How to work for a publishing company?

To work for a publishing company, apply for internships, network, and be adaptable. To start, you should pursue a degree in a related field, such as journalism or writing. During your time in school, you should apply for and complete internships at publishing companies.

How To Become A Publishing Internship: What It Is and Career Path

What is a publishing internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Christopher Gehrz Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a publishing internship. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.12 an hour? That's $52,248 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -5,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a publishing internship?

Christopher Gehrz Ph.D.

Professor and Chair, Bethel University

First, be sure to sustain the life of the mind. You're no longer a college student, but you're still a learner, so you need to keep exercising those muscles. And you won't have people like me giving lectures or assigning books anymore, so you need to find your own ways to nourish your interests, sustain your passions, challenge your assumptions, and enhance your understanding.

Second, keep in touch with your college professors. Not only might you need to ask people like me for recommendations at some point down the road, but in turn, you can provide something to your alma mater more immediately meaningful than donations: helping us answer questions like these from newer students wondering how they'll connect their studies with their careers. (For example, I keep a list of several dozen alumni in various fields who have told me they'd be willing to be interviewed by first-year students wondering what they can do with a History major.)

ScorePublishing InternshipUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,248

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.27%

Asian 7.04%

Black or African American 3.49%

Hispanic or Latino 7.87%

Unknown 4.55%

White 76.77%

Gender

female 68.90%

male 31.10%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a publishing internship

Explore publishing internship education requirements

Most common publishing internship degrees

Bachelor's

80.6 %

Master's

8.1 %

Associate

5.1 %

Start to develop specific publishing internship skills

Skills	Percentages
Press Releases	11.45%
Adobe Indesign	7.33%
Web Content	6.53%
Graphic Design	5.21%
Digital Publishing	5.17%

Complete relevant publishing internship training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New publishing interns 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 publishing internship based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real publishing internship resumes.

Research publishing internship duties and responsibilities

Supervise all editorial activities, including developing editorial story boards, managing freelance copywriters and directing contract photo assignments.
Assist the web developer with web development using HTML, XML, CSS and PHP.
Used HTML coding to write and publish profiles on WordPress.
Evaluate young adult fiction manuscripts and compose reader's reports for further consideration for publishing

Prepare your publishing internship resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your publishing internship 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 publishing internship resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable publishing internship resume templates

Build a professional publishing internship resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your publishing internship resume.