Master of Arts in Publishing & Writing

Shaping the Future of Publishing

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Where does your interest in publishing lie? Do you want to shape the prose of fresh voices as an editor? Would you like to represent writers as a literary agent? Are you enthused by the potential of online publications and new media formats? Perhaps you see yourself publishing your own niche magazine. Emerson’s unique Publishing & Writing program helps you learn the professional skills and earn the experience to succeed in the ever-vital, ever-changing publishing industry.

Readers continue to flock to the page (printed and virtual) in larger numbers than ever before. The words that inspire, inform, provoke, and amaze may begin in the fertile mind of a writer, but it is the publishing professional who cultivates them, shapes them for the marketplace, and delivers their power to the world. As an editor, publicist, agent, or publisher, your career path is enlivened by art and shaped by business.

The art and the business of writing.

While other programs focus exclusively on the business and editing sides of writing, they often do not delve into literature and writing the way that Emerson’s program does. Our integration of publishing, literature, and writing cultivates your ability to respond to creativity with creativity.

We offer a curriculum where publishing and writing meet. While you will concentrate your studies in book, magazine, or electronic publishing, the program blends together an overview of the publishing industry from writing and editing, through design, production, and distribution. You will be exposed to developmental editing, line editing, and copy editing; acquisitions skills; publicity and marketing; book and magazine design and production; web design and publishing software; and professional ethics. Literature classes refine your artistry and develop your intuitive editorial eye, while writing workshops nurture your creative voice.

Work side-by-side with writers from our nationally ranked writing program.

Our faculty is made up of accomplished publishing and writing professionals. They are editors, designers, publishers, and consultants currently working in the field. They come from major industry sources such as Houghton Mifflin, Addison-Wesley, Cambridge University Press, Globe Pequot Press, Da Capo Press, Newsweek, Inc., and The Atlantic Monthly. Their expertise gives you a solid foundation in traditional publishing, as well as exposure to current market trends, including innovations in electronic publishing. 

You will also have the chance to work with our well-published MFA program faculty and our MFA students. Students in both programs make invaluable connections with each other and with faculty members through the cross-pollination of programs.