One of the many reasons students commit to the University of Iowa is the English Department’s Literary Publishing Track that can be offered upon arrival. As the publishing industry expands across media and platforms (physical and digital), many students are kept in the dark about what modern publishing looks like and where they can gain insight into an ever-changing, and often gatekept, industry. However, with the help of Iowa’s Literary Publishing Track, students quickly gain hands-on experience in the form of literary magazines, exposure to the history of book publishing, and practicums for skills such as editing and proofreading, which provide them with the tools necessary to succeed in the field.

Steadily growing in size and in interest, the Literary Publishing Track specializes in two things: great writing and how to make it public. Students on the publishing track are well-rounded with experience across multiple publishing mediums—literary magazines, comic books, chapbooks, e-books, websites, you name it—along with the choice to tailor their classes to better fit their niche interests like book design courses, literary editing practicums, and classes on the historical background of the publishing industry.  

The only requirement for students joining the track are the foundational classes, Publishing 1 and Publishing 2, which must be completed before graduation. Often taken back-to-back across two semesters, students explore the literary world through a specific medium (recently, personalized zines and collaborative literary magazines) but this is subject to change as more professionals continue to craft their classes around the industry. 

“My favorite class so far for publishing has been Publishing 1,” says fourth-year student Jenna, a current undergraduate and publishing hopeful in the program. “Everyone was just so passionate about what we were learning and their own potential in the field that it really made for a strong and engaging classroom environment.”  

In Jenna’s Publishing 1 class, the focus was on the creation of personalized zines (aka magazines) and over the course of sixteen weeks, students singlehandedly brainstormed theme ideas, wrote pieces for their classmates, budgeted supply costs, designed pages, and presented the finished product at an official fair for students and faculty. Not only did this project submerge students in all areas of the publishing process by making them the writer, the designer, the editor, the marketer, etc. but it also allowed them to walk away with a physical product to show to recruiters and employers.  

“I really love my Publishing 1 class,” Noa, a second-year student currently enrolled in the course, gushed, “It pulls back the curtain of mysticism of the publishing industry and breaks down the actual roles that it is comprised of.” 

The Publishing 2 course builds off this momentum by replicating a full-fledged literary magazine with a team of students who take on the roles of writers, editors, designers, copyeditors, and more. In this class, collaboration, communication, and teamwork are key as students work together to craft the magazine from start to finish. From brainstorming theme ideas to budgeting costs for an official launch party, students spend the entire semester working together and mimicking the real-world experience of what it would be like to one day work at an imprint in the publishing industry. 

The rest of the publishing track allows for three chosen electives which the student can handpick depending on their niche or interest. Of those courses, a huge hit among students is the “Book Design for Publishing” class which consists of step-by-step instructions on how to use InDesign, Photoshop, and different Adobe applications. Students in this course are tasked to design their own book (either of their own writing or public domain work) and go through the slow process of learning page layouts, sentence structuring, and the overall task of remembering where each tool is in the program. In a digital world where creative designers are in high demand, the Book Design class has proven to be crucial for students who go on to work in the publishing field since more and more employers look for workers who know the basics of design work.  

Another core class for students is the “Literary Editing” course which teaches students how to edit their own work or the work of others. In this course, students receive in-depth instruction on developmental editing, copyediting, and revision editing to help them understand the work of real-life editors in the publishing field. Students in this class come away with the necessary background to be an editor which is a skill that can be used in the publishing industry or elsewhere since every profession needs proficient communicators and writers in their field.  

While Iowa’s Literary Publishing Track has been influential in preparing students with industry knowledge and skill-based learning, there is still room for improvement. One of the program’s current liabilities is the absence of an embedded faculty member whose sole job is to work with students. An embedded faculty member would continue to adapt classes to the needs of incoming publishing hopefuls and be a guide to upperclassmen on how to get more professional experience outside of the classroom. Because there isn’t a single person with all the information, students often find themselves scrambling between faculty and friends when it comes to the next step in the publishing process: professional development for the workforce. We are delighted and excited to hear that the Department intends to advertise for a half-time position devoted solely to this track in the Spring of 2025. 

While classes on background knowledge and hands-on learning are crucial for students to gain the skills needed to succeed, the publishing track still doesn’t adequately address an even bigger worry for undergraduates: how to get an internship, how to stand out in an interview, and how to network with other publishing professionals. Finding an internship is difficult enough, but for students looking to get real-world publishing experience, it’s a no-brainer that the publishing industry is small and competitive with internship slots. It can often take years before a student manages to find something that’ll boost their resume and for many students looking to find work, navigating the application process has become a main concern outside of the classroom. 

The reason many passionate students tend to fall between the cracks of the application process is simply that they don’t know how to write a compelling publishing resume/cover letter, they’re unaware how to write an in-depth reader’s report, or they don’t know what’s going to be asked of them in an interview. Other students have expressed directionless feelings when it comes to networking with professionals on LinkedIn and how to make themselves stand out among other publishing hopefuls across the country. If the publishing track were to implement more professional development tactics in their courses, there’s the potential to alleviate stress and place more students in internship roles which could boost their future chance of finding work immediately after graduation.  

Lastly, many undergraduate publishing track students have expressed interest in a publishing-centered career fair which could comprise local literary presses and Midwestern book publishing companies. This would allow publishing students to prepare material ahead of time and network with companies face-to-face that interest them. For students who feel lost in the internship application process, a career fair catered toward them would be one way that the university could continue to support its future publishing industry workers. It is our hope and expectation that the Department’s new hire will address these challenges 

The University of Iowa’s Literary Publishing Track has done the work to prepare students for their dream careers, but there is still room for growth. An embedded faculty member, enhanced curriculum for professional development, and a publishing career fair would be some of the priorities for the future publishing track. As the program continues to grow, these changes are necessary to continue bringing prospective students into the program and supporting current students who plan to join the publishing industry post-graduation.