70 Writing Jobs, Internships, Volunteer Opps, Fellowships, Pitch Calls, and More
Jobs for Writers (2.21.25) | How to break in to a magazine dedicated to cheese; $1,000 for music deep dives; open opps at Publishers Weekly, AWP, and more
Welcome to Sub Club’s Jobs for Writers!
The days are getting longer but it also feels like the weeks are getting shorter? Like, how is it already Friday? Time sure flies when you’re having a medium time, I guess.
This week we’ve got a How to Break In from a special someone who broke into both children’s publishing and what I’m now calling Big Cheese; pitch opportunities for cat people, music & culture lovers, and parents of misbehaving kids; and open roles at Publishers Weekly, New York Review of Architecture (fancy!), AWP, and more.
Got a job that needs a writer or writer-like human in the publishing world? We know several thousand writer-like humans who might be interested.
We’ll list any paid or volunteer opportunity in writing, publishing, and editing. Find details and submit your opening here.
How to Break In
My first question to Alana Pedalino, Social Media Manager at Culture: the Word on Cheese, was unofficial-ish. It was, I’ll admit, to quell my own curiosity. I needed to know: How does it feel to have everyone’s dream job? To work at a magazine dedicated to dairy’s most delightful product? And just to convince Alana I was serious, I told her I was thinking in particular of the I LOVE BREAD! meme, but how mine would be I LOVE CHEESE! (I also love bread, btw. I am not a monster.)
“FWIW, it’s been an adventure,” Alana wrote to me. “Working in cheese is very niche but it feels right for me. It's like this unique intersection of food, luxury, and travel. Some days make me feel very Emily in Paris, lol. And because I'm learning more about something I'm interested in and passionate about on a daily basis, I feel like my brain is lighting up and engaged. I'm very lucky!”
Lucky, indeed: Along with her role at Culture, Alana is also a Digital Marketer at Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. Below, she talks us through her experience of working in both children’s book publishing and Big Cheese, how she carves out time for her creative pursuits, and her thoughts about applying a marketing background to the publishing world.
rachael vaughan clemmons: Can you talk us through your background?
Alana Pedalinio: Journalism and children's book publishing. I was also freelancing for food and green building publications before I got this job—including Bon Appetit.
Besides that, I've always been obsessed with cheese. I had a cheese drawer in my fridge and everything. I won an award for food writing from a DC press association while in college too.
rvc: How did you get the job at Culture: the Word on Cheese?
AP: It was a right place, right time scenario. I applied after attending the American Cheese Society conference in Buffalo, New York, where I live. I was there as a member of the press scouting stories about cheesemakers, but felt by the end of the conference that I had found my people. I met my future colleague at a conference press briefing, so she knew my name and background even before I submitted the application.
rvc: What does your day-to-day look like?
AP: It looks like lots and lots of pictures of ooey, gooey cheese.
But for real, Culture has a unique audience of industry folks and people who just really love cheese. So doing social is thinking about posts and videos that both audiences will like; packaging trade news in an engaging and attractive way for a non-trade audience too; and curating all that’s fit to print about cheese while maintaining a friendly and knowledgeable vibe.
Some days, I’m thinking about what’s going on in the world and making memes. Some days, I’m rounding up cute baby goat pictures—maybe after a tough news week. Some days, I’m sharing to Stories because I’m in Wisconsin on a creamery tour. Some days, I’m posting recipes or articles about how to open a cheese shop or highlighting a maker doing a unique flavor. I love that there’s a lot of variance in the ways I can tell a cheese story on any given day.
rvc: You also work in children’s book publishing. What’s your experience been like there?
AP: I've been marketing children's books for seven years now. I started at Scholastic Book Clubs and I currently work for Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, an indie publisher of original children's books and books in translation.
A lot of what I’ve done and continue to do today in children’s publishing reminds me of working in journalism. There’s a focus on connecting with your audience through social media and newsletters—it’s just that the audience is librarians and educators, so you’re tailoring the messaging to them. I’d say that’s the bulk of what I do, but there’s also things like attending/organizing trade shows and conferences to market the books IRL and increase brand awareness. At EBYR, I get to weigh in on acquisitions conversations as well. I find this aspect really fun because it allows me to wear my editorial hat.
rvc: What kind of lessons have you learned from working in children’s publishing?
AP: Children’s publishing has taught me a lot about trusting my gut and listening to my inner child. There are a lot of basic lessons we tend to forget in adulthood that these books taught us as kids. It’s nice to be reminded of them and guided by them in the present, sometimes in new and surprising ways simply because you have a different perspective now than you did when you were little.
rvc: From some light stalking, I see that you are also a creative writer. How do you juggle working on creative work in your personal time while working at Culture and Eerdmans?
AP: I have to say it has been tough to carve out regular creative writing time. However, I still find time to write most days, even if it’s a phrase or sentence I jot down in an Ideas note on my phone. I journal frequently, which helps me feel like I’m practicing writing even if I’m not actively working on something I plan to submit later. I’m an insomniac at the moment, so I’ve been trying to write 1,000 words of a novel I’m working on between midnight and 1:30 a.m.—time I was using for scrolling (and sometimes still do).
rvc: Lastly, I’m also from a marketing background—lots of content stuff. Do you have any ideas about how people who have worked in content/marketing/social can apply those skills to jobs in publishing and/or media?
AP: That’s such a great question. I think it’s all about emphasizing transferable skills when you tell your story on LinkedIn or on your personal site. Results are still results, whether you’re talking about open rates for a newsletter about tech or open rates for a newsletter about cheese.
Tell your story over and over again to different folks across the industry you want to get into. Keep fine-tuning your story, collecting achievements or accolades (even if it’s winning a small poetry contest or something like that), and getting your name in front of people relevant to you. Pick at least one social channel, such as LinkedIn, to share this news. Message people. Have conversations about how they broke into the biz, learn their stories. I think eventually you do this enough times and develop a network to reach out to when you see that dream job posting. It’s a bit like treating yourself like a brand, but you have to be your own advocate.
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70 Pitch Calls, Writing Jobs, Internships, Volunteer Opps, Fellowships, and More!
15 Pitch Calls from Paying Publications
19 Full-Time Jobs
1 Part-Time + Contract Job
2 Teaching Jobs
2 Fellowships + Residencies
1 Volunteer Opportunity
30 Open Opportunities from Past Issues
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