I Went To The Denver Publishing Institute!

This summer has been one to remember. I didn’t do any swimming or sunbathing, though. Instead I found myself in a lecture hall at the University of Denver with roughly eighty other book lovers who want to work in publishing. It was a surreal experience to finally be there after months of anticipation.

For four weeks this summer I attended the Denver Publishing Institute (DPI) at the University of Denver. It’s a month-long graduate-level course that covers the entire publishing process: from acquisition all the way to publication (and beyond). There are lectures, workshops, amazing guest speakers, and even a field trip to a few publisher offices.

On the rainy afternoon of August 9, 2024, the DPI class of 2024 graduated!

I was part of the 49th graduating class of the program. I must admit I’m a little jealous of next year’s students who get to celebrate as the DPI’s 50th annual class. I was so close! But honestly, this year was the perfect time for me to take part in this program.

Let’s back up for a minute. When I decided to pursue a degree in English, I had this perfect picture in my head of what my career would look like. I had always loved books, and no other career really made sense to me. Book publishing just felt right. Though I had no idea how I would get into the industry. When graduation was still far off, I had the luxury of simply believing I would figure it all out when the time came.

Like many others, I’ll never know how things would have gone without a pandemic changing life as I knew it. But it did. On May 8th, 2020, it was finally the day I had been looking forward to. Except there was no graduation ceremony. I actually don’t remember what I did that day, but I know I was at home along with the rest of the world. Moving on without the closure that a graduation ceremony provides was strange.

This accomplishment I had dreamed of for years was suddenly not so important compared to all that was happening in the world. (Not that it was ever more important than world events…you know what I mean.) I wasn’t sure what to do next. I wasn’t sure what was even possible in this new world, this “new normal” that everyone was calling it.

Now that any sense of normalcy had gone out of the window, it seemed that my chances of finding work in publishing followed suit. After months of searching, applying, and networking, I decided to try freelance writing. I knew I needed to prove myself as a good writer to become an editor one day, anyway. To edit well, you must first know how to write well.

During the next few years, I pushed down my publishing dreams and focused on writing. I took an online copywriting course, opened an LLC, created a website, and started working on projects. I practiced saying yes to opportunities and trying new things. I wrote social media captions, email sequences, and podcast show notes for a social media marketing agency. I wrote for a few food bloggers. I worked on SEO and wrote blogs for a bank. I wrote book press releases for a PR company (which was unsurprisingly my favorite since it involved books).

Each project helped me grow as a writer and as a freelancer. I learned how to communicate with clients, organize project work, and deliver on each client’s schedule. I really did learn a lot.

During this time, my husband went back to school for his MBA. He earned his degree after a year and a half of hard work. Next he landed his dream job. I could not have been a more proud wife after walking with him through that time and seeing him achieve his goals — often going above and beyond expectations because that’s just who he is.

Now that he had his dream job and I had watched him walk the stage twice, I reflected on what I had accomplished since college. Sure, I had become a better writer, but I didn’t feel any closer to my original goal of helping authors develop and polish their books.

I guess I felt disappointed in myself, in the way things had gone. I thought back to my last year of college, when I researched publishing programs to attend after graduation. It didn’t seem like that would be possible for me now. We had student loans to pay and I didn’t feel brave enough to go to any of these programs now.

But my husband told me he wanted to support my dreams as much as I supported his. So I did a search immediately recognized the Denver Publishing Institute. I remembered looking at this same program when I was still in college and everything seemed possible. The website said it was a four-week program that was held at the university every summer. I immediately said, “I can’t do that.” By this point I had been out of school for a few years, gotten used to staying in my comfort zone, and I couldn’t imagine actually going to Denver for a month to do this program with eighty strangers. After some thought, I had to admit that it seemed like the exact next step I needed to take if I wanted to become an editor.

Well, you already know what happened next. As much as I wanted to break into the industry, I also simply wanted to prove to myself that I could do something new, something challenging. So I applied in December 2023, hoping confidence would follow the action.

One of many weekend visits to Denver's beloved Tattered Cover

It was amazing just how quickly July 2024 came, and suddenly I was at the University of Denver watching the program unfold in front of me. We got to hear from over fifty guest speakers who came from all over the country and industry. Our keynote address was presented by none other than the president of Penguin Publishing Group (and yes, we were all completely starstruck). 

The editing workshop took up the first two weeks, and it was a glorious two weeks. We read a manuscript and wrote a reader’s report about it. We also got to practice edit the first chapter of a different manuscript. So many amazing editorial people came to speak to us. I appreciated the range of experiences represented in the program. We had some guests from the big five publishers, some from midsize publishers, and some freelancers.

Week three was the marketing workshop, which I was a bit nervous for. I’m an editorial gal through and through (the first two weeks affirmed that for me) so I wasn’t sure how I would find an entire week about marketing. I have to say, it was incredibly interesting and I learned so much. I’m so glad the program covered each area, because we were exposed everything, not just the things we already knew we liked. During this week we got to write a press release and create an entire marketing campaign for an upcoming title.

The final week flew by, with a few lectures about sales, visits from independent publishers, a field trip to the Hachette Book Group and Shambhala Publications offices in Boulder, and mock interviews. Then it was over, and I could hardly believe it.

This program meant so much to me. I’m thankful for the people I met, the work I completed, and the knowledge I gained. I’m so proud to be a DPI alumni.

What’s next, you ask? I’m currently accepting clients for this fall! To learn more about my editing services, click below. If you’re interested or have any questions, fill out the contact form on that page and I’ll get back to you soon!