Problems in Publishing and my Less-than-Impressive Attempts to Save September 2019

One thing that disconcerts me when I look around at the tackling-debt blogosphere (are we still using that word) is how much we, as a collective body, have by and large decided to rise to the occasion of fiscal hardship by self-imposing various austerity measures (this is not... bad, like, of course all of us can better manage our money, and it's amazing to have a discussion that's hyperaware of the pitfalls of various debts) and largely ignore (or just, we don't talk about it) how late-stage capitalism has forced us into these positions of thrall for those who have managed to climb out of debt, in the same way that we watch biggest-loser-type of shows, that put the onus on the individual to do everything that our tax dollars have not (i.e. subsidized school lunch programs with healthy food, regulation of food-stuff chemicals, affordable higher education).

I've had, for most of my twenties, the unsettling sensation that I shouldn't actually be, say, pursuing a Master's degree, or trying to work in publishing, because I do not come from enough money to do so. I resisted these thoughts. I thought, but I've worked so hard, studied so hard, took SATs, ACTs, GREs, worked 25+ hour weeks while attending undergrad and learned a second language. But despite this work, it remained by and large unconstitutive work, in the sense that all the hours spent working in the service industry, would have only benefit my future self if I envisioned a future in the service industry. Instead, it kept my head above water, while I tried to find the time and energy to complete homework and attend classes and forewent work study opportunities that would have set me up for a job in publishing or academia. I also forewent extra study time, extra classes, internships (I mean, I didn't even look into it during undergrad) because I had no time to do those sorts of things. 

CUT TO me about eight years later, with many more years of service industry, a couple of internships, a masters degree, and then a couple more years of service industry, I finally have an entry job in publishing. 

But here, as I did in my master's program, I feel a lot of resentment because I've taken on debt and had to contort my bank statements to make this happen, and my cohorts do not have any conception of how difficult it has been. 

In casual conversation in the office, with the assistant sitting next to me for example, with any "assistant" editor or marketer or pr person for that matter, if the topic of school or rent arises, they'll say rather casually that their parents are paying, or paying a substantial percentage of, their rent. 

Me: *working part-time at a restaurant again to make ends meet* 

(A strangely familiar position, look!, here I am again, unable to compete at the level of my peers for promotions because I'm putting extra hours elsewhere pouring wine!) 

A mere few months into this role, I received an email from Madison Schultz (well, actually, she sent it to the company inbox, but I answer those, so) at Portland State University with a request to survey my experience in publishing. Feeling it far too early in my "career" to participate, I never replied, but the results of her study came out this past May, and I stumbled upon it while googling "financial support for entry level publishing positions" (fyi, if you live in England, you're actually in luck, there are a few grants for poor aspiring publishers there). The title of the paper kinda says it all: "Pay to Play: Internships, Post-Graduate Education, and the Cost of Working in Publishing"

And by way of the cross-section of publishing professionals surveyed, a couple of things were quickly clear:

1) It is much more difficult to get a job in publishing than it was a generation prior

2) It is now commonplace to have had two or three internships before being offered a full-time position

3) Internships that do not pay, but offer college credit, are often the more valuable in terms of experience to potential employers given the additional attention these interns receive 

4) Where modestly-paid interns are often handed less interesting tasks 

5) Which means that if you are too poor to accept an unpaid internship, your internship will be less "valuable" on your resume

6) More than half of entry-level publishing professionals rely on financial support from their family

She further explores the cost of Publishing programs like those offered at NYU or Colombia, and how prohibitive that are (of course) to students who cannot afford the tuition.

For the record, I did not attend a publishing program, but I choose a much more expensive and interesting degree in translation anticipating that that would give me an edge in an industry that is finally paying attention to literature in other parts of the world. 

(As far as I can tell, no one that interviewed me actually cared that I had a Masters degree in translation. Though they did care that I knew how to use Excel and InDesign.)

THE THING IS -- this could be applied to University as well, this situation, where poorer students are forgoing essential components of the university experience because they're working. This can also be applied to any number of entry level positions in the arts, languages, social sciences, city planning, architecture, design, and certainly academia (which is weird, how is tuition so high and adjunct professors are living in poverty?). 

I'm at a point now where I'm trying to think of ways that I can turn my experience and position into a more profitable hybrid of research, grant money, and acquisition of foreign language titles. Like, I'm going to have to get weird and niche but also simultaneously attractive to industries outside of publishing. And I'm not above lateral moves if it means more money. Company investment in their employees is dead in the water and it's a strange new world of cirque-de-soleil-your-way-to-$$$

See, weird, I know that the system is broken, but I want to game it. And I will still celebrate how much money I've made or lost as I climb and climb and slip and slide up and down my mountain of debt. 

Are rich people even a little bit amused by our struggle? I wonder. I was talking to a fellow translator last night over some cheap red wine about the rising cost of living in the city, and how much things would have to change for us (she's a professor and edits a literary magazine) in order to stay. She said that she had, in all fairness, been warned before she moved here, by a very wealthy friend of hers who worked in finance. He'd told her that the wealthy of New York see the city as a place that is made for them, and that we (champions of art, culture, service people, actors, dancers, etc.) are here to serve them and their city. 

Tasted blood. Or was the wine just that cheap. 

*******

Hey, you're still here? The rest of this is for me, this is my weigh-in. Some months it is more inspiring than others so read on at your own risk I guess. 

Debts:

	August	September
Visa Credit Card	$4637	$4997
AMEX Gold Card	$2425	$2375
Loan From Parents	$1300	$1300
Fedloan*	140314	140314

*Not included in total paid down. I can hardly imagine paying it down unless I start making mad money. That's an idea?

TOTAL PAID DOWN: -$310

Assets:

	August	September
Individual Brokerage	$455	$122
Acorns	$1046	$1205
Vanguard	$1007	$1009
Fidelity	$596	$646

TOTAL SAVED/ACCRUED: -$122

This is not great. I need to manage stress in a better way, because when I stress, I slide. 

Next month, stronger than yesterday,

J