Columbia Publishing Course 2007

.:About Me:.

vital statistics

Name: Ray Wong

Age: 23

Hometown: Edison, New Jersey

Occupation: Teacher & Instructor (Progress Learning Center)

School: Kean University/Middlesex County College

Concentrations: English – Writing/Computer Science

personal bio

I come from a small but busy town in central New Jersey named after none other than Thomas Alva Edison. Despite what you might think, it’s not such an old-timey place; it’s got personality here and there amid the suburban jungle, but whatever that adds to its persona, it’s still lacking some luster. In a place like this, it was hard to decided what I wanted to do with my life. Luckily, I met some helpful people along the way. I was 18 and in my second year at Middlesex County College when I decided I was through with Computer Science. That year, a great English professor of mine, Professor Class (aptly named), convinced me that I had some sort of writing skill. It was all beyond me, but I was so tired of staring at those endless lines of computer code that I was ready for a fresh start.

The next year I transfered to Kean University, a school that was once a teacher’s college. While I had no intention of becoming a teacher (though, I eventually became one anyway), I took full advantage of their fantastic English programs, which include concentrations on writing or teaching. The choice was obvious for me. There at Kean, I met Dr. James A. Connor, perhaps the most fascinating individual I’ve ever known. Under his tutelage, I grew confident as a teacher, a writer and a traveler. I subsequently went on to study magic, religion and faith in Prague, where I made friends with Kevin Wright, fellow Kean student, prolific writer, and one hell of an editor. After returning to the humdrum of New Jersey, we set upon establishing a writers’ guild for our university; thus was born Kean University’s Writers’ Workshop.

For my final semester at Kean, I made a decision that would turn my life in yet another direction. Through Dr. Connor, I went to intern for literary agent Cathy Hemming at LevelFiveMedia in New York. Cathy Hemming is something else; she’s dedicated, determined, decisive, subtle, personable and warm all at the same time. Working for her was a great learning experience that made me slow down my early writing career and begin pursuing a life in publishing. My career goals thenceforth were set, and that brings me to the here and now – Summer 2007.

CPC bio

Raymond Wong came from a traditional Chinese household in New Jersey, where tending to family needs always took precedence over joining his friends at the local tire-park. Memories of these times later inspired him to pursue English as a course of study at Kean University with a concentration on writing that helped him to explore his heritage. He received a scholarship to study in Prague, where he explored ancient magic, religions and the Islamic faith. During his final year at Kean, he completed an internship as an agent’s assistant at Level Five Media in New York and co-founded Kean University’s Writers’ Workshop.

.:About CPC:.

official introduction

Welcome to the Columbia Publishing Course, the shortest graduate school in the country. It would take you a year in an entry-level position in publishing to learn what you will learn in six-weeks here, and ten years to meet all the people you will meet. For almost sixty years, the course has been training young men and women for careers as editors, literary agents, publishers, designers, publicists, and more. Graduates can be found in every kind of job, at major magazines and publishing houses across the nation. -from the official website

from my experience

I could sum the course up in three words: 1) Intense, 2) inspiring and 3) defining. During the workshops, you will need to work consistently and non-stop through an entire week, possibly into the wee hours of the morning. When they say that you’ll learn in six weeks what would normally take a year to understand, they’re aren’t kidding; and after the course is finished, you will truly feel as if you had at least a year’s worth of publishing experience under your belt. Everything from the School of Journalism building to the influential figures that come to speak creates an all-encompassing environment that helps to make the experience real.

The director of the Columbia Publishing Course (formerly called the Radcliffe Publishing Course) is the lovely and amazing Lindy Hess. She, along with Assistant Director Susan Caplan and staff (whose names I just can’t leave out: Josh, Jeanne and Jocelyn), work constantly and without rest to bring the course and its students to their potential. It’s all set in a (relatively) quiet corner of the Upper West Side, New York, down a stretch of Broadway filled with interesting little shops and unique places to eat. (If you get a chance, try Koronet Pizzeria where they have pizza pies the size of a bus wheel!)