Recently I was waking up and checking my emails while still feeling blurry when I saw a job going at the ANU Press for a Digital Editor. The role of Digital Editor job is something I aspire to but not something I feel fully qualified for. I don’t have loads of experience with editing nor a lot of formal education concerning it outside my writing degree. But one of the best ways to get both experience and education can be through internships. This gave me the idea to email them about volunteer opportunities.
I decided to be push myself to be a little braver and give them plenty of information about myself, my education and my goals as well as my CV straight away. I figure I am more likely to get a look in if I’m upfront about who I am, what I want and why. Perhaps because of this I got an email the next day from the ANU Press inviting me to have coffee and talk about opportunities happening at the Press.
I read this email while I was out with my best friend Cat, and was pretty close to screaming into the cold wind with victory. If I am offered a volunteer position and introduced to the real workings of publishing (not just fetching coffees and filing) then this really could be my break! This could be a fantastic learning experience that could help get me a position in a publishing house. This is the break I have been trying to get for well over 6 months. After a lot of getting no where and unanswered emails I am finally getting some traction!
Speaking of getting some where, tomorrow I start at the M16 Art Space. I’m nervous but also excited to be getting into writing for them. It looks like they want me to help them out with social media, their blog as well as write reviews of exhibitions. It will be interesting to see what the structure will be like and start orientating myself.
I don’t believe its as easy or unproblematic as pimping ourselves out for free for long enough to get that “perfect” writing job, but I do believe in gratitude to the people who are willing to give artists proper internships, jobs and experience in the industry. It’s been beyond hard getting out of Uni and finding that there were no jobs for a creative writer who wanted to just write fiction and that being a writer and selling short stories isn’t an art that can solely support me, but after much despair and depression I am finding a niche for myself. I’m finding where my skills can fit and how I can get a realistic income out of what I learned at Uni.
rachael and jane 