How To Become A Publication Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a publication specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Mike Bromberg

As a publication specialist, you will be charged with assisting with publishing operations and supervising distribution processes accordingly. You'll inspect the quality of materials before printing. This includes verifying information, proofreading contents, and ensuring that the style meets the standard requirements and business guidelines. You may handle the company's social media presence to attract the audience by posting publication updates and engaging captions. Also, you may handle press releases, media communications and write sales reports. Additionally, you'll coordinate the production deadline for publications.

Applicants for this role must hold at least a bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline. You must have a minimum of three years of experience in a similar role. Essential skills include communication, organization, time management, and creativity skills. You must be proficient in Microsoft Office and relevant software. Publication specialists earn an average salary of $63,259 yearly or $30.41 per hour. This ranges from $43,000 to $92,000.

What general advice would you give to a publication specialist?

Mike Bromberg

Assistant Professor, East-West University

There are many great careers out there that can be attained as a result of getting a degree in English. One great example is the fact that many companies find that it's a necessity to develop and maintain their social media presence. They look for Communications Coordinators, social media managers, and media directors to make sure their materials, themes, and messages are organized and broadcasted efficiently and appropriately. Some people go on to graduate programs such as law school, as English courses engage heavily with reading, writing, and critical thinking skills.

ScorePublication SpecialistUS Average

Salary

4.3

Avg. Salary $55,554

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.59%

Asian 5.30%

Black or African American 10.06%

Hispanic or Latino 11.95%

Unknown 5.09%

White 67.02%

Gender

female 64.44%

male 35.56%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a publication specialist

Explore publication specialist education requirements

Most common publication specialist degrees

Bachelor's

69.7 %

Associate

13.1 %

Master's

10.3 %

Start to develop specific publication specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Technical Publications	8.64%
PowerPoint	7.36%
Technical Manuals	6.40%
Adobe Illustrator	5.99%
Desktop	5.68%

Complete relevant publication specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New publication specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a publication specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real publication specialist resumes.

Research publication specialist duties and responsibilities

Manage documents through planning, development and QA.
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Manage, create and edit internal and external communication collateral, providing high-level management copywriting and document creation support.
Train writers in XML tagging schema.

Prepare your publication specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your publication specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a publication specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable publication specialist resume templates

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