Lisa Brunette: Manager of Game Narrative Design

Photo courtesy of Ally Davis. www.allysonphotography.com

Name: Lisa Brunette

Age: 42

College & Majors/Minors: St. Louis University for a BA (double) in 1) English 2) American Studies, with a certificate in Creative & Professional Writing. For grad school, I went to University of Miami and earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.

Current Location: Seattle, WA

Current Form of Employment: Manager of Narrative Design (I manage a team of writers at Big Fish)

Where do you work and what is your current position?

I manage a team of writers for Big Fish. Our company focus is casual, free-to-play mobile games, but we have a solid history in making hidden-object puzzle adventure games mainly for PC. This is my seventh year as a writer in the game industry. Previously I wrote for Nintendo as well as Cat Daddy Games, which is best known for its AAA hit, Carnival Games. Before I hit the gaming industry and stuck, I'd been a writer and editor with credits and bylines in numerous publications, both in print and on the web. Notably, I wrote for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, published pieces in Poets & Writers and a number of literary journals, and won major grants and awards for my creative writing, including a full scholarship for my MFA program.

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

When I entered the job market as a college grad in 1994, we were in the middle of a bad recession. The only job I could find after knocking on so many doors my knuckles bled was as a secretary, which frankly for me felt humiliating at the time, but I've since come to appreciate it. A really tough mentor told me to make the most of it, so I did, joining the organization's secretaries' group and rising as a leader. I also offered to write anything I could, and my skills were recognized. Within six months I was promoted to a new position that had been created with me in mind, and writing was a good portion of the job. It was fund raising for a cause I believed in, and I was the one who wrote the brochures, direct mail pieces, and other materials they used in the fund-raising campaign.

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

Before I'd even graduated college, I was the board chair of Missouri's largest student-run environmental organization. Because I had the skill, I also wrote all of their fund raising materials and campaign writings. This was key to getting a job in a tough market, even as a secretary. I came to FT work with a great deal of experience, but because the job market was terrible, I had to start over anyway. This should be a good lesson to recent college grads. Don't think you're too good for something. People ask me all the time how they can get a job as a game writer. My answer? Work in Customer Support on the phones, Quality Assurance as a tester. Even if you think you have great experience during college, you might have to get a foot in the door any way possible.

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

As mentioned above, I held an activist leadership position on campus and beyond. That gave me a wealth of experience in writing, speaking, and politics. I also interned in DC with the Union of Concerned Scientists, wrote columns for the student newspaper, and wrote and published poetry. I drafted the proposal for the university's first-ever recycling program as well, which was adopted. I won a prestigious essay award, too, which boosted my writing self-image.

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

Write whatever you can— it doesn't have to be literary to make you happy. Some of the most fulfilling writing gigs are when the writing is employed to help others, or reach out to specific audiences of non-academics— such as in non-profit fund raising or ad copy or for a trade publication. Some of my favorite pieces of writing are when I wrote for the fishing industry, or about a 100-year-old dairy farm, or about a company that has built big dams and impressive bridges all over the west. The story is paramount, and you never know where it will be hiding.

Check out more of Lisa's work on her website, Lisa-Brunette.com! You can also connect with Lisa on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. 

Lisa Boosin: Senior Advertising Copywriter & Freelancer

Name: Lisa Boosin

Age: 42

College & Majors/Minors: CSU Fullerton for undergrad degrees in Philosophy and Communications; started (but quickly abandoned) an MA in Political Philosophy; MA in Communications with an emphasis on Advertising

Current Location: Los Angeles, CA

Current Form of Employment: Full-time advertising copywriter, with a lot of freelance advertising work on the side.

Where do you work and what is your current position?

West America Graphics 3D printing campaign

Healthy Habits Calendar

Out-of-Home

OCTA Rideshare Week "101 Reasons to Rideshare" campaign

OCTA Rideshare Week "101 Reasons to Rideshare" campaign

My main gig is Senior Copywriter for the Advertising and Brand department at UnitedHealthcare, the big health care company that’s a subsidiary of an even larger company. My department is basically the in-house advertising agency. I write/contribute creative concepts for a pretty broad spectrum of projects, including the traditional things you think of when you think of a copywriter, such as print ads, radio ads, billboards, web copy, and brochures. Many of these jobs entail concepting (a word that I expect will make many English majors cringe), or sitting around, sometimes by myself, or with other writers, art directors and graphic designers, to come up with overarching themes or concepts for campaigns. There’s a very social component to it but obviously, if I need to write a 16-page brochure, I work on this by myself, but I still have to juggle my coworkers’ demands. And since I’m the Senior Copywriter, that means I coach the other copywriters, work on (and enforce) our brand standards, and make presentations to our internal clients.

My job before this was at The Orange County Register. I was brought on to develop and edit a youth lifestyle publication as part of the paper’s Newspapers in Education program. Oddly enough, this publication “belonged” to the marketing department, not the newsroom. My only newspaper experience had been in high school, but I think my strong writing skills, combined with the fact that my boss liked my advertising background (I was working at a small advertising agency when I was offered the job at the Register) helped me seal the deal.

As the managing editor, I worked with a small staff to develop an editorial calendar; I did a lot of research on relevant trends and news; I wrote articles; I selected content from a wire service and then edited those articles; I assigned stories to interns; I worked very closely with a photographer, setting up photo shoots, giving input on art direction and then selecting photos; and since it was part of an educational program, I occasionally did outreach to high schools and a few youth groups.

In addition to being the managing editor of the publication, I also contributed to the Register’s in-house marketing and advertising department. Eventually, the publication was phased out, and I went to the advertising department full time.

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

I have always been lucky – well, maybe not really – in that jobs either fall into my lap or I get into a job and get opportunities to expand my role. For example, at my first real advertising job I was actually hired as a graphic designer! It was a job I could totally do, even though I had just gotten out of college with my communications degree and previous experience copywriting – it was just that I was at a point where I needed a job; I hadn’t had any luck finding copy work, and this place was willing to hire me to do design and production work. Of course, once I started, I kept reminding them, “Hey, I write copy! Hey, I write copy!” And eventually they let me.

The Orange County Register found me through a recruiting service. They saw my advertising work, which included brochures and long-form, and recognized that I could really write. Initially, I was brought on as a freelancer, so they could make sure I could really do the work. After a period of a couple months, I was made an offer to become a full-time employee.

My current job, I started off in a much different role: as a proofreader. I’d just been laid off from the Register, and I was FREAKING OUT, I’d never been laid off and I was like, “WHAT IF I NEVER GET ANOTHER JOB?” A few weeks later, I got a call from a recruiting service, asking me if I’d be willing to take a proofreading/copy editor assignment at a large health care company. To which I responded, “OH GOD YES, ANYTHING, I’LL TAKE IT.” And then, just like I did at that first advertising agency, I kept gently prodding my manager and reminding her that I wrote copy. She wrangled me a few assignments. The department had never had a copywriter before, so once people started hearing this service was available, copy jobs started rolling in, and it finally got to the point where I could just be the copywriter.

Regarding job and skills testing: There’s not anything like a standardized test to assess copywriting skills, so these days, most companies or agencies want to try out copywriters on a freelance basis, which can last anywhere from a month to years.

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

I’ve always done a little freelancing, but for the past seven years, it’s accounted for a bigger portion of my professional life. My regular clients include a couple of smaller, well-respected advertising agencies, and a few of my own clients.

Taking on the extra work forces me to be on my game, time-management wise. And freelancing is like running your own little business: you have to handle billing, project management, marketing, and new business development. As someone with a “textbook” liberal arts education, I didn’t pick up any of these skills in college, and frankly, they do not come easy to me. But they are all worth having.

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

I worked all throughout college – not “career” jobs, just retail and assorted office jobs to support myself. (My backstory is that I was orphaned by the time I was nine and my adoptive parents died when I was 20 – leaving me on my own, in a big way, and responsible for hauling my own weight.) Because of the work/school load, I didn’t have time for formal extracurriculars.

In my senior year, I did an unpaid internship at a web design company, mainly writing copy for their clients but also doing some photo editing and coding, and making coffee runs. The most valuable part of this experience was learning what I liked in a job and at a work environment: for example, I came to appreciate how much I value having variety in my days, and that I preferred not having to deal with a lot of different people (which made me realize I do better in smaller companies or departments). I also figured out that I could not work in an environment where I was expected to wear a jacket, pantyhose and heels every day (or ever, actually).

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

If your goal is to be a writer, GO FOR IT NOW AND GO AT IT AS HARD AS YOU CAN, WITH EVERYTHING YOU’VE GOT. My not-so-secret secret is that I’ve always wanted a career in creative writing, but because I was on my own, with no outside support at such an early age, I made conservative decisions about my education and my life. I knew I needed to be able to support myself and that being a writer was a big crapshoot. So I never had opportunity to make creative writing priority #1. Pursue your goals with a vengeance before you have a real job and real responsibilities: you’ll have the rest of your life to having a boring, responsible, adult job.

Here’s something else I wish I could tell 20-year-old me: knowing and being able to talk to people is a huge component of success, in just about 99.995% of all endeavors. It doesn’t matter how talented you are or how much ambition you have; you have to be able to connect with people and “market” or advocate for yourself and your work. This is especially true in both publishing and advertising right now. This is hard for a lot of creative people – if it’s hard for you, start practicing now so by the time you need these skills, they come easier to you.

Find Lisa Boosin online: 

My advertising portfolio is at lisaboosin.com. I’m really proud of my work. I’ve worked for some big-name clients, and I’ve also worked with non-profits and public sector clients on causes I believe in, which has been hugely gratifying.

Like I said, I do creative non-fiction on the side and I’m working on a memoir. I’ve done spoken word shows around LA and contributed to a number of different websites. Three of the best examples of my work are:

• "It Happened To Me: My Father Faked His Own Death" on xoJane.com
• "It Happened To Me: I Couldn't Control My Compulsive Exercise, And Now I Need A Spinal Fusion to Fix the Damage" on xoJane.com
• "We Put Celebrity Fragrances to the Test" on LA.Racked.com

Behind the Scenes: Quail Bell Press & Productions

Dedicated to exploring "the imaginary, the nostalgic and the otherworldly," Quail Bell Magazine is both an online and print venture published and produced under the Quail Bell Press & Productions umbrella. Articles, stories, essays, poetry, illustrations and photography from a wide range of creative souls comprise the ever-growing collection as the Quail Bell community continues to grow. We had a chance to talk to Christine Stoddard (check out our feature on her career), the Co-owner and Creative Director behind it all.

Pictured: Christine Stoddard.

Thank you for taking the time to give us a behind-the-scenes look at Quail Bell Press & Productions, Christine! Tell us a bit about how Quail Bell was started. 

I have loved books my whole life and 'zines and blogs since middle school. Quail Bell Magazine evolved from my urge to unify my blogging and zine-ing ideas, habits, and ambitions. So I registered the domain name while a student at VCUarts, and tinkered with the website for a while, pulling in classmates and strangers from the Internet alike. In 2011, I finally got serious and wrangled a real team, including Julie DiNisio and, a little later, Jade Miller, plus several others. Soon we had submissions coming in from all over the world.

Unfortunately, despite speedy progress that summer and early fall, Quail Bell's managing editor, Josephine Stone, was hit and killed by a valet driver right after we released our first print issue in October 2011. It took a while to recover from that shock, but I was lucky enough to meet Kristen Rebelo in May 2012. By fall 2012, it was really just Kristen and me running Quail Bell, since our friends Jade and Julie had decided to pursue careers in teaching. Kristen and I shut down the website and gave it what it really needed: a professional design overhaul. In June 2013, I made Kristen my business partner as co-owner of Quail Bell Press & Productions. Now we update QuailBellMagazine.com everyday, while also working on other original Quail Bell projects. We do art, media, and communications work for clients, too.

Pictured: Christine Stoddard & Kristen Rebelo.

It sounds like there are several components of Quail Bell— please elaborate a bit on each project for us!

There’s no mistaking a quail—not with its distinctive topknot and rhythmic bob. Likewise, there’s no mistaking Quail Bell. Co-owned by Kristen Rebelo and me, Quail Bell Press & Productions is the umbrella company to various and memorable creative projects and endeavors. These efforts have inspired not only thought but conversation and action.

The company’s most widely recognized project is Quail Bell Magazine—a multimedia publication that receives thousands of pageviews every month. Since going full-force with its redesign from a college hobby to a professional publication in June 2013, Quail Bell Magazine receives submissions from all over the world. For the uninitiated, here is the magazine’s official mission statement:

“Quail Bell Magazine is a social and artistic experiment in the imaginary, the nostalgic, and the otherworldly. Our readers are curious, creative, and compassionate fairy punks who are citizens of the world. All members of The Quail Bell Crew respect and embrace all cultures, excluding only the sexist, racist, homophobic, and otherwise unkind and uncompromising. It is because of this open-mindedness and positivity that Quail Bell Magazine is fortunate enough to publish content by contributors from across the globe. Quail Bell Magazine encourages original thought, open dialogue and community-building through content that explores the relationship between "The Real" and "The Unreal." We value the arts, history, folklore, and other oddities often not mentioned in mainstream magazines. As a woman-run publication, we strive to publish only the highest-quality content that not only challenges readers, but lets them have a little fun and maybe enjoy a little cuteness, too. We are not attempting to produce a magazine that is purely literary or purely journalistic, but, rather, somewhere in between for results that are inspiring and informative. In all that we write, draw, photograph, and otherwise make, The Quail Bell Crew will honor this editorial mission statement.”

Quail Bell Magazine first received a nod from Richmond, Virginia's creative scene in October 2011 when Style Weekly recognized me as one of the city’s “Top 40 Under 40.” Only two weeks prior to bagging that accolade, The Quail Bell Crew released its first print ‘zine—a stapled, black and white rag with color covers—at the Richmond ‘Zine Festival. Fast forward to Issue 5—full-color, perfect-bound, and printed by Richmond’s own Carter Printing Company, to be unveiled at the Brooklyn ‘Zine Festival, this April. That same fateful month, October 2011, marked Quail Bell’s first fashion show, “Once Upon a Dream,” sponsored by the VCU Barnes & Noble. Last year, the magazine’s third annual fashion show, “Timeless Zeitgeist,” took place at the sleek Selba Lounge.

Pictured: Christine Stoddard & Kristen Rebelo.

What had otherwise been a month marked by happiness and accomplishments, October 2011 also brought the untimely death of Quail Bell Magazine’s managing editor, Josephine Stone. But The Quail Bell Crew has emerged from that much publicized tragedy with renewed passion and vigor for its mission. I earned a national emerging artist grant from The Puffin Foundation to conceive Mixteco/RVA shortly before graduating from VCUarts, where I studied under novelist Susann Cokal, playwright Laura Browder, and filmmaker Mary Beth Reed. Just as I was preparing for the VCUarts Cinema Summer Intensive, I met Kristen Rebelo, then only a sophomore in the Communication Arts program. Impressed by her talent and drive, my then-associate editors, Jade Miller and Julie DiNisio, and I made Kristen Quail Bell Magazine’s art director.

Once Jade and Julie began their careers as school teachers, Kristen and I decided to lead Quail Bell Press & Productions on our own. So we commenced work on Quail Bell Magazine and other projects. One such project was the aforementioned Mixteco/RVA, a photo and essay book art project on linguistic injustice in Virginia. Another was The Persistence of Poe, a 24-minute documentary film about Edgar Allan Poe’s life in Richmond and his influence upon the city’s creative community today.

Most recently, Quail Bell Magazine has had two books published by Belle Isle Books, an imprint of Brandylane Publishers. These books are The Nest: An Anthology of The Unreal and Airborne: An Anthology of The Real, and both are available on BarnesAndNoble.com, Amazon.com, and in brick and mortar retailers.

A few of Quail Bell’s current clients include Z Idea Factory in Arlington, Virginia, environmental activist Brock Evans in Washington, D.C., and Foxhall Design Company in Port Republic, Maryland. Quail Bell Magazine also boasts several partners, such as Luna Luna Magazine, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, and VIDA, a national organization for women in the literary arts.

The Quail Bell story continues everyday on QuailBellMagazine.com and QuailBell.com.

What are some of the logistics involved in running Quail Bell Press & Productions?

Quail Bell Press & Productions is now my full-time gig. It has not always been, however. Since graduating, I have juggled Quail Bell with full-time jobs as an associate producer at a major television station and, more recently, as an assistant editor at a respected regional magazine. In between working at the TV station and the regional magazine, I worked on Quail Bell full-time, but I found that I was still lacking in some key skills—skills the regional magazine especially helped me develop. These jobs mainly helped me build up my business know-how and become more detail-oriented (in regards to marketing and data management in particular), which I needed to better attract Quail Bell clients and manage dealings with them. As my partner Kristen is just graduating from college this May, we have discussed how important it is for her to have a full-time job for at least a year or two, as well. So she will be juggling her job and Quail Bell for some time, too.

Quail Bell does not have a brick and mortar presence. Kristen and I operate out of our home offices and usually meet clients at coffee shops or their own offices. Of course, much of our business can be conduced online and over the phone. That being said, we do host or participate in regular events to promote Quail Bell's original products, such as the magazine and the anthologies. In March, for instance, we tabled at the Virginia Festival of the Book and the Virginia Production Alliance State of the Industry Expo. This month, I screened a Quail Bell original film, A Train Runs Through It, at the New York Transit Museum. (You can now find our anthologies in their gift shop.) At the end of the month, we're tabling at the Brooklyn 'Zine Festival. We enjoy introducing our work to new audiences in person.

We manage each Quail Bell project differently, meaning there's a unique process and budget. A project may be backed by Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, a grant, and/or a percentage of funds we set aside after completing a client project. Kristen and I entered a cooperative publishing agreement with Brandylane Publishing for our anthologies, for instance. Meanwhile, we sell advertising on QuailBellMagazine.com for individual artists, small businesses, non-profits, etc. The magazine website also has a shop. Then, of course, there are client projects, which vary according to what the client wants, their timeline, their budget, etc.

In a typical day, I might update QuailBellMagazine.com, answer client emails, write and send press releases, plan a Quail Bell event, work on a client project, and work on an original Quail Bell project.

Quail Bell Magazine, Issue 5.

What does the future look like for Quail Bell?

Bright! Over the next month or so, we will be promoting our latest print 'zine, Quail Bell: Issue 5, getting our anthologies into more bookstores, securing more advertisers for the magazine, prepping for the New York Poetry Festival, and wrapping up our documentary, Richmond's Dead and Buried. That is all I will reveal for more, but there is certainly a lot in the works now and in the near future.

If someone wanted to be published on the website or in the magazine, what should they do?

Kristen and I review submissions for QuailBellMagazine.com everyday and review submissions for the print 'zine on a quarterly basis. A piece must first be accepted to the website to be considered for the print 'zine. Please check out our submission guidelines here.

To order Quail Bell Magazine, art prints and apparel, visit the Quail Bell shop. 

Cynthia Rosi: Novelist

Name: Cynthia Rosi

College & Majors/Minors: English

Current Location: Columbus, Ohio

Current Form of Employment: Novelist

Where do you work and what is your current position? 

After graduating from the University of Puget Sound, I got on an airplane and flew to London. I knew precisely one person there, a law student I'd met at a bus-stop during my semester as an exchange student, and I stayed with his grandmother while I got on my feet. 

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

My first job was as a secretary but I kept looking for writing jobs. I eventually found one at a newspaper that had a high turnover. What a culture shock. They expected me to know shorthand, English law, and be a pit-bull in the style of a tabloid newspaper. So different from the genteel coaching in journalism I'd had as an undergrad.

I lived in England for 16 years and during that time I worked for newspapers and magazines. Anyone planning that path should take a journalism certification class in the UK because the culture and systems and libel laws are very different.

At that time it was unusual for an American to live in the UK, and because of my accent I really stuck out. That made it easier to be remembered at interviews and get a job. But the newspaper industry in the UK is poorly paid, volatile and cut-throat. When I moved over to Public Relations it was (curiously enough) a more honest way of earning a living, less stressful, with better pay. In the UK journalists are lampooned in comedy shows as pigs. That moniker is well deserved for much of the industry there and I was glad to leave it.

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

In the newsroom I learned to write no matter what sound happened around me. All preciousness drops away as you pound out the words toward a deadline. Accuracy counts. Shorthand counts. Those lessons still help me now.

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

Swim team prepared me to keep doing something even though I was dying. It's so boring staring at the bottom of a pool for four hours a day, and getting out so exhausted I couldn't think, and making myself think enough to get my work done. That prepared me for being alone in a foreign country, in poverty, struggling to do a job I didn't fully understand. It took tremendous guts and stamina.

An internship at a rock magazine helped me to prepare to be disoriented. I didn't really know the music I was covering. All my education had been in classical piano. I had to learn about the roots of rock music and why what was going on was innovative, and to listen to bands I didn't like to figure out what other people liked about them. Why did our readers find it interesting? I had to understand that or everything I wrote would be irrelevant. 

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

Don't skimp on getting the education you need to do your job well. That could mean that you go to grad school or that you take additional online classes, or get an additional technical certification. In the UK life would have been better if I'd obtained the NCTJ certificate, but honestly I was too poor living in a foreign country with no family and school debt on a miserable salary. I cobbled together the portions of the NCTJ I knew I was missing and took shorthand classes at night school, and studied UK libel law books, as well as ethics books because there were no ethics in the newsroom that I could discern.

When I came back to the US I had small children but I knew I wanted to go to graduate school. Finances and time constraints made me wait until they were in high school, but I'm glad I'm doing my MFA at Antioch, Los Angeles. The professors help you to see the work in a new light and to go to a new place in your writing. I have a novel The Light Catcher coming out in October.

Read, read, read. If you're a journalist, that means four publications every morning, maybe six on the weekends until you start seeing the same stories appearing with different twists. If you're a novelist, grab a reading list off an MFA website and start ticking off those books. Reading is the best way to improve your writing. If you can't find the time to write, aim to write on a piece for five minutes a day. If you feel you can write for longer, set a timer for yourself over at tomato-timer.com. I wrote my first novel Motherhunt on timers set for 20 minute intervals.

There isn't room in this industry any longer for writers who don't want to promote themselves. That first book deal is critical, and if your sales suck, you won't get another one for a very long time. If you're dreaming about writing a novel, get started on two social media platforms and a blog. Play with them. Become familiar with their formats. It doesn't matter how many subscribers you have, but it does matter that you're in the sandbox. Because when the book is done, you'll be able to manipulate Wordpress tools, and know how to interact on Facebook, and how to work in the Tweet-o-sphere. That will eliminate so much of the learning curve when you get to marketing, which is an essential part of being a novelist today.

Cynthia can be found on Facebook (she encourages you to send her a friend request), twitter, and on her website, www.cynthiarosi.com.

Gary Luke: President & Publisher of Sasquatch Books

Name: Gary Luke

Age: 59

College & Majors/Minors: Western Washington University (although it was called Western Washington State College when I graduated). English major.

Current Location: Seattle, WA

Current Form of Employment: President & Publisher of Sasquatch Books

Where do you work and what is your current position? We want to hear about what it's like to work at Sasquatch Books! 

I am the president and publisher of Sasquatch Books, a regional publishing company in Seattle. I’m responsible for business results of the company, and I have lots of help in the area from the associate publisher and the controller. I also lead the editorial department that signs up the books we publish. So I look at a lot of numbers and I read many pages of materials (molecules and electrons) looking for good writers and interesting book ideas.

What is your advice to people who are hoping to work in the publishing industry? 

The book publishing industry is undergoing a lot of change these days. But it has been doing that since I started working as an assistant editor in 1979! A good candidate for the publishing world has to be a book lover and a passionate reader. And that reading doesn’t have to be just literature, it can be history or psychology or business. Publishing people are interested in cultural and social trends whether that’s the latest installment of “Nashville” or an argument that’s going on in academia. Be widely interested in the world but become an expert in a few topics.

Tell us about other jobs you've held that have been important in your career. 

I’ve only worked in the publishing industry. My objective from the start was to be an editor (based on not very much information!) but my first job was in sales as an educational representative in the Midwest for Dell/Delacorte. I think seeing the distribution end of things and experiencing the reality of presenting a book to a buyer were instrumental in forming my sense of what a book has to go through to get to a reader.

What did you do in college to prepare for your post-grad life? What kinds of extracurriculars did you participate in? 

I read British literature from the beginning until it was time for me to leave school. So in 4.5 years, I got up to the late 18th century. But I took an expository writing class where we read several writers including Joan Didion. I fell in love with her essays. So, I learned in school that books have a lot of meaning—cerebral, emotional, historical. I assumed that the way to be in touch with that and not have to get a Ph.D. was to pursue book publishing. Practically all that I read in college was poetry, drama, and fiction. But most of the books that I have edited and published have been nonfiction. Understanding the elements of storytelling has been an essential skill.

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

The world is your oyster! English majors know how to read, think, analyze, and write. Those stills have value in every setting in modern life. This is old fogey advice, but here goes: read a good newspaper like The New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. I would also say go ahead and splurge on a paper subscription. The NYT is my self-help guide because it makes me a better-informed person.

Visit sasquatchbooks.com to check out their previous publications and upcoming releases. 

Charlotte McGill: Self-Employed Writer & Editor

Name: Charlotte McGill 

Age: 22 

College & Majors/Minors: English and Creative Writing BA, Writing for Children MA 

Current Location: Hampshire, England 

Current Form of Employment: Sole Trader, offering Professional Writing Services 

Where do you work and what is your current position?

At the moment I am set us as a sole trader with no other employees, so I have the luxury of working for myself. The name of my business is Charlotte McGill Writing Services, and I mainly deal with businesses as an outsourced copywriter or editor. 

In my previous two jobs, while I was technically classed as 'sales' I was actually more of the marketing manager, and this meant I had the responsibility of writing content for the company blogs and websites, as well as managing social media and the marketing department. I found this particularly useful, and when you're going into writing as a professional, having a marketing background is a massive bonus. 

Tell us about how you found your first job, and how you found your current job.

Up until University I just worked in retail, so I don't feel this is relevant. I found my first 'real' jobs through an employment agency, which required you to take basic competency tests to prove you could write and count. I was lucky in that I didn't have to interview much before I was offered the job. The main skill the employers were looking for in both accounts was the ability to communicate clearly, come across as personable and enthusiastic, and how good my ability to sell myself to them was. It was these skills that convinced them i would be good in sales, but better in marketing. I always thought the interviews would be terrifying, but once you arrived and realized that they are just normal people, the interviews were relaxed and easy going. 

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

One of the most important things I did during uni was take part in Project Litmus. This was a part of the 'Publishing Project' where students created and published an anthology of their works, from start to finish. We split into sections and all took on different responsibilities. Everyone wrote a piece, it was then given to designated editors (I was the editor of all children's fiction submissions) before being given to the graphics department to be typeset, a cover designed and sent to print as an anthology. I was also part of the marketing department, working on promoting the launch event and a general marketing strategy. This gave me a great insight into the whole process and allowed me to say I had a piece published. 

My uni frequently ran author and career talks, and I attended every one of these. These were a great chance to pick the brains of people who had made it in the business, and get an idea for just how many ways you can succeed in writing. 

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

Make sure you ask questions of anyone who you think can help you. Don't be afraid of looking stupid— we were all there once— but getting advice from people you admire of who do what you want to do is the best way of not only getting ideas of how to move forward, but also to disillusion yourself. Everyone thinks a career in writing will be easy for them because they are great and people will love them, but the truth is, until you acknowledge that it's a tough, competitive field that you have to work incredibly hard in to be successful, you won't move forward. 

Ask questions. Get advice wherever you can. Learn from it, and make a solid plan. Know where you are now, where you want to be, and how you're going to get there.

Visit Charlotte's professional website, CharlotteMcGill.com and follow her on twitter!

Dan Moyer Jr.: Screenwriter

Name: Dan Moyer Jr.

Age: 26

College & Majors/Minors: English, minor in Philosophy

Current Location: Los Angeles, CA

Current Form of Employment: Screenwriter

Where do you work and what is your current position?

Simply put: everything and anything. That’s what it takes to make a living as a freelance writer. Someone need a review written? I can do that. Need a product description for a catalogue? Sure, I can do that, too. Every job you get makes it easier to get the next one. Work your way up the ladder. I truly believe the adage: “Do what you have to, so you can do what you want to.” Living that way has taken me some pretty interesting places.

For example, I got to tour with one of Randy Jackson’s recording artists on Warped Tour in 2012. I lived on the bus, did a lot of partying and drinking with bands like Yellowcard and New Found Glory, and all I had to do was blog about our adventures. Basically, I got to live the Almost Famous life for 33 days. Now, I live in LA. I work from home, for myself, as a screenwriter. I’ve adapted novels. Done re-writes. Written biopics. I’m still not at the point where I can to do everything I want to do, but I’m still climbing. Still hustling. Because it’s not enough to be a good writer. There are thousands of good writers out there. You have to be a good salesperson, too. You have to sell yourself.

What kind of projects have you been working on recently?

Unfortunately, I've signed an NDA for most of my recent work, so I can't talk too much about it. But here's what I can tell you:

• I recently wrote the synopsis and character one-sheets for actor Matthew Modine's upcoming project, The Rocking Horsemen, which he plans to direct.
• My original TV pilot, The Edgelands, was highlighed by The Black List this month. The Black List is a list of the top unprodcued screenplays in the industry.

Tell us about how you found your first job— what was the process like?

After I graduated (and after a drunken conversation on the beach), I moved to LA with a friend of mine who was going to be attending USC’s engineering school. He said to me, “You’ve always wanted to go to Hollywood, right?” A few days later, I signed a lease for an apartment on the other side of the country (in a city I had never been to, mind you) and the job hunt began! I applied for every internship I could think of. Every opening. I lined up six or seven interviews for my first few days in LA, and luckily, I got one. It was with a small film acquisition company in the NBC building. Exciting at first, but the long hours, cold calls, and commission-based pay got old— fast. But they happened to be down the hall from a small development company. I just walked into their offices one day and told the boss, “Look – I went to school to be a writer. Not a telemarketer. I have this script…” He read it, liked it, and hired me as a staff writer to polish some screenplays they had optioned. That job gave me all sorts of insight into the industry. How scripts get made. How they get bought, sold. Turned into movies. I attended premiers. The American Film Market. Eventually, I learned enough to know that I could make more money as a freelancer, jumping from project to project, company to company. And so – here I am.

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

I’ve done a lot of editing over the years (even though I’ve always considered myself a writer first, speller second). A lot of blogging, too. I did both for an energy company that was based out of Singapore. Found the job through a Craigslist ad. That side-job helped pay my bills in between scripts. It’s always important to have a side gig. A lifeline. Can’t put all your eggs in one basket, because what happens then? Someone doesn’t pay on time. You can’t make rent. It’s you who winds up getting evicted— not them.

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

You know how they say college isn’t for everyone? I always felt like that. I didn’t need college, I thought. I hated going to class. Hated taking classes I didn’t care about. But I stuck with it. Got my degree. And thank God I did. I had a brief internship in New York City working for New Line Cinema in the Merchandising Department when I was a sophomore. It was a good learning experience – got to sit in on a few product integration meetings, plus I got a lot of free stuff – but what I learned most was that the “9-5, commute to the city job” wasn’t for me. I just wasn’t happy. 12-hour days. Filing. Half-hour lunch breaks. Groan. I quit after a month or so.

The lesson? If you aren’t sure what you want to do with your life, keep crossing things off the list until you find it. For me, it was screenwriting. Always loved movies. Loved writing short stories. But it wasn’t until I opened my college newspaper one day and read an article about a one-week student film competition that I put it all together. They gave me a camera, Macbook Pro, final cut, tripod – you name it. My friends and I spent the next week skipping class and staying up all night working on our film. I loved every second of it. Even the painful ones. For the first time, I loved the process of something. We made the top 10 that year. I dropped every education class I had (I was going to be an English teacher) and enrolled in every film and screenwriting class I could. The next year, I had two films in the top 10. Year after that, I was in LA. Things move quickly once you’re inspired. In the meantime, just keep crossing careers off your list.

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

My advice would be this: never settle for anything in life. Don’t just become a teacher because you’re not sure what else to do with your expensive education. No, I don’t make a lot of money, and yes, some months are more stressful than others – but you know what? I’m my own boss. I love the hustle. And I haven’t woken up to an alarm clock since I graduated. That, to me, is true happiness. So whether you’re reading this and you’re in a good mood, or you’re depressed because all your friends seem to have their futures so “figured out,” remember this – the people who think they’ve reached the end of the line in their twenties are usually the ones who’ll have a mid-life crises. So keep searching for that dream job. Learn to take “no” and move on. Successful people are built on the rejection of others.