The nuts and bolts of book publishing

The University of Pennsylvania Press has been publishing books since the 1890s, so what better place for an enterprising college student interested in writing and publishing to learn about the book publishing business?

English major Dylan Fritz, a fourth-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, interned at Penn Press over the summer in the acquisitions and marketing departments. He applied for and received the internship through the Summer Humanities Internship Program, supported by the College of Arts and Sciences and administered through the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.

Fritz, from Greenville, South Carolina, has been writing since he was in elementary school. He is the editor in chief of the The Penn Review, a literary magazine, and the founder and editor in chief of the Fish Barrell Review, an independent literary journal. At Penn Press, he was able to get a behind-the-scenes look at the book publishing industry, working with a team of editors and editorial assistants who edit manuscripts, decide which books get published, confer with authors on improvements, and prepare the books to be produced, designed, and marketed.

His myriad responsibilities included formatting manuscripts as they were submitted, making sure readers and authors get paid, and sending mailings, marketing guides, book reviews, rejection letters, and complimentary copies.

Walter Biggins, editor in chief at Penn Press, says he was impressed with Fritz's organizational skills.

"He had a lot of different kinds of duties and it's hard to be in that position and be organized and prioritize your tasks," Biggins says. "There are a lot of balls in the air and it's tough to keep them on schedule. He did that tremendously well. He's also really bright and inquisitive and really interested in the inner workings of publishing, so that was really helpful."

Fritz says Penn Press staff members were extremely generous with their time, leading him through tasks and offering individualized teaching and training. Of great value, he says, was the opportunity to sit in on various departmental meetings and listen as employees discussed everything from the title of the book to the word count to the number of images. He also conducted one-on-one Q&As with Penn Press staffers to spell out how exactly his everyday tasks fit into the overall book publishing apparatus.

Of note, Fritz says, is how books are the result of "hundreds of small decisions" made by the acquisitions, production, and marketing teams.

"They really, really take their time talking about each and every part of the book," he says. "I really appreciated that collaborative process."

Moving forward, Fritz he says he plans to pursue more opportunities in the publishing field.

"This has been a pretty affirming experience," he says.

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