Publishers are in charge of identifying and deciding on the books or editorial products that will be published as part of a catalogue, newspaper or online content, both new works or parts of a collection or editorial line.

Mainly, their job consists of assessing the proposals they receive or proposing new topics and finding a writer or journalist to develop them. In this sense, publishers ensure that the text adapts to the corresponding specifications (space, format, grammatical style, etc.), supervise that the contents of interest fit the proposed line and ensure that deliveries are made on time.

In some cases, this professional may also be in charge of creating their own content and being directly responsible for electronic publications or the information that some theme web portals offer to their public

• Read proposals or reports in order to decide when to accept a job.
• Contact writers or journalists so that they develop specific topics.
• Negotiate contracts with authors.
• Decide which books or content are to be re-published, which will have more print runs and which will be taken out of print.

• Coordinate the activities of writers, journalists and other professionals working on the publication, determining delivery times, the length of the texts, their presentation and style.
• Revise, assess and modify the contents so that they adjust to the criteria for publication.
• In case of informative material, verify the truthfulness of the contents using different sources of information.

• Manage the copyrights of the work.
• If there is not a specialised post such as a content manager, work together with designers and programmers to define the medium in which the contents will be presented, giving the most appropriate form to the images and other resources accompanying them.
• Publish, revise and maintain published contents and, in some cases, update them using contents management systems.
• Think about ways to promote editorial content (digital positioning, presentations with the author, interviews with the media, etc.).
  

Regulated training and graduates

• Grau: Comunicació audiovisual
• Grau: Comunicació i periodisme audiovisuals
• Grau: Estudis clàssics
• Grau: Estudis literaris
• Grau: Filologia catalana
• Grau: Filologia catalana i estudis occitans
• Grau: Filologia hispànica
• Grau: Humanitats
• Grau: Humanitats i estudis culturals
• Grau: Periodisme

Complementary training

Although not strictly indispensable, there are masters and postgraduate degrees that can add value, like the following ones:

• Postgraduate course in digital journalism.

• Postgraduate course in online and electronic publishing.

• Postgraduate course in text composition.

• Master's degree in digital communication.

Specialisation courses in business administration, marketing and advertising are also recommended.

Other specific skills

Flexibility and change management: Level 2

Negotiation: Level 1

Orientation within reach: Level 2

Strategic orientation: Level 3

Planning and organisation: Level 3

Management

The organisation, administration and control of a company or entity are the main interests of people related to the management field. Activities included in this field of interest vary from effective resource management, feasibility analyses and solving business problems to the development of skills and fostering of motivation in relation to human resources. Knowledge regarding specific techniques of strategic administration and business management are required to carry out these activities.

Humanities

The key interests of people who are interested in the field of humanities are studying the activity of human beings over time as well as their cultural and artistic expressions. Activities that represent this field are the creation of cultural products and the organisation of exhibitions and events, in addition to the promotion of actions for the preservation and dissemination of an artistic group. Significant knowledge of cultural, historical and linguistic heritage is required to carry out these activities.

Publishing agent

Reader

Writer

Proofreader

Copyeditor

• Work hours

  Full-time job, with a lot of flexibility.
  

• Salary

  The salary range is between 20,000 and 45,000 euros gross per year, depending on their experience.
  

• Professional category

  Technician