How To Become A Publication Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a publication director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Whether it's announcing the latest book release, putting together a magazine's debut launch, or managing the agency's newest campaign, a Publication Director is constantly hard at work. But if you're great at client management and interested in the world of media releases, this position isn't as daunting as it may at first seem.

You'll be overseeing a team of publishing professionals that will be organizing launches and handling the firm's clients. Quality leadership, time management, and quick evaluation abilities will be the top skills you rely on to ensure quality performance from your team. Since you'll be the main point of contact between them and upper management, having efficient communication and problem-solving skills will do more than just keep your heads above water during crunch time.

While many companies may require a master's degree in communication, journalism, or a similar field, a candidate with a bachelor's degree but several years of experience will hold a competitive spot. Not only will having client connections and a great management background help your resume, but the experience will also be necessary to run a team that's most likely already established and familiar with each other. While making about $91,000 a year, on average, Publication Directors are the top driving factor behind a launch success.

ScorePublication DirectorUS Average

Salary

6.9

Avg. Salary $87,824

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.7

Growth Rate 8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.42%

Asian 5.05%

Black or African American 5.68%

Hispanic or Latino 8.87%

Unknown 4.65%

White 75.34%

Gender

female 55.20%

male 44.80%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress Level

8.7

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.4

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.8

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a publication director

Explore publication director education requirements

Most common publication director degrees

Bachelor's

74.7 %

Master's

13.9 %

Associate

6.1 %

Start to develop specific publication director skills

Skills	Percentages
Website Content	11.82%
Press Releases	11.02%
Government Agencies	8.66%
Public Policy Issues	6.28%
Government Relations	4.54%

Complete relevant publication director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New publication directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a publication director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real publication director resumes.

Research publication director duties and responsibilities

Manage media relations, announcements, editorial placement, and speaking opportunities the organizations.
Promote expansion of Medicaid coverage at the federal and state level.
Create & maintain SEAPOWER Facebook page, where all online articles are place, driving page views back to the website.
Serve as representative to senior management team during community events and company spokesperson for division, including to nonprofit sector clients.

Get publication director experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a publication director. The most common roles before becoming a publication director include internship, editor team lead and director.

Prepare your publication director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your publication director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a publication director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Publication Director Resume templates

Build a professional Publication Director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Publication Director resume.