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The Alumni Experience

With more than a 60-year history, the Columbia Publishing Course has alumni at every level of book, magazine and digital media publishing. Here’s what a few recent graduates had to say about their CPC experience.

 

• "The Columbia Publishing Course is the gift that keeps on giving. I got an education, an
  
   
  internship, a job, and a lifelong network of friends."
  — Caitlin Buckley, CPC '11, staff writer, Elizabeth St iPad app
  
  

• "It was a privilege to work with such driven students and dedicated publishing professionals at CPC. I came to the Course quite new to publishing, and it gave me a leg-up I'm certain I wouldn't have gotten anywhere else. I'm very thankful for it."
  — Kelly Stout, CPC '10, editorial assistant, The New Yorker
   
• "Don’t tell them this, but during the Columbia Publishing Course, I worked harder and learned more in six weeks than I did in four years at Georgetown University."
  — Nora O’Malley , CPC '10, publicity assistant, Crown Books (Random House)
  
  
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  "I don't think I ever could have gotten hired in this industry, in this economy, without the course. I will always be grateful for the tireless work the course staff does advocating for young people with bookish dreams. I loved my time at the course, and I love my new life in New York, and none of that would have been possible were it not for CPC."
  — Wade Lucas, CPC ’09, assistant, HarperCollins Speakers Bureau
   
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  "New York can feel overwhelming right when you move here on your own, and the course was a great way to make the city feel a bit smaller, a bit warmer. But the most important thing the course does is provide a context for the book news you read every day—you put faces with editors' names, you start to know agencies, you remember bylines in magazines and book reviews. You'll see what's changing. And a visit to the bookstore will be like visiting old friends."
  — Kirsten Reach, CPC ‘08, editorial assistant, Henry Holt (Macmillan)
  
  
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  "Breaking into the magazine industry is not easy, especially when you haven't interned in New York. Even before coming to the course, I had done a few informational interviews at Glamour, Marie Claire, Essence, and Real Simple, but they did not open doors to jobs at the time. The course not only helped me learn more about magazines, but I was able to meet many people in my field that I wouldn't have otherwise. Additionally, now being in this field, it's great to be able to connect with other course grads across the industry."
  — Jihan Thompson, CPC ‘07, articles editor, Redbook
  
  
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  "It was an honor to take part in the course, and I’ll be using the connections I made there for the rest of my career. It’s wonderful to meet a group of talented, like-minded peers, and it’s the best source for advice from experts in the industry."
  — Melanie Ryan, CPC ‘05, senior designer, Harper’s Bazaar
  
  
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  "The course provides access to all sorts of jobs which are not widely publicized, in addition to a strong route into those that are. The doors the course has opened for me would probably never have been accessible without it. I got my first job thanks to a phone call from the course director, Lindy Hess. Plus, I came in to my first job with an idea of what the big picture looked like, of who in the company was responsible for what and in what order information needed to flow, which helped immensely. That way I could concentrate on figuring out the particular procedural details rather than everything at once."
  — Daniel Meyer, CPC ‘08, editorial assistant, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday (Random House)
  
  
• "I decided on a career in publishing, because I want to work in a field where I am expressing my passion for literature. The course really opened my eyes to the diversity of jobs in a publishing house. I entered the course thinking that I wanted to be an editor, but when I heard several publicists participate in lectures and also give panels with some of the authors they promote, I instantly realized that publicity was my calling. It is a better fit for my outgoing personality and the excitement I feel from actively getting others excited about amazing books."
  — Melissa Whitley, CPC ‘08, publicity assistant, W. W. Norton & Co.
  
  
• "Going into CPC, I was expecting the superstar editors, the Week of No Sleep, known more commonly as the Book Workshop, and of course support throughout the job search. But I didn't realize that I would also meet a lot of amazing people at CPC, many of whom are now my closest friends in New York. As someone coming from the west coast knowing not a soul in New York and having no prior connections in publishing, CPC was invaluable."
  — Emily Clement, CPC '05, assistant editor, Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic)
  
  
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  "The Columbia Publishing Course is the best way to get into magazine and book publishing in New York. Publishing is all about making contacts and networking, and by the time you finish the course you’ve met dozens of the most important literary agents, editors, publishers, and writers in the business. Plus, you’ll have your own instant network with the other 100 graduates from the course who will all go on to important jobs in the industry. I’m always running into other graduates and people I met at the course and it’s immensely helpful to have that connection."
  — Lucas Wittman, CPC '08, books editor, The Daily Beast