Is publishing a good career path?

No, publishing is not a good career path. While those who love reading and promoting books might think they would love the career path of publishing, it is often not the case. This is due to the following factors:

How To Become A Publisher: What It Is and Career Path

What is a publisher and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Professor Margaret Oakes

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Publisher. There are certain abilities that numerous distributors have to achieve in their duties. With regards to the main abilities needed to be a Publisher, we found that 12.8% of resumes included client care, while 12.8% of resumes included official statements, and 7.4% of resumes included new customers. We also discovered that 56% of Publishers hold four-year certification, 18% hold a graduate degree, and 10% hold a partner degree.

The most well-known schools for Publishers are New York University and George Washington University. Publishers in the United States make an average compensation of $81,787 per year or $39.32 each hour. Regarding the compensation range, a section-level Publisher's pay is generally $55,000 per year, while the top 10% makes $120,000.

What general advice would you give to a Publisher?

Professor Margaret Oakes

Professor of English, Furman University

Understand that you should be looking at a salary mid-career, not right now. And look at the possibility for promotion in your place of work - a small family business will not be able to or be interested in promoting you to a leadership position, so think about if you will need to move up or out.

ScorePublisherUS Average

Salary

5.6

Avg. Salary $71,539

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 7.10%

Black or African American 3.52%

Hispanic or Latino 7.94%

Unknown 4.56%

White 76.62%

Gender

female 44.33%

male 55.67%

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

Newest jobs for Publisher in Columbus, OH

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Key steps to become a publisher

Explore publisher education requirements

Most common publisher degrees

Bachelor's

72.0 %

Master's

10.4 %

Associate

10.0 %

Start to develop specific publisher skills

Skills	Percentages
Press Releases	13.04%
Customer Satisfaction	12.21%
Strategic Thinking	11.16%
Publishing Industry	4.89%
Facebook	4.21%

Complete relevant publisher training and internships

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

Research publisher duties and responsibilities

Manage the migration and reformatting of over 8,000 web pages into a new CMS.
Pitch, produce and build all content (manage freelancers, art-direct shoots, write text, CMS).
Manage blogs and social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn) to support the brand of the magazine.
Manage editorial calendar and run weekly meetings with cross-functional stakeholders.

Prepare your publisher resume

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

Choose From 10+ Customizable Publisher Resume templates

Build a professional Publisher 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 Publisher resume.

Apply for publisher jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a publisher job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do publishers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Publisher reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2023

Pros

You get to meet interesting people, go to shows and if you are passionate about music it’s a goldmine

Cons

Bad pay, if you are not working for a major or have a hit songwriter on your roster your company will go out of business. You need a hit to cover overhead and there are not that many slots on the radio. It’s worth it if you work for a great company. If you don’t RUN!!!