4321234

what are the roles and positions of people working at a publishing firm? and what kinds of work do publishers do? are they the ones who decide which books will get published?

HarrietMWelsch

The roles vary somewhat from house to house. Generally speaking, the publisher is the boss, and most times has the final say on what books get published, although the decision-making process usually involves an editorial or a publishing board (or both), which meets to discuss submissions. Basically, editors at various levels (and their assistants, also at various levels) read submissions (mostly from agents, these days) and decide whether or not they want to try to publish them. From there, the process will have different steps depending on the size of the publishing house (and who owns it).

Do you have more specific questions? It really does vary. What kind of publishing are you interested in?

HarrietMWelsch

And did you want to know about *all* the various roles - in production, publicity, marketing, sales, and so on, or are you specifically looking at the editorial side?

4321234

i'm more interested in publishing for novels and screenplays. are there specific resources you could refer me to? thanks.

HarrietMWelsch

Read Publishers Weekly. Look at the web sites for various publishers. Read about some well known editors (like Maxwell Perkins) - their stories will cover a lot of what goes on at publishing houses.

Most bigger publishing houses these days publish both fiction and nonfiction. Not sure what you mean about screenplays - did you mean books containing actual screenplays, or were you asking about novelizations?