RESEARCH: Life after the MFA by Heidi Ruby Miller

RESEARCH

UPDATED JUNE 2016

YOU WROTE A WHOLE BOOK.

CONGRATULATIONS!

NOW WHAT?

LIFE AFTER THE WPF PROGRAM
The following is an outline from a class I teach for the graduating students during their last residency in Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction Graduate Program. I am a WPF alumna and now adjunct faculty and a mentor there.

PURSUITS
1. More education
2. Teaching
3. Organizational memberships
4. Jobs in publishing industry
5. Something else entirely
6. Hybrid of options
7. Publication

1. MORE EDUCATION
A. Online offerings
Poets & Writers - http://www.pw.org/mfa
Online Colleges - http://search.onlinecolleges.com/
NewPages - http://www.newpages.com/creative-writing-programs/
AWP - https://www.awpwriter.org/programs_conferences/guide_writing_programs

B. Local schools

C. Letters of recommendation/references - professors, mentors, peers, and alum

2. TEACHING
A. Online listings
HigherEdJobs - http://www.higheredjobs.com/
Academic Careers - http://www.academiccareers.com/
The University Jobs - http://univjobs.com/

B. Local listings
Craigslist - http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites - Check out listings here carefully!
Newspapers
Word of Mouth
College/University sites

C. Letters of Recommendation/References - professors, mentors, peers, and alum

3. ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
A. Professional organizations
The Authors Guild - http://www.authorsguild.org/
ITW – http://thrillerwriters.org/
RWA – http://www.rwa.org/
HWA – http://horror.org/
MWA – http://mysterywriters.org
SFWA – http://www.sfwa.org/
Pennwriters – http://www.pennwriters.org/

B. Local organizations

C. Seton Hill WPF Alum

4. JOBS IN PUBLISHING INDUSTRY
A. Freelancing
BloggingPro - http://www.bloggingpro.com/jobs/
CraigsList - http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites - Check out listings here carefully!
Duotrope - https://duotrope.com/
Freelancewriting.com - http://www.freelancewriting.com/freelance-writing-jobs.php
Freelance Writing Jobs - http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/category/writing-gigs/
JournalismJobs - http://www.journalismjobs.com/search_results.cfm?JobTypeID=4
LinkedIn Jobs - http://www.linkedin.com/job/home?trk=hb_tab_jobs_top
MediaBistro - http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/default.asp?gdsr=1&jbdr=3
ProBlogger - http://jobs.problogger.net/
Word of mouth

B. Editing
JournalismJobs - http://www.journalismjobs.com/search_results.cfm?JobTypeID=4
LinkedIn Jobs - http://www.linkedin.com/job/home?trk=hb_tab_jobs_top
MediaBistro - http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/default.asp?gdsr=1&jbdr=3
CraigsList - http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites - Check out listings here carefully!
Individual publisher sites
Word of mouth

C. References - professors, mentors, peers, and alum

5. SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY
Maybe your bliss lies outside the writing realm. And, that’s okay. It’s your life, your dreams.

6. HYBRID OF OPTIONS
Most likely you’ll be working in many of these fields, especially the combination of publishing and education.

7. PUBLICATION
A. Agent
AgentQuery.com - http://www.agentquery.com/
Poets & Writers - http://www.pw.org/literary_agents
Query Tracker - http://www.querytracker.net/
Writer's Digest - http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/literary-agent

B. Publisher
Ralan.com - http://www.ralan.com/
ITW - http://thrillerwriters.org/aboutitw/recognized-publishers/
Duotrope - https://duotrope.com/
Dark Markets - http://www.darkmarkets.com/search/label/Book%20Publishers/
Individual sites

C. Self-Publishing
Amazon KDP - https://kdp.amazon.com/kdp/self-publishing/signin
Lulu - http://www.lulu.com/
Lightning Source - https://www.lightningsource.com/
Create Space - https://www.createspace.com
Nook Press - https://www.nookpress.com/
Smashwords - http://www.smashwords.com/
Xlibris - http://www2.xlibris.com/

GOOD LUCK!