The CCNY publication certificate program faces the pandemic

The New York City College City College certificate program was founded in 1998 with the help of the novelist Walter Mosley, in order to train those looking for careers in the publishing of books. The program aims to help minority students, in particular, find work in industry, which has trouble diversifying. Although it welcomes students from all back, PCP is capable of attracting colored students due to the nature of the CCNY student body.

PCP students take courses in the editorial process, marketing and design (in printed and digital publication) provided by experienced publishing professionals. And to obtain a diploma and receive a certification, each student must do an internship in a publishing house or a company related to the book.

During the 2018-2019 academic year, 24 students completed PCP courses and had paid or not paid / credits in houses such as Hachette, Norton, Open Road, Penguin Random House and Scholastic, as well as in Ayesha Pande, Curtis and Macintosh & Otis literary agencies. The 2019-2020 academic program provides that 30 students register – a registration number. In light of the coronavirus epidemic, all current classes are carried out practically and the PCP faculty has revised its programs for online teaching.

Deputy Director of the PCP, Retha Powers, said that 175 graduates have worked in the edition for at least a year since the program foundation. She added that if the program receives different levels of financial support from the main publishers, paid courses are the most critical support possible. “They change the situation. Our students generally do not have a personal entry into the industry. We, the PCP, are a replacement for this person in the industry. ”

Powers said all the publishers of the Big Five offer paid courses, but not enough to go around. And although unpaid trainees receive university credits, she noted that it is often not possible for PCP students to take this path, which means that some students are forced to skip a graduation cycle until they have paid positions. Others occupy unpaid positions and, she said, “wait for tables or do other work at night. It is how passionate our students are.”

The director of the PCP, David Unger, also underlined the need for paid internships. “Competition is intense,” he said. “And although we believe that business leaders and human resources are attached to diversity, this is not always reproduced when publishers, publicists and production directors are always their summer hires.”

The PCP also receives the support of representatives of the Association of Authors, which offers two annual subsidies of $ 2,500 to students, and the media group for non -profit women, which has provided subsidies that have supported 16 PCP graduates since 2009. In addition, said UNGER, the program has been funding for the Bernard Mazel Expends.

The Faculty of PCP, said Powers, includes the former editor -in -chief of PRH, Carol Taylor, literary agent and editor Tanya McKinnon, and the former editor -in -world of the world Melody Guy, among others. “Our students understand the industry and how it works, and they know where they want to work, more than most students,” she added.

Indeed Jennifer Baker, editor -in -chief at Random House Children's Books and the 2019 PW Star Watch Superstar, graduated from the PCP. Daniel Vazquez, another PCP graduate, is now an assistant editor in Farrar, Straus and Giroux after the internship in Sterling Publishing and Spiegel & Grau. “The program prepared me with an in -depth understanding of the various departments and the way they work with each other, giving me the confidence necessary to speak to my desire to become a publisher,” said Vazquez.

Kristoff Ramsamujh, PCP graduate in 2019, internal to PW And was then hired as an administrative assistant to the magazine. He said he was disturbed by the lack of diversity in industry and was inspired by studying the problem in the program. He believes that if publishers recruit truly diversified staff, it is unlikely that they attract various authors or serve various readers. “I looked at myself, a South Asian queer child, and I thought of the stories I write,” said Ramsamujh. “Then, I looked at my class of children for most black and brown and I thought of the stories they write, and I realized that I did not trust the world of publishing enough to believe that they would give our stories the care and the recognition they deserved.”

For the future, Powers said that the program planned to work with the CCNY MFA program to launch an “Introduction to publication” course for graduate students. But the program must first manage the effect of the COVVI-19 pandemic on its graduates and their job prospects.

UNGER said PRH suspends its 2020 summer courses program, noting that it will “deeply injure” PCP students. He expects several students who were to stroke in Hachette can do it remotely. But he also hopes to be able to place students from Princeton University Press, Simon & Schuster, and several literary agencies, including Wme and Ayesha Pande.

“The coronavirus pandemic is obviously a hard blow for anyone involved in the book supply chain,” said Unger. “But the greatest danger is for people who have recently hired, who will be the first to lose their jobs.