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Julie Matysik (Yamanashi-ken, 2006-07) is a freelance copy editor and aspiring in-house editor who recently moved to NYC with her husband (also a JET alum). She is the midst of an internship in editing/publishing/writing. Editorial Pursuits chronicles her job hunting efforts, experiences and lessons learned.Well, it’s official: I am in internship junkie!
My inability to land a full-time job in publishing has left me with little options but to continue to pile on the internships. And my newest addition: Skyhorse Publishing.
In mid-January I realized that I wanted to gain experience in an actual publishing company (in addition to my literary agency internship) and so I turned to Craigslist.com for help. Finding an add for Skyhorse Publishing, a company I’d never even heard of before, I wrote my letter of interest and forwarded my resume and heard back a few days later. After a brief phone interview, I was awarded Read More
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). She watches Fujisankei news in Japanese (to keep her interpreting skills sharp) and shares with us some of the interesting tidbits and trends as well as her own insights.
For many foreigners visiting Tokyo, an early morning trip to the legendary tuna auction at Tsukiji fish market is a must. However, last year the metropolitan government decided it had had enough of rowdy tourists disturbing the auctions and forbid them to enter the area during this time. Restriction began in April with the closing off of certain sections, and it escalated to complete denial of access for the one month period between December 15, 2008 and January 17, 2009. This tourist destination that receives as many as 500 visitors a day distributed flyers and put up signs in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and Russian declaring the ban. 
The reasons the conflict escalated to this point were multifold. Aside from what was cited as general gaijin rudeness, there were some actions that were particularly upsetting to the auctioneers and other employees. For example, visitors would pose Read More
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Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, has reviewed all haiku submissions containing the designated word “pop“ for Haiku Challenge #3 and has selected a winner to receive a free copy of Japanamerica + Susan Napier’s Anime: From Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle.
Says Roland: “As a half-Japanese drummer and writer, I can’t resist finding a paradiddle and bubble-blowing carp in a haiku. Congratulations, Julie Matysik–and thanks to all for stellar contributions.”
THE WINNER
A paradiddle.
The sticks connect, pop, bounce,
like koi blowing bubbles.
–Julie Matysik (Yamanashi-ken, 2006-07)
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Click “Read More” to read the rest of the haiku submissions…
Read More
Julie Matysik (Yamanashi-ken, 2006-07) is a freelance copy editor and aspiring in-house editor who recently moved to NYC with her husband (also a JET alum). She has just started an internship in editing/publishing/writing. Editorial Pursuits chronicles her job hunting efforts, experiences and lessons learned.
Happy New Year, Jetwit readers!
I apologize for my prolonged absence from the website but, seeing as how I’m still without a paying job, still unsuccessfully finding new job postings congruent with my entry-level publishing knowledge, and still without any interviews for jobs I’ve applied to weeks ago, I didn’t really know what to write about as we rang in 2009. I sort of feel as though I’ve hit that proverbial brick-in-the-wall and can’t seem to wedge myself out of this tacky substance known of my frustrating editorial pursuits.
So, while I am unable to relay any quirky anecdotes about my present internship situation or to go on a tirade about the publishing industry’s apparent doomsday, I do want to express my sincere gratitude to all of you former JETs out there who have been so open to helping people like me, who are struggling in this tough economic time, by offering advice and support in the continuing job search. I think sometimes living in such a big place like New York City, one can easily forget that there are really genuine, kind, and caring people out among the snotty, rude, and self-important citizens of The Big Apple.
Since beginning my job search in September of last year, I’ve been the recipient of multiple acts of kindness from former JETs and I believe this is a testament to the sort of people JET attracts. So many of you are more than willing to go out on a limb and help your cohorts and I dedicate this posting to all of you. Thank you for all you’ve done and continue to do in making not only me but others in this network feel a little more hopeful and a little less lonely.
That said, here is my obligatory New Year’s Resolution: to continue networking and persevering until I have a job at a publishing house and to say “thank you” more often to my fellow JETs for their constant and unwavering support.
Julie Matysik (Yamanashi-ken, 2006-07) is a freelance copy editor and aspiring in-house editor who recently moved to NYC with her husband (also a JET alum). She has just started an internship in editing/publishing/writing. Editorial Pursuits chronicles her job hunting efforts, experiences and lessons learned.
As part of my internship, I’ve been entrusted with reading what we like to call “slush”-unsolicited manuscripts that, almost 99% of the time, come to find an impersonal rejection letter folder in a neat and hopeful self-addressed stamped envelope. Now, normally I like to consider myself a very fair, open-minded, and kind individual; I especially love being introduced to new books, authors, genres, etc. However, when it comes to reading “slush,” I feel a demonic, elitist monster overtaking my body.
That said, this is not the first time I’ve been asked to read through various query letters, synopses, and sample chapters. At an internship I held at Cream City Review literary magazine in Milwaukee, WI I also read short story manuscripts and about half of the time, I passed the manuscript on to a fiction editor for their feedback. So I don’t know if the frustrations with not being able to find a permanent publishing job in the so-called “Mecca” of publishing (a.k.a. NYC) or my need to assert some pent-up dominance over Read More
Omedetou to freelance writer/editor Jonathan Trace (Fukuoka-ken, 2005-08) who just got an internship with a publishing company thanks to his work with JetWit as the JETAA Chapter Beat guy!
He found out about it through Julie Matysik (who herself got an internship at the same publishing company after a JET alum who works there saw her first two Editorial Pursuits posts on JetWit), who found out about the latest internship opportunity and passed it on to Jonathan because she knew through JetWit that he was looking for similar opportunities.
This is one of the strengths of the JET alumni network. There are lots more connections and opportunities out there, even in this tough economy. We just have to dig a little and sometimes be creative to find them.
Note: The internships are unpaid, albeit good places to start, which means Julie and Jonathan are both still in the market for paying jobs if anyone wants to hire them. (The JET alumni network is strong, but it’s not all-powerful. Not yet anyway. :-)
Julie Matysik (Yamanashi-ken, 2006-07) is a freelance copy editor and aspiring in-house editor who recently moved to NYC with her husband (also a JET alum). She has just started an internship in editing/publishing/writing. Editorial Pursuits chronicles her job hunting efforts, experiences and lessons learned.
Warning: the following post is coming from deep frustrations with job searching and the inability to land a solid entry-level job in the editing and publishing field over the past four months.
I cannot even begin to express how frustrating it is when you check a site daily for jobs and find nothing a) that you are qualified for, b) that is in the city you are living in, or c) — just plain nothing!
My most favorite, and most reliable, job searching sites-Publisher’s Marketplace, MediaBistro, and Book Jobs-have not posted anything pertinent to my job search needs in the last two weeks.
Of course, I know better than to blame the job search engines for Read More
Julie Matysik (Yamanashi-ken, 2006-07) is a freelance copy editor and aspiring in-house editor who recently moved to NYC with her husband (also a JET alum). She has just started an internship in editing/publishing/writing. Editorial Pursuits will chronicle her job hunting efforts, experiences and lessons learned. Intro
Friday morning started out like any other day full of job searching and unemployment. I got up, made some toast, put water in the tea kettle and set the burner on medium heat, lazily sauntered over to the computer desk, turned on the laptop, and opened Gmail.
I expected to find a few Facebook comments, a random e-mail or two from family members, an amazon.com special deal. But this morning, I found something additional in the inbox – a message from a fellow JET Alumn who had read my JetWit posts and wanted to offer me a potential internship at her literary agency.
Wait, what? Could this be happening to me? I sat baffled at the words on the screen, unable to believe what I just read. Me? For an internship? At a New York literary agency? Saw my “Editorial Pursuits” and wanted me to contact her if I was interested? Wow!
Needless to say, I e-mailed her right away and one thing led to another. I was asked to come in and meet her and the agent that afternoon, and by 3:00pm, I had an internship and felt that I was finally on the road toward my dream of working in editing and publishing!
Walking out of the agent’s office with an armload of books and a partial manuscript to read and write a report for by Monday, I felt like a new woman – a person with a purpose! I don’t want to sound cliché but I walked down the street, towards the subway station, with a bounce in my step and a twinkle in my eye. I immediately came home, called all my friends and family, and did a little “happy dance” in the living room while listening to ” Don’t Ya Evah” by Spoon. Life, it turns out, is good.
So my lesson for the end of the week – a week that only began with a suggestion that I write a regular “column” on JetWit – is that you should never turn down opportunities that are given to you. I didn’t really think anyone would care to read about my job search trials and tribulations, but in fact someone did. And now I am happily (though not monetarily) employed and on a track for endless possibilities. My life has purpose again.
And to any of you out there who might be thinking, “Is this the end of Editorial Pursuits?” I happily answer, “No.” I look forward to continuing to share my lessons learned about job searching and being an intern in the wide world of publishing.
Julie Matysik (Yamanashi-ken, 2006-07) is a freelance copy editor and aspiring in-house editor who recently moved to NYC with her husband (also a JET alum). She is seeking an internship or entry level position in editing/publishing/writing. Editorial Pursuits will chronicle her job hunting efforts, experiences and lessons learned.
Here’s one thing I’ve learned about job hunting: Always follow up with contacts because you never know where they might lead. Even if you don’t get the job, or even an interview, you might find that something completely unexpected evolves from the relationship.
What do I mean by these somewhat cryptic “words of wisdom”? Here’s what happened to me.
Last year I worked as a Teacher Assistant at a Madison preschool. No, this has nothing to do with my editorial pursuits, but it was a job that paid the bills and a great place to work for a limited period. I am still in contact with some of the parents of children in my after-school class, and they know all about my job search woes.
One of the parents remembered having a contact at Macmillan Publishers, and he graciously introduced me to his friend who expressed great interest in getting extra attention for my resume.
I was tickled pink at all the possibilities this could mean for me, and I even started dreaming about walking into the Flatiron Building every day for work at a major book publishing company.
Meanwhile, in addition to going to bat for me, she also invited me to her house to meet her and her two-year-old son! How fantastic! She wanted to meet me face to face! Read More
Julie Matysik (Yamanashi-ken, 2006-07) is a freelance copy editor and aspiring in-house editor who recently moved to NYC with her husband (also a JET alum). She is seeking an internship or entry level position in editing/publishing/writing. Editorial Pursuits will chronicle her job hunting efforts, experiences and lessons learned.
As a recent transplant to New York City from little ol’ Wisconsin, I’ve had a lot of new experiences thrown at me over the past two months.
I’ve learned to not take it personally when I smile at someone on the sidewalk and they give me a scowl; I’ve learned the exact speed to swipe the MetroCard so you don’t get bumped from behind when you have to re-swipe; I’ve learned that yes, New York pizza is super greasy but oh-so-alluring.
I’ve also learned that job searching in a city of millions of people is not a piece of cake and so, on the advice of a fellow JETAANY member, I decided to try my hand at creating a LinkedIn profile that I could link to in my JetWit Professional Profile.
I’m still getting comfortable with establishing an online presence for myself, but, to my pleasant surprise, Read More
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