This is the final week of my internship with Santa Fe Writers Project. When I started looking into grad school programs, I wanted to pursue a program outside of education. I ended up enrolling in Bay Path University’s Creative Nonfiction Writing MFA program. I was very excited to begin my publishing track last fall. What I gained was a primer of knowledge on the basics of publishing. Our class was privileged to Zoom interview with Brigit Marmion (marketing), Andy Ross (literary agent), Kay Hardy Campbell (self-published indie author), Jacinta White (editor), and Mel Allen (magazine editor). At the helm was our professor Kate Whouley, leading us through with wisdom and expertise. When I started the course, I was interested in learning about the publishing industry as described in a syllabus. By the end of the entire process, including the interview with the wonderful Alyssa Hassan from Beacon Press, I have determined that this field of publishing is where I want to take my career next.
The sequel to the first course was an immersive publishing experience. Whenever I explained this course to those outside of BPU, I always described it as “an internship in publishing and blogging about it.” Building on the previous knowledge from the first semester, I thoroughly enjoyed reading and interacting with my classmates through their internship experiences while immersed in my own. I am delighted to have made connections that will hopefully transcend the conclusion of our time together and will carry on for many years.
For the immersion experience, I sent an inquiry letter to Andrew Gifford, the founder of Santa Fe Writers Project. SFWP is an independent press that was founded in 1988 The press publishes exciting fiction and creative nonfiction of every genre, maintains an online literary journal, and runs an annual internationally-recognized awards program. I was initially drawn to the mission statement where it states that SFWP seeks to champion diverse voices. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are especially important to me, as I have sought to provide a diverse classroom library to my students so all feel represented in my class. This is especially poignant in the light of all of the book bans that have affected publishing over the last several years. I was delighted to find a host of diverse selections in the creative nonfiction genre, particularly in the SFWP quarterly publication. With the encouragement of my professor, I sent an inquiry letter to Andrew in hopes that my particular skill set would suit my internship responsibilities over the next semester.
Since my internship was virtual, the majority of my interaction with my colleagues was through email. I have exchanged the most emails with Andrew, with whom I checked in on a weekly basis. When asked for more information on the other employees, Andrew said he was the only staff member. Lindsay is independently contracted to manage the social media channels for SFWP, and she is the person with whom I worked the most to create content leading up to AWP23.
The vast majority of the work I did for SFWP was on Canva creating templates for social media. I was sent an initial list of books for which to create content, and I was given full creative license to create. Over the next few weeks, I created over 35 pieces of content that could be used on their social media. I created a collection of author spotlights, as well as two images per book featuring information to draw readers in. Each week leading up to AWP, I emailed back and forth with Lindsay to tweak and adjust the templates as requested.
After establishing which authors would be attending AWP23, I asked Andrew if he would mind sending me physical copies of the books so I could begin creating content in video format to promote on Tiktok and Instagram Reels. He was more than happy to send them my way. Once all the books arrived, I spent a few hours batch-filming 15+ videos in one day. What started as a hobby through silly videos on Tiktok over the last three years has now become industry experience. I have been building my own social media platform working with publishers and authors to promote upcoming books. It is gratifying to know I can use something I am passionate about to further serve my purpose. I was so excited to find that the skills I have been honing on social media over the last few years would actually be useful in this new position. I’d been warned by my professor that as an intern, I would likely get the mundane jobs. I am grateful that I have transferable skills that I can use for my internship as I continue through the next few months. I am excited to pitch ideas for content and have them met with equal excitement, making adjustments and growing as I collaborate with my colleagues.
A couple weeks into my internship, my professor suggested I might ask if I could help out with the SFWP booth at AWP. After lots of back and forth of a seemingly impossible task, we finally worked it out to where SFWP would pay for my badge if I could fund my own travel and lodging. The idea sparked that I might be able to go to the conference to assist with their booth. I love traveling, and the opportunity to meet up with long-time friends and bumping elbows within the publishing world seemed like the perfect opportunity to dive headfirst into the internship.
Overall, this experience over the last year, especially culminating in my internship experience, immersed in publishing, has been one of the highlights of my year. I am exceedingly grateful to my classmates for their consistent encouragement and feedback. I am grateful to my professor for her expertise and wisdom and guidance. I am grateful to Santa Fe Writers Project and Andrew Gifford for allowing me the experience of dipping my toes and pushing. And for allowing me to run with the skills that I have honed to buy the last several years. I am more confident in my future as I use this experience as a launching pad for my career and publishing.
Another Chapter Begins
As I conclude my second year at BPU, I am preparing to launch into my final year where I will complete my thesis project. The goal is to complete 100 pages of edited material ready to send off for publication, if I so wish. My eventual goal is to write a memoir, but also to work within the publishing industry using my skills in social media marketing.
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