18 Connections to Make in Publishing

Writing is a very solitary experience. Publishing, on the other hand, is very collaborative in a variety of ways, with many people involved. Even if you sneak a quick peek at the masthead of this magazine, you'll spot the names of many different types of editors, an art director, marketing designer, competitions manager, VP general manager, advertising reps, and customer service—and that still doesn't include everyone involved with getting out an issue of this magazine every two months. Publishing is a team effort, so I wanted to spotlight many of the people writers can make connections with. Keep in mind that for smaller operations, one person may fill multiple roles.

- ROBERT LEE BREWER

AD REPS

I know most people have thoughts about advertising, but advertising is an essential element to keeping the lights on for many magazines and online publications. As such, ad reps—the people who deal with advertisers—are essential. The more successful they are, the more money publishers have to pay employees, including freelance writers.

AGENTS

When I think of agents, I typically think of literary agents, but there are also agents who handle foreign rights, film rights, and all the other rights that freelancers and authors hope they can someday exploit. Agents represent writers in negotiating contracts, following up on payments, and—depending on the agent—other tasks. Agents typically don’t earn money until their writers are paid, so they're motivated to put all their energy into representing only those writers they believe in the most.

BOOK INFLUENCERS

While TikTok and other social media platforms have pushed book influencers to the forefront of publishing in recent years, book influencers have existed in various forms as long as books. These can include celebrities, people with book clubs, podcasters, YouTubers, BookTokers, Bookstagrammers, and many others. Some authors will also use street teams to help get the word out about their projects.

BOOK REVIEWERS

While book reviewers can help promote writers in a similar way to book influencers, promotion is not their main goal. Rather, it’s to give a fair assessment of the books they read and to help set—for better or worse—reader expectations.

BOOKSELLERS