So, last semester I applied for an internship with a publishing company called Persea Books. My Wyoming professor/thesis adviser, Kate, publishes her books through Persea and I had heard pretty good things from her, and other people, about the press. The Persea poetry editor, Gabe, actually (conveniently) lives in Missouri (though the publishing house is in NYC.) The internship entails reading and editing, managing stuff for various authors and then also a fair share of grunt work. I would maybe be able to do some work for Kate's new book, too, which would be great.
Well, lo and behold, I was selected for the internship. Now the dilemma: I'm not actually sure if I want to do it. I think the internship would be a great chance to make literary connections, to get into a publishing company and to work on some hands-on stuff. Also, the other interns are great--friends of mine, all from my cohort.
BUT...The internship's unpaid (you can get 3 credits after a year of working) and it takes a minimum of 10 hours a week, though more likely 15. Also, this would mean filling up my now-free Mondays and Fridays. I've been hemming and hawing all break. The internship sounds great, but I also wonder if I could better spend that time writing. I really want to get some serious work done on the book I started during my MFA. Also, one of the classes I'm taking this semester (ethnographic writing) requires a major semester-long project of visiting a site and doing interviews, case studies, etc.
I'm a bad decision maker. I feel caught between not wanting to miss out on a good thing and also not wanting to jam my schedule so full of good things I have no time to enjoy the ones I'm doing. Of course, on the other hand, sometimes increased structure (in terms of time) means increased productivity in open time.
This is a minor decision of course, but one I've put off making until the last possible minute (of course.)
No comments:
Post a Comment