Panel Will Discuss How Manuscripts Become Books

PEN American Center's Open Book Committee and the Radcliffe Publishing Course will present Publishing Day: What To Expect from a Career in Publishing, a seminar that will introduce college and university students to the field of publishing, and particularly address the need for greater racial and cultural diversity within the industry.

The seminar will take place Wednesday, March 6, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Cronkite Center, 6 Ash St. The event is free and open to the public. For information, call 495-8678.

Panelists represent a range of occupations within the publishing industry, and will include: Gish Jen, author of the critically acclaimed novel Typical American; Lisa Considine, editor at Avon Books in New York; John Taylor Williams, director of the Palmer & Dodge Literary Agency; Ray Shepard, corporate vice president and editor-in-chief of the School Division at Houghton Mifflin; Jess Brallier, general manager of Planet Dexter, satellite of Addison-Wesley Publishing; and Tisha Hooks, assistant editor at Beacon Press. The panel will be moderated by Lindy Hess, director of the Radcliffe Publishing Course.

Who decides what books get published? How do agents decide which writers to represent? How does a manuscript become a bound book? What do publicists and marketers do once a book is published? In addition to discussing these questions, the seminar will provide an opportunity to debate how publishing will respond to the needs of the multi-ethnic and multicultural American community that it serves. A special invitation is extended to undergraduate and graduate students of color interested in pursuing careers in publishing.

PEN is an international association of writers, including poets, playwrights, essayists, editors, and novelists.