Gina Choe and the Publishing Industry

For this writing project, I was asked to explore the career of a professional within my desired field of work after graduation. I chose to explore the publishing industry and what a day-to-day life looked like for a professional in this field. I interviewed with Gina Choe and got her account of her first-hand experience of working in the publishing industry. In this writing sample, I tell the story of Choe and her life in the publishing field.

For Gina Choe, working in the publishing field had always been a dream she knew she would one day achieve. From reading non-stop as a child, to internship upon internship to learn the ropes of the publishing industry, Choe never stopped working hard to get to where she wanted to be. Choe’s hard work and dedication to her career offered her many opportunities, and she never stopped learning along the way.

Choe came from humble beginnings. However, her lack of monetary wealth did not mean a lack of wealth in the form of love and support. When talking about the care and love she got from her mother growing up, Choe states, “in that sense I was very privileged. But, you know, wealthy, no.” Choe knew that no matter where she went and who she became, she would always have the strong love of her family backing her up.

Choe states that she grew up surrounded by healthcare workers, a field she knew would not be a good fit for her, stating that she did not have anything in common with those around her working in the health field. While it took an abundance of student loans to be able to chase her publishing dreams, Choe knew that this was the right route for her. Choe wanted to explore her dreams, carving out her own path and place in the world. “I knew if I stayed in the same place, I would never leave, you know?”

After obtaining her undergraduate degree in French at a nearby public university in her home state California, Choe decided to follow her dreams and her heart to the publishing world. She started where she was, obtaining her first internship at a start-up fashion magazine based in Los Angeles as an editor. As her first real experience in the writing and publishing field, Choe was excited to finally be involved in the creative world. “It was really exciting to work on a product. I loved that creative process,” Choe says.

Choe states that her involvement with this magazine was exciting, but she knew she had to do more in order to fully blossom into her publishing career. Choe set her eyes on the place she knew she needed to be for publishing: the East Coast. This landed her in Boston, Massachusetts, completing a publishing certification at Emerson University. With little money and no East Coast connections, Choe set out to create her own destiny.

After completing her certification at Emerson, Choe was eager to get as much experience as she could get. Choe worked as an intern at many different publishing houses, including editorial work at Beacon Press, subsidiary work at Candlewick Press, and editing work at Pearson Education. Choe appreciated the opportunity to explore and gain experience in the different areas of publishing. “[It was a] really nice overview of different types of publishing, because Beacon is more like social justice, history. Candle press, children’s books, which I really wanted to go into. And then Pearson was textbooks,” Choe states.

While these internships offered Choe a great view of the expansiveness of the publishing industry, she states that her biggest career accomplishment was her involvement in the Murty Classical Library of India at Harvard University Press. As an academic press, Harvard Press was different from the majority of commercial presses Choe had worked at previously, working on editing academic texts and translations instead of the traditional acquisition and editing process. Here, Choe worked with different scripts of Indian text, working on turning translations into published books. “I think it was the biggest jump into the deep end of internal production for me… I was not main person on this project, but I was still involved,” Choe states. “Seeing how a new series is published was really rewarding, it was like, oh, my goodness, we’re part of a very important project, because it was bringing Indian classics to the West.” Being a part of this project brought Choe a great sense of community and accomplishment. She worked on this project until the end of her time at Harvard University Press.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Choe saw this as a sign to slow her career down. While the fast paced, constant pressure of the publishing industry was something she grew to love, Choe knew it was time to explore her career options elsewhere. Choe left her position at Harvard University Press in Boston, finding employment at an elementary school back in California, where she is still currently employed doing copywriting and editing. Where her career will take her next, Choe is unsure. Her main goal for right now is to reconnect with her love for reading, the same love that sparked her interest in publishing as a child. While she misses the fast-paced, high-pressure, creative environment of publishing, Choe states that the time away from the industry has been good for her personal growth. “I think I need to figure out if I actually want to continue, take a step back,” Choe says.

Choe offers this advice to those interested in going into the publishing industry: figure out what about publishing sparks your interest and why you want to go into it. Choe suggests finding what really excites you about publishing, and then to go into that. While Choe loves the creativity and the work within the publishing field, she is not immune to the negatives that come with a publishing job. Low wages, long hours, and high competition are all notorious traits of the industry, but Choe knows that if you really love publishing, it will be worth it. “You got to love it,” Choe says. If you love what you do and know what you want, chase after your dreams. You will always end up somewhere you really love, just like Choe. ✧

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