Blog Post 7-Jennifer Schrauth

Like Soraya and others mentioned, being at a University, especially as a student but also as a teacher or faculty member, afford you lots of opportunities to hear about good things to read, new research being published, publishing and marketing opportunities, as well as some funding help for attending conferences like AWP. In college I used social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to advertise events I was reading at or had helped organize, as well as journals I was working on and my recent publications. Now I use those social networking sites to keep up with literary journals that post publishing opportunities, links to creative and academic works, and to exchange information with colleagues. I'm also friends with many of the professors I had when I was in college, and they have been a great resource to me for teaching advice as well as new information in the fields of creative writing, composition, and rhetoric. They are constantly posting updates about things going on in their classes, posting links to pertinent articles and book reviews, and talking about cool resources for people in the field.

For creative writers, being involved in the professional community naturally entails writing and publishing as regularly as possible. While I'm here at Virginia Tech I will be working toward a greater portfolio, as well as sending out short stories for publication. I have and will continue to contribute to literary journals like the Minnesota Review and its associated blog.