Publishing Jobs: Working with Books
No holiday without thriller, no evening without bedtime reading, no rainy Sunday without a book: reading is one of the favorite pastimes of Germans - even pub, cinema and sports can not keep up. And passion is not limited to closing time; Many also want to work with books. The range of possibilities is large: author, editor, bookseller, illustrator, designer or press officer - just to name a few fields of work. One thing is common to all jobs: they demand flexibility and a keen nose for changes in the market. The best way to get started is through an internship that is relatively easy to get. In Germany there are about 10,000 publishers (of which about 2000 book publishers). Smart trainees are welcome almost everywhere, because they can do some work for the stressed "festivals", which often have to make ends meet with fewer and fewer colleagues. Interns earn little or nothing and should consider their commitment as part of the training. Only those who know what is going on in a publishing house today have a good chance of finding their place there over time.
In addition: Knowing publishers from the inside is a prerequisite to work from the outside reasonably lucrative. "For freelancers, the situation is good at the moment," says Adriane Andreas, 46, who, together with her colleague Renate Hausdorf, 53, founded the "Buch & mehr" office in Munich. Both were employed for several years in publishing houses - one as an editor, the other as a designer. Adriane Andreas is well remembered for the "increasing pressure" that weighs on the permanent staff. She wanted more flexibility and quit. Now the two freelancers offer a full service, which means that they can produce complete book runs as needed, from concept to production. If necessary, they also employ a graphic artist, a translator or a print shop for their project. There are enough jobs, but not always the entire service is used: for Graße and Unzer for example, one of their main customers, Adriane Andreas health advisor, Renate Hausdorf takes care of the clean fit into the given layout. The rest is controlled by the publisher - royalties for authors, illustrators and photographers, printing, advertising, marketing, sales. Adriane Andreas studied biology. For incoming editors, she strongly recommends specializing: "Those who are truly competent in one area have a good chance of finding a niche in the competitive free market."
Wanted: the specialized all-rounder
"Some graduated from German with a degree in German, studied abroad and know every book, and now they want to work as lecturers at a respected publisher like Hanser or Suhrkamp and earn $ 50,000 a year." So much ignorance Irene Naumczyk amused again and again. Eight years ago, the 49-year-old started his own business and raised a recruitment agency in Buchbach near Munich. She takes the pre-selection from HR directors and scrutinizes the candidates critically. It is not uncommon for them to shock well-educated people: "Applicants may consider it an honor," she says, "if they get an assistantship and $ 1,800 a month." Anyone who wants to have a permanent position should be as specialized as possible and at the same time be a multi-talent - in many areas. "Looking for eggs laying Wollmilchsau," brings Irene Naumczyk the thing to the point. In plain English: a technically savvy, articulate, flexible, economically-minded organizational genius with a minimum of material requirements. For some years, an icy wind whistles through the industry. Commerce is in the foreground, idealism is mostly incidental. Many famous publishers are today only by name independent companies - Rowohlt for example and the Berlin publishing house, Heyne, Ullstein, Econ and Kiepenheuer & Witsch. "Big players" such as Holtzbrinck, Axel Springer and Bertelsmann buy up economically sluggish publishers - and then want to see decent returns. Saved on literature that is read anyway only by minorities. And at the staff. "Outsource" is the magic word. As many activities as possible are outsourced to, for example, graphic artists and lecturers who have become self-employed, who have no vacation entitlement and who take care of their own social insurance completely.
Big money - the exception
"The market is tough, you have to react flexibly," is also the experience of Verena Rannenberg, 43, who was originally a bookseller and then, more than 20 years ago, changed to a publishing house representative. Plus, she knows how bookstores are and how customers react.Bookseller, she says, is considered a respected and highly skilled job, but the merit is rather low. There are hardly any opportunities for advancement - and only with luck an exciting everyday life: in shops that organize readings, for example, and involve their employees in selecting books. Representatives have an influence on which books are in stock in the bookstores and how committed the booksellers recommend them. "An exhausting and very varied job," says Verena Rannenberg. Her life is characterized by commercial travel - for the publishing house Frauenoffensive and Eichborn, for Wagenbach and Carlsen she was traveling in recent years. Then she landed a direct hit, hoping for the publishing house representative as a lone in the lottery: She presented in northern Germany, the German edition of "Harry Potter" (Carlsen Verlag) and has earned "really thick". For Verena Rannenberg, a permanent position is no longer an option; she is happy to be her own boss. A few years ago, she gained a second foothold - after all, she does not have a Harry Potter in a briefcase on every trip. It offers "devotional items" in bookstores: postcards, wrapping paper, bookmarks. The business is doing well. "If you keep moving, you can benefit from the upheaval," concludes Verena Rannenberg.
Heike Wilhelmi also benefits. From the holes that tore the personnel policy of many publishers. After many years of lecturing, the Hamburg native has become self-employed with a "media agency" for non-fiction books, because: "Only rarely do the permanent staff have time to spend a lot of time with the authors." Heike Wilhelmi offers publishers thoroughly pre-checked concepts and manuscripts. "Unsolicited submitted manuscripts are published at most in exceptional cases." Almost always the 40-year-old already knows the authors who submit their proposals - or even asks them specifically for a joint project. And only a few can live from writing books alone. "Ideally, non-fiction books are written by experts," says Heike Wilhelmi, "so the psycho-counselor of a therapist or the new wellness guide of a travel journalist."
Multimedia? No competition
Publishers and bookstores do not need to worry about future clients: every year more new releases flood the stores - and this year it will be more than 80,000. Especially the 14- to 19-year-olds read above average, the stock exchange association of the German book trade has determined. And multimedia? "No competition," say connoisseurs of the scene. E-books, the Gameboys for bookworms, are still exotic on the German market. Internet and literary CD-ROMs do not harm the medium of the book either; usually they are used in parallel, by exactly the same consumers.
is a multimedia producer and has already made a steep climb. The 32-year-old, who has a degree in geography, likes to handle language, is well organized, is highly flexible and finds the new media extremely exciting, slipped into the industry via an assistant - typical of many careers in the industry Area. First, she supervised CD-Rom productions in the young Munich publisher Terzio. Under her direction, new games to stories of dandelion, Thomas Brezina and Janosch emerged. She thought about the music and devised puzzles designed to stimulate children's imagination - and then to outsource the production, "to a whole bunch of outdoors". Now Terzio has founded a subsidiary in Erfurt, which takes over these productions. Now everything is in one hand - in Katrin Hessing's, because she manages the company. But in the beginning, even with many of these multimedia products, there is still the book.
Professional info
For all questions concerning the professional career, the vocational information centers in the employment office are a first point of contact. About the state-recognized training routes inform the "leaves to the professional customer", which you can get for free at the employment office or at www.arbeitsamt.de on the Internet. Current continuing education offers are available in the online database KURS (click on www.arbeitsamt.de).
A good internet address to get an overview of book professions: www.inbuk.de. For training, it may be worthwhile to view the homepage www.neue-ausbildungsberufe.de. Also competent: Ver.di-Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft, Berlin, Telephone: 030/69560, Internet: www.verdi-net.de.
Occupations with state-regulated training
The training for the following professions usually takes three years - with high school also shorter. A certain level of education is not required, but usually have graduates with a middle school or high school graduation much better chances.
bookseller
Job Profile: Book retailers work in bookstores. They order books and other media from publishers, advise customers and sell.In addition to commercial thinking, a sense of trends and customer needs is important: booksellers are often responsible for the attractive presentation of books in the shop and for shop window decoration, they organize readings, signings and other advertising. Prerequisite: It is recommended to enjoy selling and direct contact with customers as well as the health requirements to stand a lot - as with all sales professions.
Education: to the bookseller, focus on assortment. There are lateral entrants, e.g. Sales assistants or former publishing house employees who work as booksellers.
Earnings: From about 1500 euros. Info: Leaflets for professional customers, order number BzB1 - VIII A 104.
Bookseller / antique shop
Job profile: Antiquarian book dealers trade in rare and old books for which there is no fixed price. Auctions, estates, publishers and private individuals buy books, manuscripts, graphics, old prints, rarities and curios. Customers are often professionals or scientists. Prerequisite: general education, tenacity, accuracy in the identification and exact description of titles, enjoyment of literary curiosities.
Education: to the bookseller, focus on antique books.
Earnings: From about 1500 euros. Info: Leaflets for professional customers, order number BzB1 - VIII A 104.
library assistant
Job profile: Library assistants support the librarians in their work. They procure books, magazines and other media and systematize them in catalogs. They take over the work associated with the rental and advise the library users. They also wait for the stocks. Education: as a library assistant or as a specialist in media and information services.
Merit: BAT VI B, from about 1800 euros.
