24 Writing Jobs, Internships, Volunteer Opps, Fellowships, and More
Jobs for Writers (12.19.24) | How to break into a staff position at a lit mag, a gig at Publishers Weekly, and open roles at university presses
Welcome to Sub Club’s Jobs for Writers!
This week, we’ve got the usual: a new How to Break In, a few full-time and part-time jobs to choose from—plus, some fellowships that are still open just in case, like me, you’ve been procrastinating. There’s still time!
A quick note: We’re breaking for the holidays, so see you (or, you know, your inbox) in January.
How to Break In
Today, we’re featuring Melissa Ren, Senior Editor at Augur Literary Society. After a break from writing, Melissa responded to an open call for first readers at Augur, hoping to expand her community, understand the ins and outs of a literary magazine, and improve her writing.
“Other than writing my own fiction and having a Bachelor’s in English Literature, I had zero experience,” Melissa says. “So I knew whichever magazine I joined would be taking a chance on me.” The chance worked out, with Melissa recently being promoted to Senior Editor! Very, very exciting stuff. Below, she shares how she went from a first reader with little to no experience to a Senior Editor—and how the position has helped her create and meet new goals along the way.
RVC: How did you get the gig at Augur Literary Society?
MR: Augur did an open call for first readers. I saw the post on social media. They’re a Canadian speculative magazine with international acclaim and appeal. Quite honestly, they’re a great fit for me [on paper]—I’m a Canadian of Chinese descent who writes speculative fiction.
But also, Augur’s values match my own. Their goal is to uplift diverse and marginalized voices. After reading through their issues and checking out their masthead, I was truly impressed at how they uphold their values.
I didn’t have an ‘in’ with the magazine. I applied and they invited me to join their reading team! After I had read through a few reading cycles, Augur made an open call for editors. I applied like everyone else and completed a thorough hiring process, also like everyone else. They truly surprised me by offering me an editor role. Recently, I moved into a senior editor role.
RVC: Your experience is such an encouraging example of working your way up—from reader to senior editor. Can you talk about how your responsibilities changed throughout?
MR: As a first reader, I was responsible for reading 70+ pieces during each submission cycle. The biggest shift in my responsibilities occurred when I moved into an editor role. I started second reading as well, and participated in our pitch sessions—our big editorial meeting to determine what makes it into the issues.
As an editor, I work quite closely with the author to edit their work. It’s actually my favorite part of the process because, at this point, I’ve read their story so many times. It’s so exciting to finally speak with them about their stories. This current submission cycle is my first as a senior editor. In this role, I’ll be much more involved in determining the longlist—the pieces that are discussed in our pitch sessions.
RVC: How did your experience as a reader help prepare you for your role as an editor? And how did your experience as an editor help inform your role as a senior editor?
MR: As a first reader, I learned pretty quickly what makes an Augur story. Trimming down a slush pile to a final issue involves multiple stages of reading and consideration from many, many people.
As an editor, I read all of the comments from the first readers. When I was a reader, I never realized how valuable those comments were. We have an exceptional reading team. They are a truly insightful, smart, and compassionate group. To prepare for our pitch meetings, we read all of the shortlisted stories. At my first pitch, it was so clear as to why these stories made it to that stage. Moving into a senior editor role feels like a natural progression.
RVC: One of your original goals going into this was expanding your writing community. How has Augur helped you do that?
MR: This position has led to an array of opportunities. Since joining the Augur editorial team, I’ve been invited to speak and moderate panels, attended writing conventions, and joined the masthead at other magazines/publishers.
Most recently I was invited to participate on panels and kaffeeklatsches at a couple of writing conferences because of my role at Augur. It was a lot of fun to meet people who wanted to learn more about the magazine. The Augur community itself is vast: from the team, the authors we’ve published, to our readers. I feel so lucky to have joined this team and to continually meet people in the writing community but also, within the Augur community.
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24 Writing Jobs, Internships, Volunteer Opps, and More!
6 Full-Time Jobs
3 Part-Time + Contract Jobs
1 Teaching Gig
3 Volunteer Opportunities
1 Internship
10 Open Opportunities from Past Issues
Remember to check out the full details from each job posting before you apply. Good luck!
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