Going into my Princeternship, I expected it to be a valuable experience, and offer me a glimpse into the real world of academic publishing. Fortunately, this is exactly what happened. I shadowed the Executive Editor of Rutgers University Press, Dana Dreibelbis ’78, for a day. From the start he made me feel welcome with his enthusiasm for publishing and his openness.

The day began with introductions and a discussion of what my interests were about publishing. I wanted to simply get exposed to as much as I could about publishing. Thus, Dana gave me background knowledge about the academic publishing business, showed me materials – including seasonal catalogs of the books Rutgers University Press has published –  and shared his experiences in the field. He also gave me one of his client’s sample manuscripts to look at—this gave me an insider’s look into one of the stages of the publishing business.

Another exciting part of the day was when we had the chance to sit in on a typical publisher’s meeting with an author—something I would not have been able to witness if it weren’t for this opportunity. By the end of the day, I was able to meet with one of Dana’s colleagues and had the opportunity to hear Dana’s advice about going into publishing right after graduation.

I’d like to thank Dana for teaching me about the nature of the publishing business and his own work, as well as showing me around. This opportunity has made me realize that publishing is not exactly how I envisioned, but is something I’d like to consider in the future.