Where The Writing/Editing Jobs Are: Thinking Outside the Lines

For fledgling and experienced writers alike, getting a job in a tight market can be challenging, to understate it.

Layoffs at newpapers, magazines and websites dump more candidates into the job market. Some of these are absorbed as writers and editors resolve to control their own destiny and be their own masters (freelance) or finally get into a line of work that pays (PR). Retiring wordsmiths are replaced by whole new classfuls of bright-eyed graduates looking for that foot in the editorial door--willing to work harder, unencumbered by family, able to survive on a smaller paycheck, while experienced candidates may offer a more settled lifestyle, extensive background and family to support as a reason to stick around.

Whether you're starting or seasoned, here's a reminder that getting into the queues for available jobs can mean creativity in the job search process. Here are some suggestions for improving the odds:

• Job search is like sales -- it's a numbers game. The more applications you make, the better your odds of getting an interview.
• Be prepared -- a good resume, a knock-out cover letter http://www.savvymiss.com/career-woman/career-advice/9-to-5-grind-archive/article/how-to-write-a-great-cover-letter-292/news-browse/5/sspn//c7613c060b.html, prepared references, interview clothes, a prepared approach for your interview.
• Be your own best PR person. Without boring others or droning on and on about yourself, find ways to demonstrate and talk about the things you shine at, from your cover letter to conversations at family reunions.
• Brush up on job search skills -- here's a book that I've recommended often. (It includes ways to answer the 100 toughest interview questions) http://www.amazon.com/Knock-Dead-2008-Ultimate-Search/dp/1598691651/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202272121&sr=1-1
• Look the usual places -- In addition to employer job boards, company sites (check the HR department for posted jobs) popular journalism jobs sites include journalismjobs http://journalismjobs.com/, mediabistro http://mediabistro.com/joblistings/ , editor & publisher http://edpub.careercast.com/js.php?qInd=vnuuscategoryjournalism.
• Thinking outside the lines can mean looking further afield. True, New York City has huge concentrations of jobs in publishing. There are also a lot of candidates subsisting as baristas at Starbucks while they hope for even editorial crumbs. Check out state press assocation links (you can start here http://www.texaspress.com/StatePressLinks.html) to find jobs outside your region.
• Network like crazy: Ask around. Join writers groups, online forums like mediabistro.com's http://mediabistro.com/bbs/ and associations. Mingle! Get to know other writers. Get informational interviews at places you'd like to work. And be helpful -- bring something to put on the table; networking is a two-way street. http://www.rileyguide.com/network.html
• Don't be too proud to do what you need to do to survive while you look. Use some other marketable skill. http://www.monster.com/ Waiting tables and all other kinds of stop-gap work have their own dignity as you support yourself.
• In the meantime, demonstrate your ability to master technology, as well as an area of expertise, by blogging about an interest at http://www.blogger.com/. See my list of articles on searchwarp.com here. http://searchwarp.com/Author129511.htm Don't forget a succinct, upbeat bio about your skills and background.
• Add experience to your portfolio with volunteer work within your field.
• And get your freelance going by looking for publications needing articles in your area of expertise, or in need of your ability to write about anything. Study up on freelancing here. http://www.absolutewrite.com/

Good luck!

J. Louise Larson http://writingporch.blogspot.com/

Catch 22: No gigs, no experience -- and no experience, no gigs

There's a bit of a Catch-22 when it comes to the early days of getting published. I see it all the time on the forums at http://mediabistro.com/bbs/ -- newer writers looking to get a foot in the door.

Here's the deal -- a variation of the traditional jobseeker's dilemma: You can't get gigs unless you have experience. You can't get experience unless you have gigs.

The recent explosion of websites offering to publish your work for free -- and the opportunity to blog at the drop of a hat -- have provided a way for those who want to write to their words out there.

Every Tom, Dick and Harriett (and every subject you can think of) has a blog. A blog chum recently suggested I do a Mother-of-the-Groom blog, since there are so many weddings and she hadn't seen one devoted to the MOG, and I have a grown son getting married. (My response to this is that my son would rather have dental surgery than be stalked by his mother so I'm trying to leave The Happy Couple in relative peace. Get it? Relative?)

Here's the thing: this digital newbiehaven can help you get online and loosen up your knuckles at the keyboard, but it can't do one thing that paid writers at paying magazines get.

Edited.

I know -- e-d-i-t is a four-letter word. There's a clever joke about it by Granite Girl on mediabistro, and it goes like this: Lost in the desert, a writer and an editor are lost in the desert. The writer wanders in one direction, the editor in the other, both desperate for water. The writer finds an oasis with a pool of clean, cool water and calls out to the editor. The editor, joining him, promptly starts to pee in the pool. "What are you doing?!" the writer cries. The editor explains, "I'm making it better."

There's no substitute for getting edited, as painful as that sounds. A good editor will knock the rough edges off, and a good writer will learn something with every edit. Don't put an extra space between sentences. Here's where you put the hyphen. Most great writers stand on the shoulders of giants. I can name six editors who have helped to form the stylebook in my head.

Another risk with tossing stuff online is the possibility that it will still be out there in cyberspace, waiting for some prospective editor to Google you, long after you've learned better how to dot your I's and cross your T's.

Fixes? If you've just gotta write, consider writing under a pseudonym while you're experimenting.

And read, read, read.

Check out searchwarp.com as a forum for your work. See my articles here: http://searchwarp.com/Author129511.htm