at Crown Books for Young Readers, Dave Caplan, Creative Director at Little Brown Books, Keith Kahla, Executive Editor at St. Martin’s Press, Caroline Acebo, Director of Foreign Rights at Brower Literary and Management and Robb Pearlman, Associate Publisher at Rizzoli International.
Students also got to talk to faculty outside of their usual classroom setting, including Karen Holt, Richard Johnson, and Jennifer Romanello, who were able to share their own vast experience in the industry.
In addition to networking with these industry professionals, students got a closer look at the many career paths available within publishing. The mentors were from different fields including editorial, production, design, sales, marketing, publicity, and subsidiary rights. The wide range of professionals let students focus their time on the fields that most interested them, and to learn more about those with which they weren’t familiar.
Speed Mentoring took place the first week of December. But don’t worry if you missed out — the event will be held again in April 2020!