Internship in Publishing and Editing-ENC 5945
The internship in editing offers practical experience in editing and professional writing. Variable credit (1-6 semester hours) is possible for individual internships. The course may be repeated to a maximum of six semester hours. S/U grade only.
Normally, an internship for credit in the Editing and Publishing Certificate Program will involve new professional experience beyond previous or on-going employment. Internships should consist of supervised, non-clerical activity directly related to the work of editing and publishing. Internships may involve reimbursements for travel, honoraria, or other forms of compensation.
Students may intern at a variety of venues, including magazines, newspapers, publishing houses, television and radio stations, government offices, advertising and public relations firms, university departments, law firms, non-profit agencies, or any other office in which activities include editing, writing, and publishing. See Frequently Asked Questions about internships for more information.
Internships may be done during the summer (in either 13-week or intensified 6-week sessions) as well as during the fall and spring semesters. They may be done in Tallahassee or elsewhere, and may even be done while studying abroad.
Students are expected to work seven hours per week for each unit of course credit; they are expected to write, edit, or otherwise be involved in the production of texts. The site supervisor submits a final progress report on the student's work to the English Department, and the student creates a portfolio of his or her work from the internship. The English Department's Supervisor of Internships assigns the final grade based on these materials.
Students are responsible for contacting and making arrangements with the employer. These arrangements include making sure a contract letter and a short job description are on file with the English Department's Supervisor of Internships.
- Whom do I talk to about doing an internship?
Negotiate an internship with an employer and then bring the contract letter (link below) to the Supervisor of Internships.
- How do I go about getting an internship?
Your first step is finding a site that interests you and is willing to sponsor you. This may involve filling out an application, submitting a résumé and writing sample, and going in for an interview, depending on the site. Once a site has agreed to sponsor you, you will need to get a signed contract letter and a one-paragraph job description from them. The contract letter and the job description are required as a way to make clear to you, your site supervisor, and to the Supervisor of Internships the expectations of the internship. Your site supervisor may ask you to draft the job description on the basis of your conversation; that's fine, as long as the site supervisor has seen and approved it.
You need to turn your signed contract letter and job description in to the Supervisor of Internships before the drop-add deadline for the semester in which you plan to do the internship so that you can register. Once he or she has received these materials you will receive a reference number so that you can register for ENC 5945.
- Are international publishing internships available?
Yes, internships in publishing are available in the United Kingdom. These positions are designed to offer an international alternative to our domestic internships for those students who seek experience in British publishing.
In place now are internships with Blackwell Publishing, which is based in Oxford. This program is designed primarily for graduate students who are spending some time at the Florida State University London Study Center either teaching or studying, or both. The program calls for the intern to spend one day at Blackwell in Oxford learning the ins and outs of publishing along with other interns from Oxford Brookes University. Details on the department can be found at: http://publishing.brookes.ac.uk.
Blackwell is prepared to offer training seminars for its interns and has agreed to pay for travel.
In addition, negotiations with Cambridge University Press and the commercial house of Faber and Faber, where T. S. Eliot served as an editor and on the editorial board for many years, are in the works. Details of those arrangements should be worked out and announced soon.
- Why should I do an internship?
An internship in editing offers practical experience in the publishing world. It can help you develop your skills as a professional writer, editor, or designer, and round out your résumé. Increasingly, businesses, graduate schools, and organizations expect such work experience.
- Where should I do an internship?
Students may intern at a variety of venues, including magazines, newspapers, publishing houses, television and radio stations, government offices, advertising and public relations firms, university departments, law firms, and non-profit agencies.
A list of possible internships available in the Tallahassee area can be found at the bottom of this FAQ section. You need not confine yourself to this list. It is meant as a starting point and includes sites that have sponsored interns recently.
You don't need to confine yourself to Tallahassee, however. Students do internships during semesters abroad and during the summer in their hometowns. Students have also done interesting and successful internships in New York City, the center of publishing in the United States.
- What kind of work might I do at an internship?
The department's expectation is that you will be writing and/or editing, but we define this broadly because students want to pursue internships for a variety of reasons. You might be writing public service announcements for a radio station, fund raising appeals for a non-profit agency, constituent newsletters for a state legislator, articles for a trade magazine, brochures for charity, or catalogue copy for a publishing house. You might be doing research for a lawyer or museum director. You might be helping with layout and design, or with copyediting or proofreading. You might be doing web design and creating copy for an online magazine. The opportunities are almost endless and may well result from your own ideas for a special project that the sponsoring site has considered, but never before had the time to do.
We understand that in many offices, especially small ones, everyone takes a turn answering the phones or doing some filing, and that you may do some of that, but we want to make sure that you are mainly writing or editing.
- What are the course requirements for an internship, and how am I
graded?
The site supervisor submits a written final progress report on your work to the Supervisor of Internships. Reports may be submitted either through the site supervisor's e-mail or by conventional mail. This report and a portfolio of your semester's work provide the basis for evaluation. The Supervisor of Internships assigns the final grade. Students will receive S/U credit. The letter or evaluation and portfolio are due to the Supervisor of Internships on the last day of classes. Students missing any item should expect to receive the grade "unsatisfactory."
- What should I include in my portfolio?
Think of your portfolio as a way to present the internship experience in 2 to 3 minutes during a job interview. Include a short (1-2 pp. double spaced) evaluation of your experience; comment on any personal and/or professional implications you see as you look back in time. Your portfolio should be well organized in a binder or folder with sections allotted to samples of the different kinds of writing and other work you did. It might also include drafts, mock ups, proof sheets, even CDs, DVDs, or printouts from web sites. This portfolio belongs to you and is intended for your use in furthering your career. Please pick it up after you have been assigned your grade. If you have additional questions, the Supervisor of Internships can show you examples of successful portfolios from years past.
Following is a representative list of employers in the Tallahassee area who have sponsored interns. If a contact person and e-mail address are not listed, please visit the company’s web site or make a phone call for more information.
Commercial and Trade Magazines
Tallahassee Magazine/Rowland Publishing
Contact: Roseanne Dunkelberger
rdunkelberger@rowlandinc.com
(850) 878-0554
www.rowlandinc.com
Florida History and the Arts
(Department of State, Division of Historical Resources, Bureau of Historic
Preservation)
(850) 245-6300
www.flheritage.com/services/magazine/
Publishers
Anhinga Press
(850) 442-1408
info@anhinga.org
Literary Magazines and Journals
The Southeast Review
Contact: Michael Garriga or Jessica Pitchford
fiction@southeastreview.org
Journal of Beckett Studies or
Journal of Early Modern Cultural Studies
Contact: Jack Clifford
(850) 644-0235
jclifford@fsu.edu
Benjamin Williams
Quotation World Publications
850-322-9564
admin@quotationworld.com
www.quotationworld.com
Non-Profit Agencies
Lee’s Place, Inc.
A Non-Profit Grief & Loss Counseling Center
Contact: Tara Stalnaker, Director of Development
850.841.7733 phone
850.841.7702 fax
e-mail: info@leesplace.org
www.leesplace.org
March of Dimes
(850) 422-3152
FL617@marchofdimes.com
Boy Scouts of America
(850) 576-4146
www.suwanneeriver.net
Florida PIRG (Environmental Protection)
www.floridapirg.org
850-224-3321
University Publications and Offices
Museum Studies at Florida State University
Contact: Lana Burgess
(850) 644-0819
lab0077@fsu.edu
www.fsu.edu/~ms/
Student Government Association and Other Student Publications
Contact: Marvin Harris
(850) 644-0037
mharris@admin.fsu.edu
FSU Sports Information Office
Contact: Tina Dechausay
(850) 644-1403
tthomas@fsu.edu
FSU Media Relations/Office of News and Public Affairs
Contact: Browning Brooks
850-644-8343
bbrooks@ fsu.edu
Seminole Boosters
Contact: Mary Pat Desloge
(850) 644-3484
mdesloge@admin.fsu.edu
ANTHANOR Journal (Art History Journal-FSU)
Contact: Allys Paladino-Craig
(850) 644-1254
apcraig@fsu.edu
FSU International Center
Contact: Kenneth Martin
(850) 644-4793
kmartin@admin.fsu.edu
Newspapers
Tallahassee Democrat
Contact: Jane Parrish
(850) 599-2349
jparrish@tallahassee.com
FSView & Florida Flambeau
Contact: Jennifer S. Irwin
(850) 561-6653, ext. 212
jirwin@fsview.com
Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations
ThinkCreative
Contact: Natalie Young
(850) 656-7050, ext. 18
ryan@thinkcreative.com
www.thinkcreative.com
Franceschi Agency
Contact: Lee Ann Fransceschi
(850) 385-2900
www.franadvertising.com
Zimmerman Agency
(850) 668-2222
ssimpson@zimmerman.com
www.zimmerman.com
Moore Consulting Group, Inc.
Contact: Jamie Fortune
(850) 224-0174
www.moore-pr.com/contact_us.html
Government
Florida House of Representatives
Contact: Beverly Broussard
(850) 487-6026
beverly.broussard@myfloridahouse.gov
Office of the Attorney General
Contact: Michael Skiscim
(850) 245-0140
michael.skiscim@myfloridalegal.com
Department of Management Services
850-488-2786
Florida Commission on the Status of Women
(850) 414-3300
info@fcsw.net
Radio and Television
Clear Channel Radio of Tallahassee
(WTLY 107.1, WTNT 94.9, WXSR 101.5, WFLA 1270 AM., WOKL 100.7)
(850) 422-3107, ext. 3210
Triad Broadcasting
(850) 668-3677