Nicole Wayland: Freelance Copyeditor & Proofreader

Photo courtesy of Fairfield Grace Photography

Name: Nicole Wayland

Age: 29

College & Majors/Minors: Cornell University, B.S. in Communication

Current Location: Washington, DC

Current Form of Employment: Freelance Copyeditor/Proofreader at Ford Editing

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I am a freelance copyeditor/proofreader and operator of Ford Editing. As a freelancer, I have the luxury of working anywhere as long as I have my laptop and an Internet connection, but I spend most of my time working from my cozy corner apartment just north of Washington, DC. I am very passionate about what I do, and I love that I am always learning something new. I edit for several publishers (both academic and trade), as well as businesses and individual authors. I also have a wellness blog called Healthy Happy Sound that I update weekly.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

After graduation, I moved to Buffalo, NY. I knew the chances of finding a publishing job (my dream career) immediately were pretty slim, so I took a waitressing job while I searched. At the restaurant, I worked with over one hundred servers, bartenders, cooks, and managers, so I was able to network, learn about the area, and ask around for leads on publishing work. I also looked online. I signed up for several job announcement websites and scanned pages upon pages for the perfect position.

About six months after relocating, I found a job posting for an editorial assistant at an academic press (on Craigslist of all places). Although initially I didn’t see myself in academic publishing, I knew the position would give me the experience I needed to get a start in the field. I interviewed over the phone a few times and then in person, and by the beginning of March 2008, I was working in my dream field. I knew I wanted to work in publishing since I wrote my entrance essay for Cornell, and it had become a reality.

I worked at the press for just about three years before relocating to Washington, DC, in 2011. After arriving in DC, I took a position at Cornell University’s Washington DC semester program. Working for Cornell felt like home, and part of the job required writing and editing, so I thought it would be a good fit, at least until I got my bearings in a new city. But it didn’t take long for me to realize how much I missed the publishing world. I started to take a few editing projects in my spare time (my commute to DC alone provided over two hours per day for editing), and it picked up rather quickly. Within a few short months, I had to make a choice—my office job or freelancing. I took the leap to full-time freelancing in October 2012 (with the full support of my coworkers at Cornell and a goodbye/good luck card from all the students that semester) and haven’t looked back.

Photo courtesy of Fairfield Grace Photography

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

My time at the press (my first job out of college) undeniably set me up for my current freelance position. Because the company was relatively new and small, the team was very close. I worked alongside the director of the press on a daily basis and learned a lot from her. I started as an editorial assistant, then moved to assistant editorial manager, and then finished my time there in the publications manager post. I learned about operations, management, marketing, design, human resources, purchasing and sales, and customer service. I also traveled to represent the company at several conferences throughout the year. Having the responsibility of wearing many hats while at the press gave me the experience needed to operate my own business, and I’m still learning every day.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

Unfortunately, I didn’t do as much preparing as I wish I had (I feel like that’s a common theme among most college graduates). Because I paid for college on my own, I was constantly working to pay for my car, books, and other bills, which didn’t leave a lot of time for clubs, studying abroad, or networking. My primary focus was on getting the best grades I could while working to pay for school, a balancing act that turned out to be very helpful in strengthening my organizational and time management skills.

That being said, I do remember taking a class on résumé and cover letter writing, which I found very helpful when applying for jobs after graduation. I was told by the director of the press I worked for that my cover letter really stood out to her—it put me on the list of top contenders and eventually helped me land the job. 

I think my choice of school also helped to prepare me for post-grad life. Being at Cornell showed me that you have to work hard for what you want. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty. . . . I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” I worked very hard to do well there, and that work ethic is something I’ve carried with me.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

First, as a student, talk to your university career center. Tell them what you would like to do with your degree, and they can tell you if you’re on the right track. Once you’ve confirmed that your degree program aligns with your career goals, do everything you can to boost your knowledge and experience in that field. Take internships, talk to professors, and, when given the choice, tailor your classes to bolster your résumé (i.e., put some thought into elective classes and try to get the most out of them). The sooner you test the waters, the sooner you will know if what you’re doing is what you want to do when you get out of school.

Be true to yourself. If you want to be a writer (or one of the many other careers you can have with an English degree), do it regardless of what others think. In the end, you are the one who has to be passionate about and love what you do. You can be successful at anything if you work hard. I have been teased for getting a degree in communication (some argue that it’s a useless major), and now I own my own business. I absolutely love what I do, and I am happy that I stood up for what I wanted and didn’t listen to the naysayers.

Be patient and don’t give up. I really believe that we make our own luck. Good things happen to those who are willing to work hard and seize opportunities. As a freelancer, I have contacted publishers in the past who either didn’t need help at the time or just plain weren’t interested who have been delighted to add me to their roster six months later. The key is to be patient and do what you can to build your portfolio in the meantime.

Visit Nicole Wayland's business website, FordEditing.com and check out her blog, Healthy Happy Sound. Follow her business on Facebook and Twitter and connect with Nicole on LinkedIn. 

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READ MORE:

Erik Hanberg: Self-Employed/Writer

Melissa Kravitz: Freelance Writer

Ashley Sapp: Freelance Writer/Editor & Administrative Coordinator

Amy Braunschweiger: Web Communications Manager @ Human Rights Watch

Name: Amy Braunschweiger

Age: 39

College & Majors/Minors: English and German major/European studies minor

Current Location: NYC

Current Form of Employment: Web Communications Manager at Human Rights Watch

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I work at Human Rights Watch as their web communications manager–I basically work as their feature writer, do a lot of editing, and I’m part of a team that oversees strategy and execution for all our digital properties, including our website, social media, e-newsletters, other digital projects, etc. What I do is storytelling, often using words together with photos and video. I work with people who are lawyers and human rights experts, so a lot of what I do is translate what I’m told or what I read from political/legalese into language that allows a piece to live and breathe. The information was already there, it was just buried.

I’ve had so many writing and editing jobs I can’t even count, as I was a freelancer for ages.

Taxi Confidential: Life, Death and 3 a.m. Revelations in New York City Cabs

By Amy Braunschweiger

• Author: Wrote the book Taxi Confidential: Life, Death and 3 a.m. Revelations in New York City Cabs.
• Freelance article writer: Had fun, fabulous articles published in awesome places like the New York Times, New York magazine, Worth, etc. At the Village Voice I lead a team of writers to create 3,000 or so nightlife listings/reviews.
• Freelance less-sexy writer: Had less fun but also sometimes interesting pieces published in steady-paying places like trade magazines for financial professionals, nonprofit newsletters, for investment banks, random financial sites, etc.
• Ghost writer: Helped ghost write an encyclopedia of American food and wine. (It was never published as the head writer entered something of a downward spiral.)
• Other odd jobs/gigs that my writing and reporting skills lead to as a freelancer: Had a gig doing background checks on corporate executives (reporting skills); Market research for an arm of Morgan Stanley (interviewing skills); researching how to build schools in Vietnam for a nonprofit (research skills).
• My only other fulltime job: Was a financial reporter at Dow Jones writing mostly breaking news stories. My feature stories (3% of the job) often made it into the Wall Street Journal. 
• Stringer at Ohio’s Toledo City Paper: Wrote about nightlife, culture and fun.
• International: I’ve also had a few fellowships that have allowed me to live in Germany and work at German-language publications. I’m not a native speaker, just lucky and strong-willed.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different). 

I was in my early 20s when I came home to Toledo, Ohio, from a fellowship I had in Germany. I didn’t consider myself a journalist, but I really enjoyed participating in, and writing about, nightlife and the arts (at my college paper, at my internship as an MTV stringer covering Cincinnati’s music scene, at my fellowship in Leipzig, Germany where I worked at their city magazine). But I thought that I was now an adult, and adults wrote about politics and finance, so I should get a job writing about one of those two things. So I lived with my folks, waitressed, drove my mom’s car and spent months applying to “serious” jobs. Somewhere in there, I got dumped, too. It was not a happy time.

My first real full-time job was at Dow Jones Newswires, and getting hired there was crazy. I applied for it, and then called me, did a phone interview, and then asked me if I’d take a 4-hour test in their Detroit Wall Street Journal bureau (Dow Jones also owns the WSJ). I asked them for any tips, and they said brush up on your math, know how to calculate percentages. I did, drove the hour to Detroit, and took the test. It took me an extra hour, but it really wasn’t that bad. They were mostly trying to judge how logical you were—do you compare apples to apples if we give you apples, oranges and bananas? That type of thing. I easily calculated all the answers in the math section, but had I not asked about what to study ahead of time, I would have winged that entire section, and the results could have been grim. Math was never my best subject (understatement). Just as an fyi.

Then Dow Jones let me know that I passed the test and asked me to come in for a 3-day work trial in Jersey City, where they were based. I had to spring for my own plane ticket and lodgings there. Might I add I had zero money? My folks said “No way!” but I went for it anyway, buying a plane ticket and staying with my friend’s parents in a nearby suburb. There, people who were surprisingly young, fun and interesting trained me in financial newswire writing for three days–how to report on earnings, retail sales, airline figures, mergers, etc. Afterwards they had me take yet another five-hour test to see how well you absorbed the training.

You know what? I totally bombed that test. Awfully. But they still hired me. After the fact, one of my editors told me that they liked my international experience, I was smart enough, and–wait for it–I fit into the newsroom personality-wise.  

My take-away: sometimes you just have to go for it, buy your own plane ticket, and go out of your way to get something. Even if the hiring process is ridiculous.

My other take away: I came to embrace what I call the lunchroom rule. You have to have the skills to get in the door, but people really want to hire a co-worker that they can sit down and talk with over lunch with. I bombed that second test and got hired anyway. Why? The lunchroom rule. When I applied to a long-term freelance position at the Village Voice, my resume was plucked out of already short-listed bunch because of the lunchroom rule (the editor was fascinated with Berlin, and I’d lived there), and at Human Rights Watch I was hired over someone more qualified than me because they just liked me better. I’ve seen this play out over and over again both with friends and with myself.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

Freelancing! It taught me how to write differently for different publications, how to change my tone of voice. I learned how to read publications from Elle Magazine to Inc. critically, to figure out what editors wanted or would more likely buy. I learned how to pitch myself and the articles I wanted to write—you need to be able to sell editors your ideas and yourself as an author. After I went quickly broke, I was forced to begin treating writing like a business—you do have to pay rent after all. So while I kept up the fun, fabulous articles that inspired me, I also began picking up more boring, financial work that paid much better and took much less time to write. For me, and for many freelancers, money worries will suck away your creativity and you’ll stop having fun with your writing, and I was constantly balancing my creative work with the better-paying kind. I also learned how to be flexible and mold your skills to various opportunities in ways that others can’t see. Doing corporate background checks? No problem, it’s really just reporting under a different name.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

Not much, to be honest. I had fun, made good friends, drank a lot of beer, etc. I took a couple journalism classes, but didn’t find them interesting or useful. I didn’t even declare a major until I was a junior, and my GPA was a 3.2 or something. I rowed crew for the joy of it for a year or two but quit because those 5 a.m. practices killed me.

OK, wait, now that I think harder, I did do some things. My journalism professor basically forced me to get a job at the student newspaper because “I’d never get a job” if I didn’t. I found the newspaper so boring, and I just couldn’t stomach the fact of covering city council meetings, so I did layout and design for them, which was actually fun. And it paid. I did a bit of entertainment writing for them—bands, DJs.

I did take some other summer internships, but I really only worked at them 5 hours a week or so—I was a full-time waitress in the summers, as I needed to earn money for college. So I squeezed in an internship at a tiny suburban newspaper.

This is important: My junior year I spent a summer working in a bakery in Berlin and I studied for a semester in Luxembourg. How I got to Berlin: A professor was interviewing students to work there, my friend from a German class wanted to go, she didn’t want to do the interview alone, I went to support her, and ended up being offered a job. Since I would already be living in Europe, I decided to study at Miami University’s branch campus in Luxembourg, as it cost the same as my in-state tuition.

Full disclosure—I didn’t this to gain any international experience. I did it because it sounded like a blast and I have an adventurous streak. But it changed everything for me.

I fell in love with Germany, the language, the culture and became obsessed with really learning and experiencing it all. And in learning about what an amazing place Germany is, I realized that every other country in the world could be exactly as amazing and interesting if I were open to it. Despite growing up in an area that really wasn’t very diverse, I fell in love with all things international. I went back (for the love of it) and really learned German. I cannot tell you how many doors this experience has opened up for me, both personally and professionally.

Take away: If you want to live abroad and learn a language, do it. No regrets.

OK, back to college. Senior year, something amazing happened. I was looking for a fall internship on our listservs, scrolling past opportunities to cover city hall and PTA meetings in small town Ohio (I love small town Ohio, but no way), when I saw an internship to be a stringer for MTV online. I applied to cover the music scene in nearby Cincinnati, and to my amazement, landed it. It was unpaid, but I was living the free-concert-ticket dream. It was amazing. I had a blast. And I won a writing award reserved for their top seven stringers across the U.S. (they had 100, I think).

My take away from that internship: You can get work doing what you love to do. Not always, and it won’t work out the way you foresee, but it happens. Next step: getting paid for it.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

You may hate your first job. I sure did. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t learning a lot there. And you’ll learn what you don’t want to do/deal with in your next job. I spent four years at Dow Jones Newswires, and only enjoyed six months of it. It was years after I left that job that I realized how strong a financial reporter I had become. And that job opened up so many doors, too, through connections I made, because most people couldn’t write about finance and I could, and because people automatically took you a bit more seriously—even people at glossy women’s magazines. Who knew? So even if you’re hating it, keep learning.

Take big risks if you have the stomach for it. (Say, when I quit Dow Jones to go freelnace when I had no idea how I would make anything happen). Just also make sure you can stomach the consequences if the worst happens—which for me would have been moving back in with my folks (it didn’t happen).

Figure out what you’re passionate about and stick with it, at least in part. You’re always going to do better at what excites you, and you’ll feed off the energy of it. Just prioritize it. It may not be a full-time job or even a part-time job, but it’ll make you feel good.

Keep talking to people. People, for me, are key. People sometimes know things you don’t know and have opportunities you don’t know about. Are you stuck on your novel? Do some research by talking to people who may be similar to your character, either in job or personality. Are you a journalist out of story ideas? Just start talking to people at a bar, at a party, on a plane—especially talk to people different from you—and listen to them. Story ideas will just appear.

Follow Amy on twitter!

Ashley Sapp: Freelance Writer/Editor & Administrative Coordinator

Name: Ashley Sapp

Age: 26

College & Majors/Minors: B.A. in English Language and Literature, cognate in Linguistics from University of South Carolina

Current Location: Columbia, SC

Current Form of Employment: Freelance Writer/Editor and Administrative Coordinator

Where do you work and what is your current position? 

My current position is as an administrative coordinator within the Cardiovascular Translational Research Center at USC School of Medicine. I handle a variety of tasks depending on what our team’s Director needs that day, but a large portion of my job involves manuscript management, as he is on the editorial board of numerous peer-review journals. Further, he is quite the writer himself with many publications under his belt, so I help with the proofreading, editing, and formatting of those before the submission process. This particular task set extends into the writing of his grants, as well. Thankfully, there are calculators for the number portion of that because words are about as skilled as I get. Outside of USC, I do freelance work as a writer, blogger, and occasional editor.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

My first job after college was at a small medical practice of orthopedic surgeons. A friend of mine was working with a physician there, and when she learned that the Research Director needed someone to help with manuscript writing and editing, she passed along my name. It was a part-time gig, but I learned quickly that I enjoyed medical editing. I had always figured my life would contain words, but it was not until my first job that I realized I quite enjoyed reading other people’s work and providing insight where I could. It then becomes a team effort in creating something worthwhile, and that was a rewarding experience for me.

Later, I found myself in a retail position since I needed something that paid more while recovering from a spinal surgery. In the process, I eventually lost sight of what I truly wanted my career to look like. Getting back on my feet both metaphorically and literally meant taking strides in changing where I was. It was slow going for a while because I felt I was chasing a pipe dream—I was questioning my choices, and I found myself believing that I was facing a dead-end before the age of 25. I was on disability from my retail job while recovering from the surgery, paying student loans for a degree I was not using, and spending my sudden plethora of free time in bed thinking about how I haven’t written anything in ages but still feeling too afraid to pick up a pen. I was in pain, physically and mentally, and thus felt drained and defeated.

Towards the end of my disability leave, I dreaded returning to a job I knew was not truly for me. It was a bit of a wake-up call, a moment of clarity after having spent so much time alone with my thoughts and self-doubt. If I wanted my life to change, I had to start somewhere, and I alone had to make it happen. Thus, I began looking into jobs at my university and within my town for anything to do with publishing or writing. I began applying for internships as well because I figured I could continue with a retail position if I was at least building experience in something I enjoyed and went to school for. Many resumes and applications later, I accepted the position I have now. The search began with me asking myself, “What do I want?” and “How am I going to get it?”

How do you find your freelance gigs?

I recently filled out profiles on sites like Elance and really started to apply for offered jobs through them. I have done a lot of guest blogging and guest articles for various online sites as well, which has helped in getting my name out there as a credible source. Sometimes I am asked to proofread or write for others and thus the opportunity comes to me on its own, but most of the time, at least at the stage I am currently in, I have to reach out whether by submitting a proposal for a job or showcasing my portfolio.

Particularly for my writing, blogging has become a major part of networking with other companies and writers. In fact, through blogging is how I met the ladies who run The Indie Chicks; thus, I had my first print article published in the second issue of their magazine, Indie Chick. I have gotten the chance to collaborate with many talented and inspiring people because I started blogging, reading, and commenting on other people’s work. Eventually, they began to do the same for me and suddenly it started to feel as though I had something worthwhile to say (who knew?). So we write, discuss, and share our love for the craft while simultaneously building our expertise. Without really realizing it, blogging and guest blogging became an experience-building way of writing for me. I have to lend credit to the blogosphere quite a bit for aiding me in taking myself seriously as a writer and also providing so many opportunities I never knew had existed before I created my first Wordpress site.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life? 

In some ways, there is not a complete way to prepare for post-grad life as the experience can vary from one individual to the next. But we all have to start somewhere, and very often, that somewhere involves a bit of flailing in the beginning. What proved to be helpful for me was getting to know what opportunities existed in my town and what I could do to better prepare myself for them.

Post-grads often get stuck in this limbo of being a novice with a degree whereas employers are seeking people with a degree but with experience. I worked on my university’s literary magazine in order to help build towards a better understanding of the way publications work, as one example. Though it was not actual job experience, it was experience nonetheless–something the employers I interviewed with seemed to take notice of. My current boss commented, “You’re green but dedicated.” Taking the time to research your interests, to teach yourself the things you're unfamiliar with, and to put in the effort for both your life and career not only demonstrates passion within your interviews with potential employers, but it also helps to ease your way into post-grad life in general.

One of Ashley's poems.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

There are a lot of people out there who believe an English degree is useless for a number of reasons. I suppose it is because there is this stereotype that all we do is cuddle with said degree, comforting ourselves while clutching it tightly, repeating to ourselves lines of Jane Austen or Shakespeare or a Bronte sister, while sitting alone in our parents’ basement with no job offer in sight. Sure, a love of literature is often involved in our choice of degree, but anyone who truly thinks an English degree is impractical has not really thought about language itself: any set or system of symbols used in a more or less uniform fashion by a number of people, who are thus enabled to communicate intelligibly with one another. Without that, where would any of us be? So my advice to those of you facing naysayers (including yourself at times) is to continue believing in your path and your abilities because without you, without someone who has a love and understanding of words, communication would begin to break down. Whether you decide to teach and pass along how we use this beautiful thing called language, or you dive into publishing, or you help others write, or perhaps you write yourself, or you understand how to deploy words into advertising, into journalism, into whatever the case may be – you are making a statement and an impact on how the rest of the world, through time or space, will understand us. I’d say that is worthwhile.

My last piece of advice would be to not give up, which sounds easy but usually is not. Post-grad life can be pretty grim, regardless of the degree you end up with, but some of that has nothing to do with what you spent your time in college studying. What you can do in the meantime, however, is hone your skills, remind yourself why you chose this path, and create work for yourself. When I initially worked retail, I would come home and journal because it kept the fire going in the pit of my stomach, the burn to wake up each day with the belief I would get to do what I love. Because sometimes it did not feel that way—sometimes life and employment and choices were all disheartening—but as long as I kept writing, kept reading, kept exploring, I was also giving myself another chance at another day.

Even after college is over, you can continue learning. A friend of mine sent me a quote that resonated with me by T.H. White:

“You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then—to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.”

I think it says quite a bit about us when we refuse to let fear or apathy or failure stop us from moving forward. We are naturally reluctant at times, fear the unknown, and yet once the change occurs – once we are falling and seem as though we are meeting our demise – we adapt rather quickly, develop wings, and rise again.

Ashley's blog of usings and creative writings can be found at www.chaosandwords.com, and she is also a contributing writer for sites such as Chelsea Krost and The IndieChicks. Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn.

Emily Ladau: Freelance Writer & Disability Rights Advocate

Name: Emily Ladau

Age: 22

College & Majors/Minors: B.A. in English, Adelphi University

Current Location: Long Island, NY

Current Form of Employment: Freelance Writer and Disability Rights Advocate

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I work from my favorite blue armchair in my living room, writing, researching, and emailing my heart out. I am a freelance writer, blogger, social media professional, and most importantly, a disability rights advocate.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

Emily on Sesame Street.

If you want to get technical, my first job wasn’t writing-related at all. I appeared in several episodes of season 33 of Sesame Street when I was just ten years old. In the years since hanging out with Big Bird and Elmo, I focused on developing my voice as an advocate. For quite some time, my goal was to become an English teacher and incorporate embracing diversity and an attitude of acceptance in my classroom. However, mid-way through college, I found myself gravitating toward the idea of pursuing disability advocacy as a fulltime career.

Majoring in English certainly provided an ideal foundation because it gave me the opportunity to hone my writing and communication skills, both of which are huge facets of being a successful advocate. My skill sets and passion for activism led me to apply for a summer internship in Washington, D.C. with the American Association of People with Disabilities, through which I was placed to work at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. Not only did this internship prove to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life, but also it set me on my current career path. I was matched with a wonderful mentor who shared her wisdom on blogging with me, ultimately inspiring me to begin my own blog, Words I Wheel By. I’ve been blogging for nearly a year, and it has opened the door for all of the paid writing and social media opportunities that comprise my current work.

You've been published in so many places. How did you go about submitting your work? Did these publications seek out your writing? 

The first paid writing gig I landed was all thanks to a series of fortunate events. Soon after I began blogging, I delved into the professional side of social media as a means of sharing my work. After a couple months of connecting and interacting with other writers and disability rights advocates, a blog coordinator reached out to ask if I’d be interested in a volunteer opportunity writing a guest post on disability in the media. That process went so well that the coordinator put me in touch with one of his freelance bosses and recommended me to be a writer.

Once my first paid piece went live, I started to build up the confidence I needed to officially consider myself a writer. Since then, getting published in different places has been the result of both submitting my work for consideration and having people approach me. I’ve spent a lot of time perfecting my pitching skills, and it’s still something I work on refining whenever I can. I’ve learned that the trick to a successful pitch email is to get right to the point, keeping it short and sweet rather than filling the page with flowery compliments.

So far, persistence has been key – with pitches, with tweets, with Facebook posts, with networking emails, with every aspect of writing. Everything I’ve done, successful or not, has been worth it just for the experience and connections. My favorite example of the pay-off so far is that I was offered an opportunity to write for The New York Times website via Twitter. The end result of that exchange is one of my favorite things I’ve written to date: “One Daughter, One Mother, Two Wheelchairs and Nothing Remarkable.”

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career?

I was offered my first writing-related job by chance during my freshman year of college. There was a book response essay contest for the entire freshman class and I won. Part of my prize was dinner with the author and some faculty members, one of whom happened to be the director of my university’s Writing Center. We chatted throughout the meal and hit it off, so she approached me a few days later to let me know she had read my essay and wanted to hire me as a writing tutor.

Following a semester-long intensive tutor training course, I got to work with students from all over my school during tutoring sessions several days per week. I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world, because it gave me exposure to immense diversity in writing habits that stemmed from different cultural backgrounds and learning styles. By reading the writing of others through a critical lens, offering guidance, and doing my best to help people comprehend an incredibly wide-range of grammatical and writing-related concepts, I was constantly motivated to consider my own writing and my understanding of the writing process in new ways.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life? 

I’ll be honest: since I changed career plans right in the middle of college, the real world intimidated me a bit. However, one of my primary goals was to make sure I graduated college with an already full resumé. All the clubs I joined, volunteering I did, and employment experiences I had during my time as an undergrad made it easier to transition to working after I graduated.

Also, once I realized that I wanted to shift my focus to advocacy, I began to explore possible options in case I decided to go to graduate school. As it happened, I took a year following graduation to focus on building my career, and just recently applied to a program that I learned about while I was still an undergrad. I’ll be pursuing an M.A. in Disability Studies starting Fall 2014 at the CUNY School of Professional Studies, and the program will allow me to continue my writing work as I earn my degree.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree? 

My first thought is, who am I to be spouting advice? Everyone will find a path that works best for them. That being said, I worry that far too many people make negative assumptions about what can be accomplished with an English degree, and I want anyone who’s ever doubted their decision to be an English major to know that there really is a world of potential out there.

In terms of practical advice, there are a few things I can’t stress enough:

• If your goal is to write, put yourself out there. Create a blog, pitch material, develop a writing portfolio. It doesn’t matter if you’re still a student; the earlier you work towards making a name for yourself, the better. Even if you begin by doing lots of writing for free, you’ll be paid in the form of a wealth of writing clips to show off to potential employers. My blog serves as one big writing sample that I can easily present to anyone who may be interested, and I also have a separate portfolio page with a list of pieces I’ve written for other publications. This gives me credibility as an experienced writer, and provides Google with plenty of material in case anyone searches my name.
• Social media can be a total rabbit hole, but it can also be your best friend. Some of my favorite work opportunities have come from simple online connections. It’s important not to focus only on one platform, though. I actively maintain accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and several other useful platforms (shameless plugs, I know). But the real point here is to diversify your social media outlets, because you never know where someone might stumble across your writing or you’ll find your niche.
• Learn your limits. I find myself constantly wanting to say yes to everyone, but spreading myself too thin is just not fair to anyone. Saying no always makes me feel as though I’m being unfair to people when I have to do it, but when I have more time, I can write pieces and do work that I’m genuinely proud to call my own.
• Most importantly, have faith in yourself. It’s super cheesy, cliché, and probably something you’ve heard a million times before, but it’s the advice that gets me through every day. Whenever self-doubt starts to creep in, acknowledge it, shake it off, and keep moving forward.

Visit Emily on her professional website and blog, Words I Wheel By. Connect with her on her Facebook and Twitter, too!

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Katie Plumb: Freelance Writer

Maggie Smith-Beehler: Poet, Author, Freelance Writer & Editor

Sam Slaughter: Fiction Writer & Brewery Social Media Manager

Sam Slaughter: Fiction Writer & Brewery Social Media Manager

Name: Sam Slaughter

Age: 26

College & Majors/Minors: Elon University - BA, 2009, English/Creative Writing & Anthropology. Stetson University - MA, 2014, English.

Current Location: DeLand, FL

Current Form of Employment: Fiction Writer and Brewery Social Media Manager

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I currently work as a social media manager for a small craft brewery in DeLand, Florida. Starting this fall, I will also be an adjunct professor at the institution that I received my MA from. In addition, I do copywriting or editing for a few different people in town on a client-to-client basis.

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).

I fell into one, and for the other it was just as easy. I’ve always been interested in beer, wine, spirits, brewing, et cetera. From the time my college roommate and I attempted and eventually made abysmal homebrewed beer, I knew that it was always going to be something that I circled. In stories, I think Flannery O’Connor was the one that said you had to have your characters circle the same drain, or something to that effect. Alcohol, both making it and writing about it, is my drain. When I moved out to Montana for Grad School 1.0, I called all the wineries in the area and asked if they’d teach me. One place got back to me and did so. When I got down here, my boss’s husband knew some people that homebrewed and invited me over on a day they were brewing. I brewed, then did it again and then again. I stuck around. As they began to visualize a brewery, I was always there. I made the beer, I poured the beer, I drank the beer. With previous bar experience, I was/still am necessary to the brewery in the sense that I know more about the beer than most and I can also sell it better than most (an ability to play with words helps this out a lot). I may not be able to talk to strangers face to face on the street (the writer part of me coming out), but I sure as hell can sell you a pint of craft beer from behind a bar.

For the position with the university, I asked. After graduating, I was trying any and everything to find a job that would allow me to pay my bills. Teaching appealed to me—I’d co-taught a class while a grad student with my mentor and I have other teaching experience (City Year, an Americorps program)—so I sent an email inquiring about open positions with my university. Thankfully, they had some, I interviewed and now I’m preparing to fly solo with my first college class.

To address the last part, it all happens by networking. In such a small town, it isn’t hard to be known for your words. When you make enough acquaintances who then learn you can write and write better than most, copywriting jobs occasionally pop up. Business isn’t booming, but by asking people if they could use better copy for websites or whatever, you get a job here and there. It keeps me writing a variety of things and it, who knows, could lead to other freelance gigs in the future. I just keep asking and letting people know I’m available.

What was another job that was important in your career? 

Practically, an important job was working for a newspaper as a beat reporter. Two years after I graduated from Elon, I moved from Montana, where I'd spent a year floundering in graduate school, back home to New Jersey, where I took the job as a reporter. I learned a couple of things while at that position. First, I learned to write in the very basic, journalistic way that I had neglected to do throughout college. Working as a reporter for a small weekly, you learn to strip away any of the fancy bells and whistles of language in an effort to paint a simple portrait of, say, a town council meeting. In defense of town council meetings, though, there is no place for fancy bells and whistles. 

Not so practically, a job that sticks out for me is a summer I spent working as a gravedigger. You can call it a cemetery groundskeeper or a lawn facilities technician or some other fancy title, but I was a gravedigger. I used a shovel and I put people in the ground. It sounds harsh, I know, but it was also the perfect opportunity as a writer to learn. This job, and any other not-so-important jobs I’ve held over the years, especially ones that are more manual labor than intellectual labor, allow for time to think. I plotted stories while I worked, even if I never wrote them. I catalogued details of place. I tried out dialogue while I was out amongst the headstones weed whacking.

I try to balance practically and impracticality in my life if for nothing else than to remind myself that I need to make mistakes or I’m going to lead one hell of a boring life and more importantly a life not worth writing about.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?

I wish I could say I did something specific. I didn’t though. Like I said earlier, I just happened to circle the same drain a lot. Really, there were two drains, so maybe this has to turn into a simile more like two planets, some gravity, and a ball in the middle. I swung from one orbit to the other and back in a figure eight pattern for a long time. Similes aside, I knew from a young age (eighth grade or so) that I wanted to write. I knew later on that I wanted to be around alcohol. Whatever I was doing, I kept those two things somewhere in my mind. They weren’t always in the front, but they were there. If your passion is strong enough, you learn to mix it into your everyday life. That’s all I did. I made sure words and booze were around all the time. The booze part is more difficult than the words part, but you learn over the years how to do it. As long as you know you haven’t forgotten about it—and the sheer fact that you remind yourself not to forget about whatever it is being the proof of that ( I think that’s how that works)—then you’ll be fine. Find your passion and don’t let it go.

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?

If you want to be a writer, try to have a job that does not involve writing. It may sound counterproductive, but I felt the least inspired (and the least energized) to write when all I did all day every day was write. When i got home, I had enough energy to go to the gym and then I'd sit around and complain about my job to my family. Instead, find some physical. Use your body and tire out everything, but your mind. Work somewhere where you will interact with people. Even if it isn't something permanent, it'll be useful. Work in the service industry. If you want to write in any sort of genre, this experience will give you settings, characters, you name it. The weird people you will meet when you work at a bar will provide an endless font of ideas for stories, poems, essays, everything. If nothing else, it'll provide an insight into how not to treat other people when you are out to dinner and that, I feel is quite useful in life.

[Sidebar: Working in a job where you write some, I think is also a good thing, though seeing as that is what I do, I recognize that I am bias. I like to think of it like an engine—writing all the time it'll overheat and you'll be left on the side of some lonely highway in North Dakota wondering whether or not a true crime show was shot in the area, but writing some of the time keeps the engine running, and running well so that when you do get to write you can perform optimally.]

To add to that, and this will sound cliché so for that I apologize, but try stuff. Live a little. When you spend all of your time with your nose in a book or sitting in front of a lit screen, you tend to miss out on things. I'm not saying go out every chance you get—that is probably as useless as never going out unless you take damn good notes—but don't be afraid to occasionally interact with others. Most won't bite and if they do, they're probably trying to be playful. If they're not, then you've got one hell of a story if you get out of there alive.

Finally, writing is a job, so expect to always (unless you're one of the incredibly successful and lucky ones) to always hold down two jobs. One you may never get paid for, but it deserves just as much attention if you want to be successful at it. Write and read whatever and whenever you can. Fail at writing and get rejected a lot. Get hurt by the rejection, fume over it, hug a teddy bear or a loved one, have a beer, strengthen your resolve to not let it happen again, then get back to it. It sounds a bit harsh, I know, but if you're not writing with a passion that can overcome that stuff, then why write?

Visit Sam on his professional website and follow him on twitter @slaughterwrites.

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Kat Clark: Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications

Dan Moyer Jr.: Screenwriter

Christine Stoddard: Writer/Filmmaker, Co-owner & Creative Director of Quail Bell 

Pam Elise Harris: Development Editor & Author

Name: Pam Elise Harris

College & Majors/Minors: Major: Communications Arts and Sciences. Minor: English (last minute decision!).

Current Location: Forest Hills, NY

Current Form of Employment: Development Editor/Author

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I am currently a freelance editor. I development edit novels and educational product. I also copyedit novels and do editorial tasks like art placement or checking Web sites. For development editing, I take a raw manuscript and sculpt it into the final draft that will become the book. This can involve working with authors or freelance editors to guide them in the direction needed. On occasion, it even involved writing. I've worked on a lot of educational Web sites and testing products. I loved writing activities! I loved the challenge of knowing that an activity had to practice this skill and had to be from an activity type that amounts to this many points. With novels, I have delved into the story finding aspects that needed more development, and others that needed to be altered. 

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).  

My first job in publishing was kind of an accident. I was working as a temp, and I just happened to be assigned to a publishing company. It was one of my first temp assignments where I actually had something to do. They were supposed to get rid of me when the summer intern came in, but I didn't want to leave, and they didn't want to have to find someone else when the summer intern left. So I made my case, and I was there for twelve years. 

I didn't find my current job. It found me. After twelve years of working at my previous company, they decided to discontinue my job. With no other option, I started taking in freelance work.

What was another writing-related job that was important in your career? 

Funny you should ask. I don't really consider this a job, but it is writing related. Back in November 2012, I did National Novel Writing Month for the first time. This was the first time in a very long time that I had committed to writing. That novel will be self-published later this year.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life?  

This is going to sound bad. Nothing really, which is why I didn't have a job when I got out of college. Always prepare!!

What is your advice for students and graduates with an English degree?  

Look for opportunities within your chosen field while you are still in college. If you can, do an internship. We had an intern that we liked very much, and he wound up in our freelancer database. We continued to send him work while he was still in school. Internships are a great way to learn practical skills and get your foot in the door. And if you're looking to be a writer, make connections with writer's groups. National Novel Writing Month has community groups on its Web site. They do in-person events. It's a great way to get to know other writers in your area. 

Visit Pam's professional website, connect with her on LinkedIn, and check out her Facebook page!

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Janet Schwind: Self-Employed Writer, Editor & Publishing Consultant

Elizabeth Kirsch: High School English Teacher

Sarah Scott: Public Library Professional & Writer

Jan Couture: Self-Employed Writer

Name: Jan Couture

Age: 47

College & Majors/Minors: University of Puget Sound, English Major with Professional Writing Emphasis, Economics Minor

Current Location: Derry, New Hampshire

Current Form of Employment: Self-employed

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I just started my own freelance writing business called Content by Couture. I specialize in writing marketing material for insurance and financial services companies. I've been writing printed and digital content for financial services companies for almost 25 years, so I'm a bit of a specialist in this area. I'm really excited to be on my own!

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job (if different).  

My first job was an internship with Weyerhaeuser Company, in their Engineered Wood Products division. I got it through the writing program at the University of Puget Sound. What a great experience it was! I was able to write marketing copy and see how marketing material was put together, working with designers and printers.

I didn't find my current job, I made it myself. I have been writing marketing material in the financial services industry for a long time and have friends at different companies—and I wanted to work for all of them. So, I decided to freelance, so I could do just that!

What was another writing-related job that was important?

All of my jobs have been writing-related, and each have been important to me.  I've had some excellent mentors and bosses who were amazing marketers and writers themselves and I learned a lot from each of them.

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Melissa Kravitz: Freelance Writer

Andi Satterlund: Self-Employed Writer/Knitting Pattern Designer

Erik Hanberg: Self-Employed/Writer

Do you have a freelance horror story?

At one point or another, we've all had those jobs that we look back on with horror (and hopefully some amusement). Thankfully, many of these experiences eventually serve as 'learning opportunities.' Share your horrifying/hilarious/hellish freelance writing experience and what you learned from it! 

• Your story must be under 200 words.
• Make our job easier and don't mention any specific names.
• Keep in mind that the whole point of this is to b*tch a little and entertain all while ultimately sharing some wisdom with your fellow English majors. 

Submit your story below for a chance to be included in an upcoming blog post on Dear English Major:

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Christine Stoddard: Writer/Filmmaker & Creative Director of Quail Bell

Andi Satterlund: Self-Employed Writer/Knitting Pattern Designer

Erik Hanberg: Self-Employed/Writer