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Is it possible to start a publishing career in Atlanta?

 

 

Atlanta is a beautiful city in many regards. From it's flashy skyline to the lush nature, it is truly a city with the best of both worlds. Atlanta is my home -- I'm born and raised in the Atlanta metro area, and I admire the range of scenery from suburb to suburb, town to town. I love the Little Mexico in Norcross, and the Koreatown in Duluth. I love the Old Fourt Ward for it's historic nature, and Little Five Points for it's alternative vibe. I love the peace and quiet of the Chattahooche trails, and the sight of birds wherever you go. Atlanta is many things, but it is not a bad city. 

 

However, there are several glaring issues. 

 

For one, any Atlanta resident will be sure to bring up the traffic at least a couple times in conversation. The city has utterly failed to address the massive influx of newcomers with adequate public transportation. Neither bus, street car, or rail is anywhere near where it needs to be for a city with a metro population of over 6 million. You are sure to eat up several hours in the week on traffic alone. 

 

Another issue is the rapid gentrification and loss of genuine culture. It doesn't help that communities are separated by miles and miles of traffic. Genuine community is difficult to create if every neighborhood and town is basically isolated. This also makes it easy for developers to pick up properties and turn them into mixed use housing with little to no scrutiny until you realize an entire neighborhood has been turned on it's head. Besides, people will move into those developments, since the increase in population doesn't seem to be slowing down at all. 

 

Enough on the flaws of Atlanta. There is a deeper issue that I am pointing at, that is in fact connected to what I've mentioned so far -- the lack of creativity in Atlanta. 

 

Yes, you read that right. Atlanta is not the next Hollywood, as was being recited again and again a few years ago. My fiance is a Sound Design major, and feels lied to about Atlanta being 'the place to be for movies'. That's outside the scope of this article, but he's got a point.

 

I would like to add a disclaimer that I am not a creative professional, yet, and I don't think Atlanta can help me get started. 

 

I am aspiring to enter the world of editing and publishing, particularly in books, magazines, and journals. With the understanding that the job market is not the best right now, I don't expect HarperCollins to send me a personal inbox, but I also didn't expect that it would be so difficult to land even a part-time, $10-an-hour remote job. Everyone requires experience, even if they're not willing to pay for it. 

 

Fine, I get that. Publishing is an industry of apprenticeship, it only makes sense. After weeks and weeks of job and internship seeking, I have come to the conclusion that the best opportunities are oftentimes not remote. Best being that the opportunity is both paid and uplifting my career. 

 

Many of these positions are in New York obviously, and others in Boston, LA, Chicago, Raleigh(NC), and even Wisconsin. 

 

However, nothing paid in Atlanta, one of the major cities in the country. Even the ones that are unpaid are scarcely related to publishing. Try editor positions at law firms or training AI. No thanks. 

 

I've known that I've got to get out Atlanta for a while, but this makes it obvious. The question is, how do I secure the experience I need so that I don't continue taking unpaid gigs in NYC? New York is the last place I'd want to be penny pinching. 

 

Again, there's the option of unpaid work to build a resume. I've not been able to find one that is compatible with my school and work schedule, and no, I will not quit my paying job to do 15-20 hours a week of unpaid work. 

 

There's also the issues I mentioned before -- lack of public transit, and the decrease of authentic culture in Atlanta. The art scene in Atlanta is being suffocated by gentrification and artists being entire commutes away from connecting. I can't even get experience through networking with my peers without jumping through hoops. 

 

There is a silver lining in my story. I launched an art and literature journal titled NuEpoca, because I was frustrated with the lack of space for non-commerical art. We sterilize ourselves enough through resumes and portfolios -- local art scenes are meant to be the place we can finally be ourselves. Of course, people are going to make professional connections and network, it's the name of the game. However, I've noticed an alarming proportion of careerists in the all faucets of creative spaces in Atlanta. Unprofitable art is just too inconvenient to foster. 

 

I think we have to fight against this, because if our personal art is corporate, then what becomes of our corporate use of artistic skill? It's a self canniablizing exercise that leads to less and less interesting creative works, commercial or not. 

 

NuEpoca is my biggest hope for making an impact in the landscape of publishing, although it is far from being any sort of career of mine just yet. If I am going to do work unpaid, I may as well do unpaid work for myself too.