Literary Event Review!

Last Tuesday afternoon, I attended Spotlight on Careers in Writing and Publishing, a workshop put on by NYU’s Creative Writing department and Journalism department. The even was held in a beautiful venue - 7th floor of 20 Cooper Square. As a student in Journalism department who is seriously thinking about going in to publishing business, especially magazine writing, the event proved helpful in providing me with some guidance from professionals in the business.

Different sectors of publishing industries were represented at the panel. There were two journalists, two novelists, a publisher, and an agent who hires writers. They all shared their educational backgrounds and how they got their start in the business. Most of them attended graduate schools, which I never even thought about doing, and asserted that their time at grad school was invaluable.

During the course of an hour and a half long session, I picked up a few great tips about surviving in the publishing industry. A journalist from the panel advised the students to take on any jobs, and prepare to “eat shit” in our early 20’s. He told us that we are young, and the experience we get from working is more important than anything.

Another important piece of advice was to have a strong conviction in our work. A novelist present at the panel shared an anecdote about the publishing of his first novel, about how he sold himself short. He told students to be patient in waiting for their works to be published, and to assert themselves in the industry.

Overall, the workshop was definitely worth going to. I enjoyed listening to the panel and I got to ask a couple of questions about my future - about how my transfer in to Individualized Studies major will affect my career.