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Advice to an Aspiring Editor · The Daily Writer

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hey my friend, welcome to The Daily Writer, where we help writers become authors of their own lives.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: A couple of weeks ago, a recent college grad emailed me to ask for some career advice, and I asked her to share more about her goals because I don't like to give advice in a vacuum.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: I always like to know the context of the person's goals before I give any kind of advice or guidance.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to share with you part of her email that she sent to me along with my reply back to her, as well as a couple other thoughts to wrap up this episode.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Here's part of her email.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, Kent.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: When it comes to what I would like to do for my career, my dream is to become a fiction editor.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: I've always loved reading in my English classes throughout school.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think I would love working in publishing and being in the literary world.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: To start my career, I've been looking for associate editing positions, assistant positions, or internships in publishing.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: In terms of my experience in editing, I was an intern and later made an advisor at, and she shared a local magazine where she worked.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: She goes on to say, I really enjoyed my time there.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: The editors I worked with were amazing people, and I learned a good amount about the industry and the editing process.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: In terms of my degree, I was an English major with an emphasis in creative nonfiction.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here was my reply back to her.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, I shared her name in the email.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't just say hey there.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: But obviously, I'm not sharing her name for privacy reasons.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there, you've gotten a great start at, and then I named the local magazine, and that's a great credential.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you can stay connected to the staff there.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: A big suggestion that I have is to put as much effort as you can into building your presence online.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: You've already learned a lot through your education and experience, and you have a wealth of knowledge you can share on LinkedIn, a blog, podcast interviews, and so forth.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Very few editors are doing this, and you'll stand out a lot.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: It also lets people know that you're a thoughtful person who is contributing knowledge that can help other people.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'd also recommend connecting with editors at places like literary magazines, publishers, indie presses, and so forth.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: I encourage you to focus on building relationships and learning about what they do and what they need.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Publishing really is a pretty small industry, and every opportunity I've had, except for one, has come from knowing other people.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Connections are everything.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I went on to share a couple other things in my email back to this young lady, but that's the most important thing of what I shared.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I've shared my reply here because the main principle that I mentioned, which is the importance of connections, is such a vital principle in growing your platform or your business.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're an introvert like I am, it's really easy to get stuck in your cave, quote unquote, and to ignore other people.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And trust me, out of anybody in the world, I totally get the impulse to want to just contain yourself in this solitary environment and not spend time with other people and to sometimes see other people as an interruption or as people who only want your energy and so forth.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Trust me, I totally get that because I'm kind of wired that way as well.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing the people that you meet can help you and you can help them.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that is where the magic happens.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's where the magic of business growth happens.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: I also think that's where the magic of joy happens as well.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because the reality is that we don't have anything in life that other people have not given us in some way, shape, or form most of the time.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you are wired like an introvert, like I am, as I am, I just want to encourage you to keep this principle in mind, which is the importance of connections and the importance of relationships.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: It really is the key to growing your business and I think having more joy and creative satisfaction in life.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: By the way, I love answering questions like this.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have a question about writing, books, or related topics, I would really love to hear from you.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Truly, you can shoot me an email at Kent at KentSanders.net.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks so much for listening today.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Keep writing and keep showing up.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, I'll see you tomorrow.