Educational Publishing

Find educational publishers seeking your writing and educational expertise
By Lisa J. Jackson, Writer / Editor Educational publishing is a competitive, specialized field generally requiring a degree or credentialing in the field you choose to write in. Educational publishing companies seek professional writers and educators who are able to create original content in such general fields of study such as reading, math, science, art, music, history, language arts, and social studies.

Creative educational content developers in all possible topics for students at all stages of education, preK through university-level, in traditional and non-traditional classroom environments, are needed by publishers of educational materials to produce:

1. Workbooks, textbooks, parents' guides, teachers' guides, ancillaries, and library reference volumes

2. Test materials such as multiple-choice test items, open-ended test items, test-prep books, and online test-prep lessons

3. Original fiction, non-fiction and poetry

Submit your work to an educational publishing service without an agent

Submitting work directly to a large publisher of educational books is difficult without agent assistance, however there are many educational publishing services, who work with the big publishers, who seek educational content writers and developers.
Try:  Pearson is a global leader in educational publishing for learners of all ages. They seek innovative content developers who meet their high quality standards. Symmetry Creative Production assists the K-12 educational publishing community with its full-service development of high-quality teacher and student materials.

Work with established educational publishing firms

The majority of publishers focused on the education field have longevity and a solid history of producing quality materials to meet the needs of the student, teacher, and parent seeking education. Finding a new firm is difficult unless you are already established and networked into the field.
Try:  Quarasan has a history with providing content to leading educational publishing companies and has in-house as well as freelance positions available. Educational publishing house Forever Learning develops multi-sensory interactive programs to aid teachers in engaging students with hands-on instruction.

Use your specialized expertise with a niched educational publishing group

The educational publishing industry is immense in order to cover the educational consumer market. Each publisher seeks to develop and deliver the best, most creative and engaging educational tools to students, teachers and parents. Some education publishing firms choose to specialize in subject matter while others remain general and cover many subjects of learning.
Try:  Behrman House specializes in educational material for the Jewish religious classroom and welcomes submissions on any subject of a Jewish nature. ABC-CLIO is focused on referent and educational products in the areas of history and social studies for the university and secondary school level of student.

• Developing content for educational publishers is a lucrative career and can last longer than a typical corporate job if you have the experience needed and ingenuity to stay on top of trends and new developments in education.