I remember going to Scholastic book fairs and being so giddy about the selections offered and hoping someday to have my name in one of those books. Now, as a college student, I’ve found a love for the industry which gave me my favorite escape route. Recently, I had a chance to speak with a family friend, Tara Welty, who has worked with Scholastic and the publishing industry for 17 and 20 years respectively!
Her Campus (HC): Tell us a bit about yourself and your current position at Scholastic.
Tara Welty (TW): I’m currently the senior vice president of Teaching Solutions at Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company. My team and I produce resources that support teachers in the classroom. These resources include a wide range of downloadable lessons and skills sheets, little books to help kids learn to read and professional books authored by esteemed literacy experts. We also create tools to help families with home learning, such as workbooks, flashcards and learning games. In my role, I oversee the editorial, design and production teams, who create these resources, as well as the sales team who brings these offerings to retail.
HC: How did you get involved in the publishing industry? What led you to Scholastic?
TW: Education runs in my family. My mom is a retired teacher, my sister is a high school teacher and my aunt is a retired school librarian. So naturally, I ran in another direction—I went to school to become a playwright! As fate would have it, I scored an entry-level job out of college editing social studies textbooks. Making history come alive through storytelling aligned nicely with my playwriting skills. I loved it, but I wanted to do more than textbooks. Scholastic was at the top of my list when I thought of my dream company. So I set my intention on working there and found a way in! That was back in 2005.
HC: So, your current position isn’t your entry-level position. How did you progress through your positions to get to where you are now?
TW: My first job at Scholastic involved creating and mailing free resources to teachers. It was a lot of fun, but I was also in my early 20s and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I left that role after two years to pursue freelance writing. I wrote a few nonfiction books for kids and did other freelance assignments. I loved it, but freelancing can be lonely. Then a former colleague at Scholastic reached out and asked if I would be interested in an in-house freelance assignment editing a magazine for middle school kids while the editor was on maternity leave. That was in 2009. I snapped that up and loved it! I even got to write Readers’ Theater plays, so that playwriting degree paid off. After six months, the gig ended. Fortunately, I had done a good job and received a staff position editing Scholastic ART, an art history magazine. It was a dream job. From there, I became editor-in-chief of Scholastic Teacher magazine. That allowed me to elevate teacher voices, which is my passion. Teachers have the best ideas, and they know what we need to do to improve education. We just need to listen to them. Out of that experience came the opportunity to run our teacher publishing business. I’m lucky that I have had leaders and mentors who were willing to give me a chance to grow and try new things, even if I didn’t quite have the experience yet. That has allowed me to thrive.
HC: What is your favorite part about working with Scholastic?
TW: The mission. We help kids learn to read and love to read. When I wake up in the morning, I know I will do good in the world. And I strive to do that every day by making the highest quality products to support teachers and kids.
HC: What’s the most exciting project you’ve worked on?
TW: I’ve gotten to do some amazing things. Earlier in my career, I interviewed Tim Burton, Neil Gaiman and Eric Carle, to name a few. I visited artist studios, including William Wegman, best known for his photographs of Weimaraner dogs (and I got to pet the pups!) I’ve been to the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum after hours to film videos with curators of major shows. These days, I get to empower my team members so that they can do incredible things. I’m most proud of a new book set coming out in June called Our Voices. It features ten multicultural books for young readers written and illustrated by creators of the same cultural backgrounds. One of the authors is on my editorial staff, and her story is wonderful. It is so exciting to see a project like that come together.
HC: What are your favorite books?
TW: This is a tough one!
For picture book: All Because You Matter by Tami Charles.
Middle Grade: When the World Turned Upside Down by K. Ibura.
Young Adult: After all these years, I still love The Hunger Games trilogy.
Adult: Anything by Ann Patchett. I hope to visit her bookstore, Parnassus Books, in Nashville one day.
And if I could plug a professional book for educators? Cultivating Genius by Gholdy Muhammad. That book will change the world.
HC: Lastly, what advice do you have for people looking to break into the publishing industry?
TW: Learn as much as you can about it. Lots of generous people in the industry share ideas and tips on social media. Network. And apply! We need young, passionate and diverse voices to bring new perspectives into our work.
Inspiring women inspire women, and I can’t think of anyone else who is more inspiring to me than Tara. The publishing industry can be a scary shark to encounter, but it’s so worthwhile to dive into. I’m so thankful to Scholastic for being one of the reasons I love reading so much and why joining the publishing industry has been a dream I wish to pursue.
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