What is the job title for someone at a publishing company who reads prospective novels?

It's called "Junior Editor."

They hire college students to do it.

Michele is right - it's a job for an intern. It's not something to aspire to - rather, it's a stepping stone on the way to something better.

Think of the worst novel you've ever read. Now consider that, bad as it was, it was still good enough to get past the intern and the editor and everybody else who had to agree it was worth publishing. Now consider that most of the books that don't get published are even worse than that. Now consider that an intern had to read those books to decide they weren't good enough (or the first few chapters, or the first few pages, anyway). Now consider that, on average, publishers who still accept unsolicited manuscripts (those not represented by a literary agent) receive a hundred manuscripts for every one that they eventually publish.

If the thought of having to read all that crap doesn't have you fearing for your sanity, then there's something wrong with you, and you should seek professional help immediately. On the other hand, if the slush pile is being read by mad interns, that would definitely explain how certain recent novels got published...

Jessi, once upon a time publishers employed First Readers, whose jobs were pretty literal. They were the first people at the publishing house to read all or part of the manuscripts which came in, and only if they passed it upward did it ever reach anybody in Acquisitions, where they employed Second Readers who still weren't acquisition editors. But those days are over. Now, most publishers use literary agents to screen all but the most promising manuscripts. Those which come in after being requested from agents go directly to an acquisitions editor. Those which come in unrequested go right to the trash. (That's an "unsolicited manuscript.")

Intern in charge of the Slush Pile

~Dr. B.~

editor

i would think they are an editor!!