Is this really happening?

2007-12-06T17:06:00.000-05:00

I’m still experiencing a bit of shock and I can’t decide whether or not I’m really happy or really scared. I’ve been dreaming about something like this for so long that I almost don’t believe it’s true or actually happening…

Oh, did I mention? I got the job!

That’s right, I’m officially the new editor of the fabulous mag of my dreams. I still haven’t told my boss, she’s out of the office until Monday. That’s sure to be an awesome way to start the week. I’m so nervous about this transition, especially since it’s right in the middle of the holidays. I’m scared to death that I’ll do an awful job and they’ll regret hiring me. I won’t get into details, but this is not at all like an EA position, it comes with a ton of responsibility and some pretty big shoes to fill.

I can’t believe I’ve been writing this blog for less than two months and I already found my dream job! I wish that I had some super advice to offer you guys about the amazing things I did to get it, but I know we’re all in the same boat and doing the same exact things. All I can say is that I applied to at least ten jobs a week, kept my head up and wrote like crazy. As much as I don’t want to believe it, this business really is a lot about luck and who you know.

So I guess this will be my last post, which is really sad. I’m happy to have gotten the job but I’ll miss keeping in touch with you guys! I really hope my story was inspirational, and keep in mind that if I can do it, anyone can. Best of luck to you loves, I hope all your publishing dreams (and beyond) come true!

There may be hope after all...

2007-12-05T23:07:00.000-05:00

EEK! I sent my thank you note (just like you all suggested) and got called in for a second interview yesterday morning! Thankfully, I think this one went SO much better than the first! I actually got to talk a little and I think I really convinced them of why I would be absolutely perfect for the position. They even kept my portfolio this time, which is huge. They said they’d be meeting to make their decision this weekend and I’d know by next week.

One of the other companies I interviewed with last week actually called to offer me a position this afternoon, but I decided not to take it. The commute was so long, the pay was less than I make now and the job was basically the same as what I’m doing. It was actually another marketing company, which I guess I didn’t really realize until I got there. No, I’m not that dumb, the job ad made the position seem a lot different than it was.

In freelancing news, I’m so busy I can barely keep up! I’ve somehow become obsessed with money and can’t seem to say no to projects. I’m nervous that when I do get the editorial job of my dreams, the pay will be less than I make now, so I’m trying to save as much as possible. Also, I have to start paying student loans next month (ew) so I’d like to be prepared for that.

Tomorrow I present my story ideas and magazine template to the president of the company I’m freelance editing for! I’m super nervous but pretty confident that I came up with some good stuff. Like I said before, it’s basically a newsletter, just a little more flashy. Hopefully they like it…

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

I <3 Fridays...

2007-11-30T14:28:00.000-05:00

I am so looking forward to a big piece of chocolate cake and a movie in bed. Forget dancing the night away, this girl needs some serious R&R…

I had another interview this morning and I think it actually went fairly well. The position is strictly editorial but it’s for a company, not a publication. It sounded interesting and the benefits are great, but I’m nervous about getting stuck in another position like I’m in now. I really just need to be in a place where the creative juices are flowing, all this business talk exhausts me.

My freelance contract assignment is going SO well and I absolutely love the project I’m working on. Time isn’t that much of an issue, I work on it mainly on weeknights and weekends, but sometimes I get a bit tired. I’ve been taking on tons of random freelance projects, but I think I should slow down because my full-time job is getting pretty busy. We get a week off for the holidays and apparently people are rushing to get everything done before then. I’ve only got an extra three or four hours of free time a day now, which probably sounds ridiculous, but I used to have a full day filled with nothing to do!

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

PS – I’m dying to do something different and fun with the B/F this weekend. Any Boston Ed’s out there ever been to the skating rink in the common? Is it any fun? Are there any cool yet inexpensive restaurants around there for dinner?

Interview From Hell...

2007-11-29T16:28:00.000-05:00

You know that feeling when you leave an interview and you just know you’re definitely not getting the job? That’s pretty much how I felt yesterday when I left the interview for my dream job. I felt like I didn’t get to say enough, or anything really, because all they spoke about was the company and the job. I tried to put my two cents in but I thought talking about how great I was for the position was tacky after they asked if I had any questions. I wasn’t quite sure how bad it went until they stopped me to give me my portfolio before I left. It stinks because I prepared SO much for it and did tons of research, put together a great portfolio and thought about great answers to a million questions they could have asked me.

I’m trying to not to freak out too much. The best internships I’ve scored were after interviews I thought had gone pretty badly. I just really loved the job and it would be a great starting point and it’s a lot closer to my apartment than other jobs I’ve interviewed for. Boo. I guess we’ll see. Has anyone ever actually gotten a call back after a “terrible” interview experience? Perhaps it’s silly to hold on too long but I need a little hope…

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

Ed Girl's Freelance Life...

2007-11-28T13:33:00.000-05:00

I’m not an expert freelancer and actually just started doing it about three months ago when I graduated and realized I didn’t have many good clips to put in my portfolio. The way I see it, there are two kinds of freelancing: writing for clips and writing for money. Hopefully, as I get older and more experienced, they’ll some how combine and I’ll be able to write fabulous features for fabulous magazines but for now, there’s still that division.

Sadly, I’ve been freelancing for money a lot more lately and am basically using elance.com to help accomplish that. Don’t hate, it’s almost December and the holidays are quickly approaching. I’ve got to make some extra dough somehow. The site is pretty simple to use and I’ve made quite a bit on it since I discovered it about a month ago. I’ve been basically doing a lot of web content writing, specifically for products or certain topics. For example, I just finished up writing a bunch of 300-word articles about marketing and made $400 doing it. I probably won’t use them for clips, but it’s cash.

I’ve been writing two or three clips a month for a Boston newspaper that I get paid a lot less for but can use in my portfolio. If you haven’t freelanced yet, I think you’ll find that the clips you can use are often ones that you wrote for very little or free. I got pretty lucky and have found a lot of freelancing gigs through craigslist but I’m hoping to eventually be in a place where I can pitch story ideas to my favorite mags. If you’re trying to build clips, though, I imagine you’re not in a place where you’ll be hired to write a feature for Glamour, so I’d suggest writing about what you know and love for smaller publications.

I hope this kind of helps some of the people who have been in touch with questions! Again, I’m definitely no expert and am learning all of this too so if anyone has any fabulous freelancing tips, please share them in some comments!

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

PS - I have an interview for my DREAM entry-level editing job in a few hours so wish me luck! EEK!

I'm going to be wearing stretchy pants for weeks...

2007-11-27T13:36:00.000-05:00

You know you’ve eaten too much when you literally can barely fit in to your pants after a week of holiday feasting. I’ve been hitting the gym like whoa the past few days but with a fridge full of leftovers and pies from mom, it’s basically a lost cause.

I interviewed late last week for the freelance editing position and heard back this morning that I got it! I start next week and, aside from two or three in-house meetings, all the work can be done remotely. I’m excited but nervous that I’ll get overwhelmed. I’ve taken on a ton of freelance projects and will still be working full-time so it will be quite a busy couple of months.

I’ve also got a couple of interviews lined up at the end of this week for some editing positions. One’s at a magazine and the other for a website. I’ve never done web editing and haven’t really done a ton of web writing, but it will be good interview experience anyway. I think my boss is getting suspicious that I keep having these “doctors appointments” and I feel bad missing more work, especially since I’ve been sick forever and missed so much already! As much as I really want a job in publishing, I will feel bad leaving here…

Hope everyone had a fabulous holiday! I’ve been getting a lot of emails and requests for freelancing tips (even though I’m really no expert), so tomorrow perhaps I’ll post a little something about how I got in to it…

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

The Gods Are Against Me...

2007-11-19T16:56:00.000-05:00

Forgive me for the past two weeks and lack of entries, I was super lucky and got a bad pneumonia, meaning no work, no fun, no entries and, worst of all, no job hunting. This past weekend I was finally able to muster up the strength to get up and check out the job boards and was so disappointed to see a few great openings I would have loved to jump on immediately. I still sent out my resume and clips ASAP and I’m hoping that most people are waiting until after turkey day to hire.

The only good news/real news I have to offer is that I did get an interview through the temp agency I applied for a few weeks ago. It’s for a contract, freelance position at a company in they city and I’d be responsible for putting together their first ever company magazine, which I’m assuming is essentially a newsletter. I’m pretty excited because it is a lot more editorial work than writing and I’d be responsible for managing the design team and freelance writers involved in the project.

Again, I’m so sorry for the lack of posts and I promise it will be much more interesting in the weeks to come. Now that I’m back on my feet I’m ready for the holiday season and the openings that will hopefully follow soon after!

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

Shorter Days & Cold Weather…

2007-11-06T15:27:00.001-05:00

…make me miserable and sick! It’s weird getting out of work when it’s dark and I can’t seem to shake this horrible cold. I finally had to turn up the heat this weekend, which means super high gas bills are sure to follow.

I heard back from the magazine I’ve had a couple interviews with and I didn’t get the position. They said that while they thought my experience was great, they went with someone who was an expert on the mags subject matter. Apparently the person isn’t really a writer but has been involved in the industry the magazine targets for years.

Yesterday I interviewed with the temp agency I wrote about but I don’t know if I should really expect anything to come from it. Apparently they don’t often get the type of jobs I’m looking for. It’s a creative agency and they’re mainly looking for people who do graphic arts or marketing. They do get a few freelance writing assignments so I’m hoping to at least get my hands on some of those. They said that they haven’t ever had one of the magazines in the area come to them looking for people, so that doesn’t make me too hopeful. Has anyone had any luck with temp agencies? I've heard some success stories, but not too many.

I keep seeing short freelance editing assignments on job boards, but I can’t leave my job to take work for only a short period of time. Especially around the holidays, it’s just not possible. I’m kind of expecting that I’ll be around here until January when people actually start hiring again. In the meantime, more resumes, more clips and lots more freelancing!

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

I can't stop checking my email...

2007-11-02T15:06:00.000-04:00

It’s become an obsession! I’ve always got my gmail open in a window on my desktop and I literally check every two minutes to see if anyone is responding to a pitch or resume. If I don’t get at least three emails an hour, I freak out and get all upset. I seriously need to relax a little.

I had a second interview for the Assistant Editor position this morning. Once again, I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but I think it went really well. I did some research on the mags topic before hand and tried to throw a few facts out there. I made it clear that I was no expert but instead focused on the fact that I can adapt well to various topics. Hopefully they’ll see that! Lets keep our fingers crossed.

I just found out that, through a family member, I have a pretty strong connection at a regional mag here in the city. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this until now, everyone in my family has known about my plot to take the magazine industry by storm. It came up in a casual conversation and I’m not really sure how to use the information. I let my family member know I was really interested in working at the mag (it would be a DREAM) and she said she’d see what she could do. I’ve never had a connection like this before, am I going about it the right way?

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

PS - If any of you want to get in touch with me, feel free to shoot me an email at edgirlonthehunt@gmail.com! XOXO

Forgive me loves…

2007-10-31T16:53:00.000-04:00

Forgive me loves…

…for the lack of a post yesterday. Work was hectic and I was busy because I had an interview!

I think it went fairly well. It was for an assistant editor position at a very small regional mag. I aced the edit test (HOORAY!) but I’m not sure I’ll get the job because it’s a very specific magazine about a certain animal that I know NOTHING about. Going in to it I figured I wouldn’t get it, but I thought I could definitely use the interview and edit test practice.

I’ve been doing this freelance thing for the past couple of days and I’m particularly fond of elance.com. I had to pay to use the service but I’ve already been accepted on two jobs, one random blog assignment and another for web content, and I made a couple hundred bucks! I don’t think that I’ll be able to use all the work I do through the site for clips, but I’ll definitely generate a few and I can seriously use the extra money. Someone’s break pads decided to blow out yesterday and now she has to spend $300 to get them fixed. *sigh*

I absolutely love all of your encouraging and helpful comments! One girl in particular said that this whole job search thing is basically a waiting game and I think I’m starting to agree with her. I’ve sent my resume to every single mag in the city, but the reality is that if there are no positions open, they’re probably not hiring. It’s been a couple of months since I last emailed and snail-mailed my clips, do you guys think I should give it another go? Do people normally check in or is it more likely that since an editor may not have been hiring at the time they got your resume, they just ignored it?

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

PS – Happy Halloween! :D

Where's the love?

2007-10-29T14:12:00.001-04:00

I respect that it might be a little frustrating to read about an Ed Girl in Beantown while you’re searching for jobs in NYC, but the search is still the same for all of us chicas! With the exception of a lot of the whisper jobs and some specific mag questions on the message board, the site is geared towards the magazine industry in general, which includes cities throughout the world. I may drink Sam Adams and wear a Red Sox hat, but I’m just like the rest of you and I’m hoping that my experiences can benefit your own search in some way, just like your stories have helped me.

After a relaxing weekend, I dove back in to the search this morning. I actually got my current position (receptionist hell) through a temp agency, but I never considered going to one for editorial positions. My old editor from a mag I interned at last summer suggested this great agency that focuses on more creative positions like writing, editing, graphic arts, ect. So, after I finally finished up my online portfolio, I submitted my resume this afternoon and I’m hoping to at least get some freelance work from it, particularly on the editing side.

I’ve been worrying lately that I just don’t have enough experience to grab that EA position. After reading your posts and the entries of the last Ed Girls, I’m afraid that my three measly internships aren’t going to cut it! I can freelance write until the cows come home, but I feel like more editorial experience will beef up my resume. Have any of you found successful editorial jobs through a temp agency?

Oh, and in case any of you were wondering, I finally did hear back from my editor about the position and she did give it to someone else L. I guess I was expecting it, but it still stung to hear her say it out loud. Oh well…

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

Is it just me...

2007-10-26T14:34:00.000-04:00

...or have the listings on craigslist been uncharacteristically meek the past few days?

I still haven’t heard from my editor about the EA position. She knew I had to give notice and said she’d take that in to consideration, so I’m pretty sure I didn’t get the job. Her last interview was yesterday and she said she was going to decide right away, so I’m assuming that, if I got it, she’d want to tell me immediately. BOO.

In the meantime, I’ve been doing tons of research on freelancing. I figured that since I have all this free time at work, I should really make a full-time go of it. The problem is I have no idea how to get started and I’m getting a little overwhelmed. I found this great resource at about.com (http://freelancewrite.about.com/) but there are so many steps and tips on the site that I don’t know where to begin! I already kind of had a website put together (yeah freewebs.com!), but no online portfolio or anything, which I guess is pretty essential. I also don’t have any of my clips saved on a computer. I’ve got them typed up in word documents, but no PDF files that actually prove they were printed. I’d link them all, but half of them are for a site that requires membership and a password.

Phew. I didn’t realize it was going to be so much work, but I think it will be worth it in the end. Eventually I’d love to freelance stories for big name mags, but I figure I’ll probably have to work my way up from the bottom. Do any of you have websites or online portfolios? Were they hard to make or am I just being super technologically challenged?

Well loves, I’m off for the weekend, I’ve got tons of shopping, beer tasting and baseball watching to do (GO SOX!)! I’ll be talking to you Monday…

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

It took me 45 minutes to pick out something to wear today…

2007-10-25T13:53:00.001-04:00

…which means I definitely need to do some shopping. I haven’t bought anything (wardrobe-wise) since I moved here, which was about five months ago! I hate going to work feeling super ugly, which is how I feel right now in a frumpy old sweater and stretched out pants…*sigh*

So I went to my interview last night, the one I wrote about yesterday, and I can’t really tell how it went. I took the train in right after work and found the place pretty easily. When I met the editor (a woman I’ve talked with tons over the phone but have never met face-to-face) we immediately ran outside for a “walking interview,” which I’ve never done. I felt like I couldn’t really look at her, which was strange.

I thought things were going really well, she didn’t really ask me anything but basically went over the position with me and finally asked if I had any questions. I tried to think of something fast but she had covered absolutely everything and I had nothing to say. At the end she said that she had a few more interviews, some of which were with other writers who had been freelancing for her, and that’d she’d let me know by the end of the week. I’m kind of nervous because she said that she’d have a hard time choosing because she knew all of us and knew all of our writing. She said that, if I didn’t get the position, I shouldn’t feel bad or like I couldn’t freelance for her anymore because she loved my writing but had to choose between people she knew fairly well.

I’m not really going to get my hopes up or plan on actually getting the position, which is kind of disappointing. I probably got way too ahead of myself but I figured I would be the only one she actually knew who was applying. I guess, once again, I underestimated the number of people in this city who are in the same boat as I am…

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

One more reason I love Boston?

2007-10-24T14:11:00.001-04:00

World Series mania! Everyone wore their Red Sox gear to work today to show their support for Game 1. I wish I realized we could go super casual, I would have ditched my work clothes for my Papi jersey.

So I think I may have finally caught a break! While checking craigslist yesterday (something I literally do every thirty minutes) I saw a posting for an Editorial Assistant for the newspaper I freelance for. Turns out the editor I write for is looking for some help with new pages each month. I emailed her right away, letting her know I was interested in the position and forwarded my resume and some clips from other publications. She replied after only five minutes and set up an interview! HOORAY!

I’m trying not to get too excited, but I think this is definitely a good thing. The paper is a lot of fun, very young, and not at all like some of the other ones I’ve written for. Plus, since I know her fairly well, I think I’ve got at least a little bit of edge on the other candidates. There would be a pretty substantial pay cut, but only because it’s part-time, and I could always get another job.

I’ve been thinking lately that I’m not at all confident in my basic editing skills. Maybe some of you have noticed in my posts? I’m sure I’m putting commas in all the wrong places. I’m thinking about taking a class or something, it will obviously come in handy. Perhaps I’ll check out mediabistro for some ideas. I always scour the site for job postings but I’m not a member so that’s basically all I use it for.

Do any of you guys pay to use the rest of the website? I hear it’s pretty helpful and some of the classes they offer seem really cool…

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

"Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History..."

2007-10-23T15:40:00.000-04:00

…which is why I ditched work yesterday to send out tons of freelance resumes and clips. I can’t become the next Kate White while I’m sitting at a desk all day!

I’ve decided that I can at least freelance my butt off while I search for the perfect job. Eventually I want to work at a mag in the health/wellness/fitness field, so I’m focusing on writing stories like that. On the other hand, I have five or six really good health-related clips that I wrote for an internship, so I feel like I should be writing about some other things as well, just in case. I’ve been told that the subject of a story doesn’t matter as much as the writing, but I’m not too sure. I can’t really imagine getting hired at a fashion mag with only health clips or vice-versa.

I got an email yesterday from the editor of a local newspaper asking if I was still looking for a full-time job. It took me a while to figure out who the heck he was (I’ve sent out so many resumes I can’t even remember what jobs I’m applying for!) but I remembered that I put in for an assistant editor position I found on journalismjobs.com. I replied that I was still looking for a job and asked for some information about the position, just in case I still wasn’t remembering correctly what I had applied for. He said that he was interviewing for staff writing positions, which I’m not really interested in doing. Plus, I realized I’d be taking a $10,000 a year cut in pay. If it was an editing position or a writing position at a magazine, I might consider it, but it just doesn’t seem worth it. Plus, the commute is way over an hour so I’d spend tons of money on gas.

I replied saying that I was looking for a full-time editorial position, but thanks so much for the consideration and inquired about any freelance writing positions they may have available. I said it all very nicely and thought I was being courteous by letting him know, it’s not like I applied for this writing position anyway! He replied with this whole lecture about wasting his time and being ungrateful. I started to feel really bad about myself, like I wasn’t trying hard enough or something. I love to write but traveling around to town government meetings and working sixty hours a week for $20,000 just isn’t appealing to me, I feel like I’d be even more miserable than I am now!

What do you guys think? Should I have at least gone and interviewed? I just didn’t want to waste his time, but should I have considered taking the job even if it was definitely not something I wanted to do? Has anyone ever transitioned to magazine editing from a staff writing position at a newspaper? The two seem like worlds away…

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

PS – Thanks for all the great comments to yesterdays post, I’m wicked (obviously I’m from Boston…) excited that everyone’s keeping up with the blog!

The Life & Times of EdGirl #6

2007-10-22T10:44:00.000-04:00

I’ve always known I loved to write and consider myself pretty good at it. In the 5th grade I won a short story contest after I submitted a piece about an acid trip gone bad. Obviously I had never done acid (ew!), but my much older, much more wild, cousin had tried it and described the experience to me so that I wouldn’t be curious. My parents were disturbed by the subject matter, but they were impressed by my “creative juices” and continued to let me write my twisted, adult stories.

Years later I finally discovered magazines. Skipping my homework and ditching my usual mystery novels, I’d lay in bed for hours scouring the glossy pages of CosmoGIRL, Marie Claire and Jane. Still, I never really considered it a possibility that someone actually worked for these magazines until I read one of Atoosa Rubenstein’s monthly columns in Seventeen. Describing how she turned her love of magazines in to a full-time job, she wrote about how she just randomly decided to make do a magazine internship and the rest was history.

Though I still knew nothing about the magazine industry, I enrolled in the Mass Communications department at my small college in Western Massachusetts and set up a concentration in journalism. I took an office assistant position at the school newspaper and wrote mini-movie reviews and covered student government meetings in my spare time. My sophomore year I was promoted to news editor and became editor-in-chief by the fall of my junior year.

I discovered ED2010 at the beginning of my senior year and was shocked and frightened by the amount of people with dreams like mine. Until that point, I had not realized how huge of the magazine market was. Few of the communications majors at my school studied journalism and those who did were more interested in becoming staff reporters at community newspapers than the next editor of Cosmo. Through ED, I learned as much as I could about the magazine industry and worked with the limited resources I had in my small town. During my last semester at school I took two internships, one in the editorial department of a national family magazine that happened to be based twenty minutes from my school, and another as a health reporter for a local daily. I spread myself pretty thin, but I felt like my experience, compared to that of others on the ED2010 message board, was lacking.

After graduation I took an internship at a regional mag based in Boston, which happened to be two hours from my home. Twice a week I commuted in and out of the city, burning gas money but soaking up more editorial and writing experience than I had ever gotten at my previous internships. I spent the rest of my time trying to decide what to do next. I knew I had to move, but didn’t think that I was ready for NYC. After months of deliberation, I packed up and moved to Boston, where I knew of a few regional mags and one national in particular that I had been dying to work at.

I started sending out resumes and writing samples as soon as I got to the city, not necessarily expecting my dream job, but at least a few interviews. After three weeks and twenty-eight resumes I hadn’t gotten any calls, let alone interviews, and my bank account was draining fast. I picked up a receptionist job to pay the bills and freelanced for a Boston daily at night. I thought I finally caught a break when I was offered a position at an international marketing company right outside of the city. It wasn’t a publication but I’d be doing all the editorial stuff, proofing, writing reports and publishing a company newsletter, and I thought it’d look better on my resume than “receptionist.” Plus, the pay was great, the commute fast and the dress code business casual (as opposed to my uptight reception gig where I had to wear a black suit every day). I took the position, eager to learn and excited at the thought of much more responsibility. I even moved out of my apartment in the city, where safety was becoming an issue, to be closer to my new job. I thought I was settled, not necessarily forever, but at least for a couple of years.

It only took me one day to realize that my dream job was not such a fairy tale after all. Instead of editing reports, I found myself answering phones again and staring at a blank computer screen all day, just waiting for someone to give me something to do. I had never felt so unimportant and useless. Still, with no other job prospects, there wasn’t much I could do, so I decided to stay and have been there for a little over three weeks now. When I heard that Ed was looking for a new Girl On The Hunt, I was excited for an opportunity to write and share my search with others, but a little sad that I was even in the position to do so.

So here I am again, searching for that perfect job. I love the company I work for, and the people are great, but the position itself is less than inspiring. The only good thing about having little to no responsibility is that I’m able to devote most of my day to the job search. Unfortunately, being in a smaller city with fewer prospects has made the process so difficult! Aside from the staff at my last internship, I basically have no mag contacts here and I definitely don’t know anyone nearby who is going through the same thing. I’m sure it’s just as hard in NYC, but it’s beginning to feel a little lonely out here in Beantown…

<3 Ed’s Girl On The Hunt

Goodbye and good luck!

2007-10-06T10:30:00.000-04:00

Well, sometimes real life gets in the way of things like keeping blogs and searching for that perfect magazine job. For now, I'm incredibly glad that I have a steady job that's able to give me time off, health insurance, etc.

My search is on hold for now, but when it gets back underway I think I may have to make a drastic life change - perhaps quit my job and take an internship in order to get some New York magazine experience - I've been getting the feeling that my regional mag experience isn't really enough.

In the meantime, I wish you all the best of luck in your search. I've had a great time blogging for you!

Bye,

Ed's Girl #5

Connections Obsessions Part Deux

2007-09-01T15:26:00.000-04:00

I can't decide how aggressive to be when pursuing contacts.

A couple of months ago, I mentioned my uncle's best friend, who works at one of my very favorite magazines (in a very high position.) He is, according to my uncle and his wife, totally scatterbrained, and wants to talk to me but keeps forgetting. Last I heard, he was going on a long vacation, but told me he would get in touch with me last Monday, when he got back.

Well. Obviously, that was two weeks ago.

So now I am not sure what to do. Do I e-mail him and say, "hey, remember me?"

Do I call my uncle and ask him to prod his friend?

Or do I just leave things alone?

It's particularly tough for me to deal with this because this guy works at my dream magazine. If he met me, liked me, and decided to give me a job, that would be it for me. I would never want to work any other place ever again.

Right now, I'm leaning towards being slightly passive agressive. I think maybe the next time I talk to my uncle, I'll talk about my career, so that he can then say, "Oh yeah, did my friend ever get in touch with you?"

I probably should be more direct, but I worry that when someone's doing you a big favor, the last thing you want to do is pester them. Right?

What's More Important?

2007-08-27T10:34:00.000-04:00

A major family emergency last week meant I had to cancel two interviews that I was really excited about - the editors were very nice and understanding, but unfortunately did not offer to reschedule.

So this week, back in New York a little the worse for wear, I'm wondering about whether or not it's worth it to skip an interview in order to deal with something important that's going on in your life.

Obviously, I wouldn't have been my best at these interviews - I was upset, and I wanted to be with my family. But now I've missed two opportunities that I'm not going to get again. Should I have sucked it up and gone to the interviews?

It's frustrating because I'm feeling resentful now, both towards my family and towards the editors who weren't more accomodating. Obviously my family couldn't help what happened, and obviously the editors wanted to fill their open positions, and were under no obligation to help me out. So I guess really I'm angry at myself, for not being able to make a decision and stick with it.

What do you guys think - would an interview be more important than a personal issue to you?

Digital Digital Get Down

2007-08-13T08:56:00.000-04:00

Well, like I said, I'm on vacation - hurrah. Currently this post is being written from the balcony of my hotel room, overlooking the ocean, a bunch of very attractive lifeguards, and a bunch of not-so-attractive seagulls who are fighting over someone's discarded funnel cake.

But even though I'm on vacation, I've already applied for a job this morning, and now am checking my work e-mail. And as usual, one of our celebrity authors is causing a fit.

One of the things my job always makes me wonder is: why on earth do celebrities want to write books so badly? The advances we give them, which are huge for the book industry - six figures to maybe the low millions - must mean nothing to them. The sales of the books are usually nothing compared to the sales of their movies, or albums. It doesn't increase their level of fame.

Yet every week in our editorial meeting at least three editors bring up the fact that "X" celebrity is shopping a book around. Most of the time they don't even know what they want the book to be about - they just know that they want to do one. If it's a big celebrity, sometimes we try to think up an idea for them. Insane, right?

So, thinking about celebrities this morning, I think I've realized why they have a fascination with books. It's the same reason I hem and haw every time someone asks me why I haven't started applying for online jobs yet.

There's something alluring about seeing your name in print - it's a feeling that's different and thrilling in a way that seeing your name on a computer screen is not. For the celebrities, they like being able to say, "I'm a published author." For me, it's that desire to go into Barnes and Noble, pick up a magazine, and say, "look, there's my name!"

I'm not knocking online publishing - obviously there's a lot of great stuff going on there, and to be honest I worry that soon EVERYTHING will be online - print doesn't exactly seem to be doing well as of late. But I remember doing my internships and being told that one of my pieces was going to be in the magazine, instead of on the magazine's website. It was the best feeling in the world. So now, I have a little more sympathy for those celebrities, despite the fact that they make my life a living hell.

Ed's Girl Says Relax

2007-08-09T09:41:00.000-04:00

Yikes. Obviously in my last post I meant the Holland tunnel, not the non-existent Hudson tunnel. The heat, combined with too many margaritas and too much stress, is obviously frying my brain. I've been making little mistakes like that non-stop lately. This morning I ran out of my apartment feeling like I'd forgotten something. I got halfway down the stairs before I realized - I was still wearing my slippers! I'd been holding off on putting on shoes until the last minute, since my feet were sore from my 60+ block walk uptown in heels yesterday. A few days ago, I happily gave a delivery person a $5 tip, wrote down the total, and signed the receipt. A few minutes later he knocked on my door. "Um, miss," he said a little nervously, "Maybe you meant to put something else?" I looked at the receipt - I had subtracted $5 instead of adding!

And, most egregiously, yesterday I sent out a cover letter with a mistake in it. I put a possessive aspostrophe "s" where it wasn't needed. My heart isn't broken over this - it was a job on the fashion side of things, instead of editorial, which is really where my heart lies.

But still. This is all a sign that I need to take a step back, breathe deeply, and relax for a little while.

Good thing I'm going on vacation next week!

Summer summer summer time!

2007-08-03T16:32:00.000-04:00

You guys - the words of support, commiseration, etc. on my last post were awesome. Seriously, thanks.

As I'm sure most of you know, it's August. And August in the city is so miserable I can't even begin to deal with it. Sticky subways, sticky air, and since I live pretty close to the Hudson Tunnel I have to watch all the rich people sitting in traffic, trying to get out of the city to their awesome summer homes.

But I have some things to look forward to in August. Firstly, I finally got in touch with a friend of a relative who has a very high position at one of my favorite magazines. He's on vacation for a while (of course!) but when he gets back he's going to get together with me to talk. Could this lead to a job? Who knows. I'm definitely already fantasizing about it, and saying to my friends, "Could you see me at x magazine? Don't you think I'd be perfect for it?" Probably counting my chickens before they hatch, but it's nice to hope. Plus, talking to someone who has really made it in magazines in a huge way can never be a bad thing.

Secondly, the publishing industry is ridiculously quiet in August. So I can basically sit at my desk and read jezebel.com if I want to.

And thirdly, New York in the summer may be miserable, but there is so much free stuff to do. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing Prince's masterpiece "Purple Rain," at McCarren Park Pool. Maybe I'll see you guys there?

Another year gone

2007-07-31T08:55:00.000-04:00

Last week I turned 23. And while it was great - lots of friends, lots of presents, lots of wine, lots of cake - it was also really depressing. At 22, I was still the new girl on the block. I was just out of college, I was the baby of my friends group, nobody cared if I left a job after three months (which I haven't done, by the way, but I would have!) or if I spent a month being unemployed.

But now I'm 23. And 23 is a grown-up age. 23 is a "you've been out of college for a year, you should be established by now" age. 23 is an age that is making me freak out a little bit.

I realize that in the grand scheme of things 23 is still very, very young. I realize that most people are NOT established by the time they're 23. But I look at representations of 23 in books and movies, and think about how old 23 used to seem to me, and I get upset that a year has passed and I'm still not in magazines. It's funny - most of my friends are freaking out about not being married or in serious relationships. I'm freaking out about being in a job I don't feel serious about.

Do you guys ever feel like that? Like you've got a ticking job clock? As if eventually you'll be old enough that people will think it's weird that you're trying to switch careers?

How short is too short?

2007-07-24T09:54:00.000-04:00

Guys, sorry for the long gaps between posts. The summer, which is supposed to be a quiet time in publishing, has been crazy. The upside - I'm earning lots of overtime, which means I've been spending a lot of money on Zappos.com. The downside - I have nowhere to wear my new shoes, since I don't have time for much of a life, much less time for blogging. Would you believe that the things that are making my life crazy are books that will be coming out in August of '08? Talk about a long lead.

Anyway, from now on I promise to try to update at least twice a week!

A few weeks ago I went on an interview for an assistant editor position. The job wasn't right for me - I ended up telling the editor that without even taking the edit test. I always believe it's better to not waste someone's time! But I've been thinking about the interview a lot - it took less than ten minutes. It sort of freaked me out, to be honest.

I went in, did the usual introductions, and then the editor said something along the lines of "so, you're in book publishing, right?" And that was it. That was the extent of our discussion about me. She explained the magazine, explained the section that I'd be working for, gave me an edit test, and sent me on my way.

So I wondered - did I even have a chance of getting this position? Had she just given me the edit test out of courtesy (I had been recommended to her by another editor), or was the short interview just her style? I know editors are busy, but this seemed ridiculous?

When I talked about this with a friend, she said, "obviously she had decided she liked you already, and didn't need an extensive interview!" The whole thing reminds me of the agony I used to go through when I would take exams - is it good that I left the exam earlier than everyone else? Does that mean I really knew the material? Or does it mean I didn't spend enough time on my answers?

What do you guys think? Is it good for an interview to be short and to the point? Or is it better for it to go on and on, as you and the interviewer get off on tangents and get to know each other?

2007-07-09T17:17:00.000-04:00

Ever since I realized that people actually worked at magazines, I've wanted to work for Jane. When I was a disaffected teenager, Jane spoke to me. They told me it was okay to be sort of grossed out by Cosmo. They turned me on to Liz Phair. They turned me on to Chuck Taylors. They turned me on to Elijah Wood.

Jane Pratt was my idol. I have always wanted to write AND edit, so I loved that the editors at Jane seemed to be involved in every aspect of the magazine. They were playing the pranks, they were writing the travel columns, they were interviewing the celebrities.

The magazine definitely went downhill after she left - it always seemed to be trying too hard to be half hip, half mainstream. I'm not sure if that's what brought it down, or if print really is dying.

Either way, I had a dream die today, which is always sad. Jane staffers, I hope you guys find new jobs soon! Jane readers, I hope you're not too bereft. Girls like me, who dreamed of working at Jane - Jane replaced Sassy in people's hearts, maybe something cool will come along to replace Jane. When one door closes, another door opens, blah blah.

Ed's Girl on the Hunt