"More than my English degree itself, my English professors were probably the most crucial factor in getting me a publishing job right out of college.

The reason I was hired at North Light Books (F&W Publications) after graduation was because I had interned the previous summer and proved myself a valuable asset. But I never would've bagged the intern position in the first place if it hadn't been for my relationship with Dr. Baer and the Evansville Review. To make a long story short, without his help, I never would've gotten the internship on my own credentials. Sometimes it really is all about networking.

The second most important factor was having practical experience on two UE publications. North Light doesn't hire graduates with only an English degree—they prefer all entry-level editors to have some editing or writing experience apart from the writing workshop. My work on the school newspaper and literary journal proved to them that I'd attained a level of professionalism and experience needed to work with authors and freelance editors.

When I applied for the managing editor job at Writer's Digest, the editor in chief (a former UPI copy desk chief) was excited to hire an editor who was already an expert at Associated Press style, which the magazine uses. So my experience as a book editor was certainly valuable to the magazine, but my year spent on the college newspaper was just as important. (The fact I'd worked on a literary journal publishing big names sure didn't hurt either.)"

--Jane Friedman