What was your first publishing job and how did you get it?<\/b><\/p>\n
When I moved to Washington D.C. earlier this year, I applied to several publishing jobs, mostly at the associations in DC (e.g., American Psychological Association). I found my current job at a magazine<\/span> (<\/span>Tax Notes<\/span><\/i>) posting on Indeed and got an email the following day asking for a phone interview. The day after my phone interview, I got an email inviting me into the office to interview with the Executive Editor of the Commentary team. The following week, I had the job. I started\u00a0<\/span>out as an assistant acquisitions editor and was promoted in August to the associate acquisitions position.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What do you do for your current job and what\u2019s your average day like?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n As an acquisitions editor, my day-to-day changes frequently. I work on a fast-paced team with three other really amazing women and get new projects regularly. Together we handle outreach for the magazine to bring in new authors, the weekly podcast, social media, data on submissions and page hits, newsletter designs, conference outreach, copyright agreements, permissions, author bios, our student writing competition, and congratulatory gifts. I have a lot of freedom to come up with new projects as well; a few weeks ago I pitched the idea of creating awards for our contributors for the 2019 calendar year and my boss said, \u201cThat sounds great, go for it!\u201d I definitely thought that I wanted to be a content editor instead of working in acquisitions, but there is something to be said for working on the front end of submissions\u2014I\u2019m amazed at how much freedom I have at work.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Would you recommend going to grad school for someone who wants to go into publishing? Why or why not?<\/b><\/p>\n What advice would you give someone who is looking for a job in publishing?<\/b><\/p>\n There are a million options in publishing that exist outside of the Big Five. Don\u2019t limit yourself to starting off with your dream job at one of these publishers. My dream job is definitely to work in trade publishing, either in fiction or nonfiction, at a larger publishing house. Right now, I\u2019m working at a tax magazine publication outside of D.C.; the content of our publications has very little to do with my personal interests. And I love it so much here. I have a great team and a voice, I have the power to say \u201cthis is something new that our team should do\u201d and actually be heard. One speaker that came to one of my classes this semester quit his job at a large publishing house because he said that he felt like his voice got lost in the hustle of the company, that he didn\u2019t matter personally and this acknowledgement made me understand and appreciate how lucky I am in my current position. No, it\u2019s not a dream job, but I\u2019m valued and important and I have the power to make decisions and create projects and make a difference. I had no idea that I could love working at a tax magazine so much, especially with no background in the subject matter, but my advice is not to limit yourself. All of the blogs will tell you that breaking into publishing is the hardest part of working in publishing, so just know that there are many options outside of a trade publishing house.<\/span><\/p>\n Are there particular classes or experiences from your time at OWU that have proven especially helpful in your work or that you would recommend to others?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Oh, definitely. Because my love for writing is what brought me to publishing, I\u2019m going to recommend taking as many writing classes as you can. I think I took four or five, but my favorite writing class by far was with Amy Butcher. She was the gem of my time at OWU and I still try to keep up with her as much as possible. Amy has this way of making the students in her class feel understood, important, powerful even. When I first started learning about creative nonfiction as a sophomore, I felt more agency than I had ever known. I learned while sitting in her class how to speak up and say what I felt and not shy away from it. Honestly, I think that every English major could benefit from \u201cWriting Essays.\u201d The capstone advanced creative writing class is also very important.<\/span><\/p>\n Another class that I took at OWU that changed my life was \u201cPostcolonial Literature\u201d with Nancy Comorau. In my exit interview with the English Department, I made the suggestion that that class be a university graduation requirement. I learned the importance of listening to underheard voices, paying attention to power dynamics, and understanding empire and country and citizenship. I learned a thousand things in that class. Are these directly related to publishing? Not necessarily, but I think Nancy\u2019s class is an important step in literary study and Amy\u2019s class is a foundational part in understanding your own voice.<\/span><\/p>\n Also, run for the English Student Board!<\/span><\/p>\n Nicole and her classmates at GWU<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/engblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2020\/01\/IMG_1151-225x300.jpeg\")
Yes, I would, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s the right choice for everyone.\u00a0It was the right choice for me and I\u2019ve managed to meet a lot of people with similar interests, which has been a real gift after leaving my community at OWU. Some of the things I\u2019ve learned at George Washington University this semester have to do with eBook creation, design software, marketing, acquisitions, distribution, ethics in publishing, and finances. Next semester I\u2019ll be studying copyright law and the business side of publishing. I have found my graduate program fuels my day job working in acquisitions and vice versa. I don\u2019t plan to stay at my current company forever (though, who knows, I just might) and I\u2019m positive that this publishing program will make it much easier for me to learn the ropes at a new publishing company because I will have gotten an introduction into production, marketing, editorial, software, publicity\u2014all kinds of things that can fuel any position at a publishing company. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/engblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/118\/2020\/01\/IMG_4440-300x225.jpeg\")