The Best Publishing Companies to Work for

BoSacks Speaks Out: The Best Publishing Companies to Work For



This is going to be great fun. I encourage everybody to read Noelle's article below and fill out the publishing questionnaire.



My, oh my, the stories I could tell. I'm sure we've all had similar experiences and perspectives. For me, I make no bones about it; I have worked for some of the worst, craziest, most self-absorbed, nut cases in the universe. I have also had the great pleasure to work for and with the best, most intelligent, giving and supportive supervisors the planet and the world of publishing has ever produced. So, at the end of the day, or at least at the end of the zenith of a long career, I have attained tremendous perspective of the do's and the don't-ever's in corporate publishing. Someday I intend to write a book of these experiences titled, "Are those guy's idiots or is it just me?"



Please read below and fill in your own Dickensian tales.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness . . . it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair . . .

Charles Dickens



The Best Publishing Companies to Work for



Noelle Skodzinski



Whenever I saw Fortune's annual list of "Best Companies to Work For" come out, I always wished there was such a list for the publishing industry. Many times, when perusing the job market, I knew next to nothing about many companies, and if I didn't know anyone at the company, I'd basically be taking my chances working there. My desire for some guidance in this area grew after working at one company that had a history of extremely high turnover (and some crazy stories to go along with it) and whose publishers had a horrible reputation (unbeknownst to me). My first week there was one of the strangest weeks of my life, with someone I would very realistically compare to "Mommy Dearest" as one of my bosses. Good times, indeed . . . but how nice it would have been to have a list of GOOD companies to work for.



Anyway, little did I know then that at some point in my career I would be the editor of a magazine for the publishing industry and that I would have the opportunity to create a list of the "Best Publishing Companies to Work For." I am so excited to announce that Publishing Executive is creating such a list--the first ever of its kind-and we will publish the results in our October issue.



I have been excited all year long about this project, and the excitement is just building as it gets underway and I see the number of responses we're getting. The project has been a bit of a bear, and it makes me appreciate the work that goes into Fortune's list all the more. But, we're using an outside research company (Accelara) that has been great in providing direction and setting everything up, including the rating system and very specific survey questions.



Invites to Publishing Executive readers started going out this week. If you didn't receive one or just didn't get a chance to fill it out yet, you can go to http://PubExec.AccelaraResearch.com to participate. In addition to contributing to this major publishing industry resource and making it all the more useful to everyone in the industry, there are some awesome prizes (a GPS system, an iPhone, a BlackBerry, among others) you can win by participating. And, as someone in the industry who has been waiting for this list for a long time, I really appreciate your input.