Month: July 2017

And Finally…

 

I graduated with a Bachelor’s over a year ago. While networking is an obvious help to finding the perfect job, I was also given the advice to “start a blog!”… By everyone. Literally every advisor and professor I spoke with said blogging is a great start for any career in publishing. I’m sure looking back at the task after building a successful career and figuring out what blogging actually is, that advice sounds concrete and simple. However, I can say that while just starting out, that advice is troublesome as I have no idea how to blog successfully.

Sure, blogging has allowed me to vent about frustrating situations, get my opinion out there about certain circumstances, and to simply write whatever was on my mind. That being said… who actually wants to read that? There are plenty of people on the internet with more than enough opinions about certain circumstances. Why should mine matter more?

Not to mention, how is that actually supposed to make me stand out to prospective employers? Answer: it won’t. (But! Maybe they’ll like my writing style. Maybe they simply can’t fathom how their business could go on without me! However idyllic, that is highly unlikely…)

So I searched long and hard about what I want out of life. Some of what I found, I blogged about. Some I kept to myself because, again, who wants to read that? I can’t believe how simple my conclusion is, and why on earth I hadn’t thought of it before now.

I want to work in publishing. I want to help authors construct and improve their vision of reaching people’s minds and hearts. I want to be a book editor. So while I don’t have any professional experience with book editing yet, I DO have opinions on the books that are already out there. With that in mind, what else is there for me to do than to post book reviews?

Not only will this help me discover and fine-tune my process, maybe it will help me get discovered. It may have taken me a while to reach this epiphany, but I finally have a direction and a purpose for my blog. And I couldn’t be more excited!

As always, thanks for reading my thoughts. 🙂

Career Center: P.S.

I’m at the point where I’d just like to find a quiet bookstore to run/be a part of. I simply want a quiet life surrounded by the things I’m passionate about: reading adventurous novels that teach life lessons, and helping other people find out about these wonderful words printed on pages that could greatly improve their day-to-day lives if only by enhancing their own perspective lens of the world.

This goal could also be accomplished were I to work at a library. Whether that’s a public library or one within a school system, (both of which I’ve applied to posted open positions with no avail. See my first Career Center post in regards to whatever magic I seem not to possess.)

Teaching would also be a great option for me, so long as it was the right subject. Reading, English, and the like would be perfect. However, I don’t have a teaching certificate, only a Bachelor’s in English Language and Literature which seems to somehow not be enough.

I could go back to school for both of these subjects. Given the fact that I haven’t been able to use my current degree though, would that decision be prudent?

I just want to excel in a field in which I’m passionate. I just want to expand the notion that books can be a form of therapy for those who may be struggling like I have in the past. I just want to put all of my energy into this field, and not be required to focus on another job simply to pay my bills. At the moment I’m feeling as though all of this is wishful thinking.

I will figure all of this out one day. That being said, any advice/knowledge would be immensely appreciated. If you’re a teacher, where did you attain your certificate or degree? If you work for a library, or a publisher, how did you get to where you are?

As always, thank you for reading into my thoughts.