English Department: Publishing Is Just a Subgenre | Interview with Kelly McMasters

For this series I asked questions to three professors in the English department. The professors I chose were Joseph Fichtelberg, former head of the department, Karyn Valerius, current head of the department, and Kelly McMasters, head of the publishing department. These three professors gave me insight on the English and publishing departments as well as why our program has been, and still is, very important. Publishing is a part of literature that is sometimes overlooked. People only look at the final product without thinking of the process behind it.

Josie Racette: Thank you for this quick interview. My first question is why do you think Windmill is a good opportunity for students?

Kelly McMasters: I think Windmill is a good opportunity for students because so much of what happens in publishing is theoretical and historical, and this gives access to work on writing by peers outside of the institution, which I think is very important. [Students] also see the vulnerability of what being chosen to be published feels like and having that power. My hope is also in Windmill, unlike other classes, you’ll be able to see the way your different courses that you’ve already taken blend together and you’re calling on things that you learned in all of these other classes in one place in a way that maybe you haven’t experienced in the other classes before.

JR: Interesting. I really like [Windmill] because it’s a built-in internship class, so I can get experience that way.

On average, how many of your students are concentrating in publishing?

KM: It is a surprising mix. I think I see a lot of journalism students come over, and we do get a lot of them to switch if they come over soon enough. Others say, “Oh, I wish I knew more about this when it was earlier in my college career.” For a period, we had a lot of education students, and at the very beginning when I first got here, publishing studies was very, very small. We had a lot of psychology, communications, PR, teaching, [and] education, and now I would say it’s shifting so that in Windmill, [students] are primarily publishing, but in my other publishing classes, I see a real mix and that’s exciting.

JR: I think it’s exciting to see a mix, too.

Why do you think the publishing department is so important?

KM: I’m thinking of how I really feel and then what I should say…I often have students sitting in my office who wish they could be English majors, but their parents won’t let them, or they wish they could be English majors, but they feel it won’t help them after graduation. I didn’t understand that an English degree means learning how to think critically about writing, and that is perhaps the most important ability that you can walk out of the university setting with.

JR: I never really thought of my English degree that way before.

Do you think students choose publishing because of the close proximity to the city?

KM: I have no idea why people choose publishing. It seems like it’s one of two types of students. So many come in because of this program. They found it somehow because they’re obsessed with publishing and are searching for a college that could help them with that, [then] they find us since there’s so few undergraduate programs, and they’re here just for that. Then there’s the students who happen to come to Hofstra, and then someone tells them about publishing or they find it on their own and they realize, “Oh, this is home. I didn’t realize this existed. This is so exciting.” The thing that unifies both of those students, though, is just a pure love of books.

JR: I enjoy both writing the stories and editing and publishing.

What’s some advice you’d give to a publishing student at Hofstra?

KM: Often students here in this cultural moment think that publishing is broken and the printed book is about to die—all these horrible things. I would probably say that this is the most exciting time to become part of publishing because so much is being disrupted, and it needs to be disrupted, but you can be a part of it. There’s so much room for change and growth. It’s so different in such a good and beautiful way.

JR: I’m excited because I’m a junior so I won’t be entering the industry for another year, but being able to see everything change and talk about it in class makes me love it even more.

KM: That’s great!

JR: Thank you for talking to me and answering my questions today.