Publishing

[MyBabyBoyBlue]

Hi all
I am early forties, used to be a lawyer but took a five year career break to look after the kids while they were young. Now youngest is about to start school I want to go back to work but not in the legal field - I love books and always wanted to get into publishing but sort of fell into law and enjoyed it. I think I have good transferable skills with drafting and editing and am thinking about becoming a literary agent with my experience of drafting and negotiating contracts perhaps moving in handy - how realistic do you think this is?

I’m very conscious of the five year break from the workplace on top of no previous publishing experience and wondering whether I should look at some sort of qualification to show I am serious?

TIA

It’s a good question …

Random googling suggests that publishing is still quite an old fashioned occupation, where personal contacts and working one’s way up are still viable ways of forging a career. Anything beyond a first degree seems entirely optional.

You’ve probably already looked at things like this:

targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/creative-arts-media-and-design/postgraduate-qualifications-publishing-are

I’d have said you’re in a good position (status-wise!) to contact publishing professionals directly - maybe via LinkedIn - to ask their opinion on your best route.

If you want to be a literary agent, the thing you will most need is an encyclopedic knowledge of all the book market: the genres that are hot, what publishers are looking for, what will sell, and what the market is already saturated with.

Why not follow a couple of agents on Twitter, listen to them, build a relationship with them, ask them some questions?

There’ll be postgrad degrees in publishing. I don’t know where you’re based but UCLAN run one and they run their own publishing house too I think.

I guess the question isn’t ‘Do postgraduate degrees in Publishing exist?’ which is an easy thing for someone with the OP’s skill set to research, but rather ‘Does a former lawyer need a postgraduate degree in Publishing in order to switch careers successfully?’

With a 5 year career break I figure the postgrad gives confidence too.
Just a suggestion. Obviously can be ignored.