This week, the Miscellany caught up with Jenna Bookin Barry, ’95, who is doing exciting things in the world of books as the Director of High School Publishing at W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. (the group responsible for the hefty critical editions and anthologies you may have picked up for an English class). Jenna recently spoke to students at a Career Center 30 Minutes session, but don’t sweat it if you missed her – she graciously agreed to answer some of our questions about life in publishing and the post-Carleton universe. Check out her interview below!
Can you tell us a little about high school publishing? What drew you to the field? What are some of the responsibilities of your job? (And what is your favorite part!)
I have always wanted to be in publishing, but – like most people – envisioned myself as an editor of trade books (the kinds of books you find in libraries & bookstores). However, I found my first post-Carleton job in educational publishing, and I have spent my career working with textbooks and educational materials. It’s a wonderful field; I spend my days working with inspiring teachers who are thinking hard about how improve teaching & learning across a variety of disciplines. I’m always learning something new.
I started in sales – which is the typical entry path for educational publishing. For about 5 years, I spent the majority of my days talking to teachers and professors directly about their challenges and concerns, and trying to figure out whether my company had resources that could help them. I then moved into marketing, which is the conduit between sales, teachers, editors & authors. About 6 years ago, I was contacted by W. W. Norton, which – if you’re an English major – is a company that needs no introduction. Although Norton is just about to celebrate its 95 anniversary, they had never had a high school division, and they invited me to start one. Honestly, it’s been the opportunity of a lifetime, and I get to oversee all aspects for my division; editorial, sales, marketing & operations.
There’s no part of my job that I don’t like, but my favorite part is managing the editorial list. Essentially, my job is to look across the Norton titles and decide which books should be adapted for the high school market. I’ve selected books in many disciplines – from composition to history, and government to music – conducted market research, found thoughtful authors, and worked with a team to develop high school or AP editions. Most of the time I work with textbooks, but I’ve also worked on media and trade projects as well. And just in case you’re curious, I haven’t yet tackled the Norton Anthologies; until I’m positive how to do them well for the high school audience, I’m not ready to start messing with the crown jewels.
You’ve held numerous positions in educational publishing over the years. Can you speak to some of the trends or concerns in the industry, and whether it has changed in the time you’ve worked there?
I could spend a lot of time talking about this, but the short answer is that educational publishing has gone through a lot of change in the last 20 years. There’s a big transition towards online, personalized learning, and many publishers are grappling with how to move into a more technical space. For a while now, there have been a dizzying array of edtech companies that don’t really do content well, and content providers (the big publishers) that historically have struggled to build good software platforms, and to also build materials that work with a huge array of hardware. It’s been kind of a mess, but it’s also been invigorating and interesting. Change brings opportunity. At Norton, we’ve chosen to develop technology that is always working in the service of continuing to focus on excellent content first and foremost; most of our competitors have chosen to focus more heavily in recent years on the technological component. Only time will tell whether our approach is a good bet.
W. W. Norton bills itself as the largest publishing house owned entirely by its employees. What is working in that environment like?
It’s great. Most of our large publishing competitors are publicly held companies, and often run by business folks or venture capital firms, which means that their primary focus is on quarterly results and earnings. Norton is private and the only people that can own stock in the company are current employees – that means that we are beholden to absolutely no banks or outside shareholders, and can (and do) take the long view, and make decisions because they are the right ones for our business. It also means that those of us who choose to purchase stock in the company – we are referred to as ‘employee-owners’ – are the only people that benefit from yearly dividends when we are doing well. All of the officers in the company have spent their careers in publishing (most of them entirely at Norton). Norton’s current president, Julia Reidhead, started as a sales representative and spent many years as the literature editor before becoming the head of our company last year.
How has your English major served you post-graduation?
Carleton and my English major prepared me extremely well for my career. While I may be a little rusty on 19C women’s literature I read with Susan Jaret McKinstry, the Irish literature I took with Jim McDonnell, and lit crit I grappled with Constance Walker, I don’t think there’s a single day that goes by that I don’t use skills that I developed in classes that I took with the three of them, or with Tim Raylor, Mike Kowalewski, Keith Harrison & George Soule, as well as professors from other departments. The ability to think critically, write persuasively, listen thoughtfully, and engage in respectful debate are all things that Carleton fostered and developed, and have helped me greatly in my career.
Any words of advice for the English major with big dreams of working in publishing?
Publishing is still an area where work experience counts as much or more than graduate degrees, so internships are key for getting an entrée into the publishing world; if you decide to do one, use it as a networking opportunity, and ask various people in the company to have coffee with you to learn more about what they do and figure out what you’d like to do in the publishing ecosphere. At least at Norton, when many of us have an assistant-level opening, we’ll often ask trusted colleagues for intern recommendations before posting the position on any job site. My other word of advice is to use your Carleton-honed skills while in your internship and entry-level positions to connect what you’re doing to the bigger picture; be curious, ask questions, make suggestions for streamlining and improving processes. It will definitely get you noticed; good luck!