Certificate in Literary Editing and Publishing

The Certificate in Literary Editing and Publishing offers training in editing, copyediting, selection standards, publishing procedures, graphics, printing technologies, and marketing and distribution of literature.

The U.S. Department of Labor reports that demand for writers and editors is expected to increase at a rate of 10 percent through the year 2016. “Competition is expected for writing and editing jobs because many people with the appropriate training and talent are attracted to the occupation.” (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos089.htm).

The certificate is an interdisciplinary, 25-unit program. Founded in 1984, the program has certified more than 120 students. Designed to provide professional training and career-oriented education to students in English and other areas of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, it also attracts majors in journalism, graphic arts, public relations, and other disciplines.  Students learn the skills they need to begin successful careers in publishing by working on publications that demand professional standards and rigorous deadlines.

Students edit and produce Watershed, CSU, Chico's literary magazine, and work with creative writing students to produce literary chapbooks. They also serve as editorial assistants for Flume Press, the chapbook press affiliated with the certificate program, and work as interns with various publishers, including book publishers Dustbooks, Travelers' Tales, Paton Press, and Flume Press and magazine publishers such as Ride, Synthesis, Inside Out, and Upstate Business Journal.

To see a list of careers our graduates have found, go to the Frequently Asked Questions page.

The Certificate in Literary Editing and Publishing program won a High-Quality Learning Environment grant in 2002 for its effective student-focused courses and projects.

 
Certificate Program Faculty

Casey Huff, co-founder, editor/publisher of Flume Press, co-founder of Trial Impression literary magazine, and currently university publications editor and certificate program coordinator.

Paul Eggers, fiction writer, author of Saviors, a novel, and How the Water Feels, a collection of short stories. Former technical editor at Boeing and assistant editor at Prairie Schooner magazine.

Beth Spencer, founder and publisher of Bear Star Press, poet, and freelance writer and designer.

Ellen Walker, former editor at Dustbooks publishers, managing editor of The Small Press Review, and co-editor of The International Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses; founder of the literary editing certificate program. 

 
Practical Experience

Several active and professional projects are an integral part of the program. Watershed, CSU, Chico's literary magazine, is published twice a year, edited and produced by students in the program. In 1995, Watershed won the first ANNIE award (from the Chico Arts Council) for literary achievement. It is currently in its 30th year of continuous publication.

Students in the Editing Manuscripts for Publication course regularly edit materials scheduled for publication, including manuscripts for Naturegraph Publishers, Inc. and articles for Chico Statements, the university magazine, and other on-campus publications. 

Student interns from the program have served as editors of the Accounting Journal, Impulse (CSU, Chico's Communication Design department), The Chico Historian (CSU, Chico History journal), and Studium (CSU, Chico Political Science journal). Interns have served in a variety of capacities with organizations such as the Chico Peace and Justice Center and the Smithsonian Institution, and commercial magazines and newspapers (The Orion, The Chico News and Review, Quality Digest, Magical Blend, The Synthesis, Upstate Business Journal, the Women's Center Newsletter) and publishers (Moon Publications—now Avalon Books, Prima Publishing, Dustbooks Publishers, Inc., Paton Press, and Travelers' Tales), as well as for University Publications at CSU, Chico.

 
Career Preparation

Faculty regularly assist certificate students in searching for careers in publishing and preparing for job interviews. Every spring, faculty present a workshop in writing resumes and cover letters and preparing for interviews for jobs in publishing.  Increasingly, graduates of the program network to provide opportunities to each other. Graduates in the publishing industry regularly visit campus to share their experience and advice with curent students. The student Editing Club also organizes trips to San Francisco Bay Area publishers.

 
Graduates in Publishing

Graduates of the program have found editorial positions with Matthew Binder, Macmillan, Book-of-the-Month Club, Random House, Hippocrates, Computer World, Basic Books, Prima Publishing/Random House, Simon & Schuster, Oxford University Press, HarperCollins, among others. They have been hired at nonprofit organizations such as San Jose's Tech Museum of Innovation, the Center for Economic Development in Chico, and the Public Library of Science, and they have launched careers as freelance copyeditors. Graduates have also founded their own presses and magazines: The Hawk's Eye, a grant-supported literary magazine made by 7th graders in Colusa; Yarrowway Mountain Press, and Northern Contours.  To see a list of careers our graduates have found, go to the Frequently Asked Questions page.

 
Program Coordinator

If you have any questions, please contact

Casey Huff
Office: Taylor Hall 107C
Phone: 530-898-5983
E-mail: chuff@csuchico.edu

Department of English
CSU, Chico
400 W. First St.
Chico, CA 95929-0830