Over the summer, English junior Lindsey Ferris realized there were no organized resources to connect students with a career in the publishing industry. So, she decided to start her own student organization.  

Ferris said she co-founded The Publishing Connection to expose students to a career in the industry and bridge the gap between resources and interested students. The new organization held its first meeting Sunday in the Union, where about 25 students discussed internship and career goals.

“We’re all interested in publishing, but we don’t really know anything about publishing,” said Ferris, the organization’s co-president. “The whole point of (The Publishing Connection) is to open up the door to that and see what positions and careers are possible for us after graduation.”

Ferris said she worked with English sophomore Sloane Smith to start the organization and gather resources for students interested in publishing. The Publishing Connection’s Facebook page and the English department’s newsletter promoted the meeting. 

“Already I’ve learned so much about how to interact and grab people’s attention and try to get more people to come in,” Ferris said.

Ferris said the organization’s structure is based on a producing organization in Houston that provides similar resources and connections for people seeking careers in publishing.

“They do the same thing where they meet together and talk about freelance opportunities,” Ferris said. “I figured we could do that but with internships and other college opportunities.”

Students who attended the meeting learned about the organization’s goals, asked questions and provided feedback about what they would like to get out of the organization. Ferris said The Publishing Connection has already recruited guest speakers for future meetings, including creative writing professors who are also published authors. 

“People who are interested in publishing tend to keep it to themselves,” English sophomore Livian Green said. 

Green, who said she is in charge of communications for the organization, said she knows many people who are interested in publishing but do not know how to get started in the field. Ferris said the group hopes to hold two meetings each month, one for students to discuss and ask questions among themselves and one to feature guest speakers from the industry.

Since the organization has started, Smith said there has been a lot of student interest.

“So many people gave us positive feedback and were sending us their emails,” Smith said. 

Editor's Note: Lindsey Ferris previously worked at the Texan as a Life & Arts reporter.