CHRONICLE #3:

DOTTIE LEARNS TO NETWORK

Once in the Big Apple, Dottie began to talk to everyone she met about her situation. Here she was, highly skilled (YES, graduate students have skills) yet somewhat clueless and desperately in search of a career of her own.

Dottie figured she would check out the wide, wide world of publishing first, as it seemed to most logical direction for her to take. As a graduate student, Dottie had worked on a literary journal for 2 years and she had liked the work a great deal.

So she told her friends, family, and fish that she would very much like to talk to anyone they knew who was working in the publishing industry in New York. To her delight, every other person seemed to know someone who knew someone. And off she went to set up informational interviews.

Now, to get in to the offices of the various contacts her friends and family had given her, Dottie had to do something she found difficult to do. She had to pick up the phone and ask perfect strangers for the time of day. Often she'd rehearse her side of the conversation aloud to her fish so she'd sound confident and strong when on the phone. When she made a successful call, she'd reward herself with a well-deserved treat--like ice cream, or a mocha latte.

The calls eventually became easier and easier, and soon Dottie found herself lunching with editorial assistants in the Village, meeting literary agents in Midtown, and sitting in the office of an executive editor or two. It was a busy few weeks for our heroine. She asked a lot of questions, got a lot of answers, and drank a lot of mocha lattes.

Stay tuned as Dottie decides (gasp!) not to pursue a career in publishing and gets lured by the dot com world instead!

 

 

 

 


Chronicle #4

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