I turned 42 yesterday, and I’m an intern. I’m still getting used to saying that without feeling weird about it. Yes, I have a full-time job. But I’m also interning with a publishing house, which is something I’ve dreamt about doing for a long time. So despite the weirdness of being a 42-year-old intern, I’m having a good time. It’s never too late to go after what you want. This is your reminder to go do something for yourself, something you want, just for you.

I’m going to start the copyediting portion of my internship soon, which I’m really looking forward to, but for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working in acquisitions, and it has been a really eye-opening experience. What I’m learning has been incredibly educational not only for getting experience in the publishing industry but also for myself as an author. Of course, when you’re reading manuscripts, you’re evaluating whether the writing is good and whether the author has something to say, but what has surprised me the most has been researching the author.

As it turns out, social media presence is no longer a good indicator of the author’s online presence and whether or not they will be able to market their manuscript effectively. With the recent controversies over Meta and the general awfulness of Mark Z., people are leaving Facebook and Instagram in droves. And then, of course, there’s the recent sketchiness that’s gone on with TikTok, causing many people to leave that platform as well. Other social media sites are starting to gain popularity (Bluesky, RedNote [Xiaohongshu], etc.), but only time will tell whether those platforms will last and have as much reach. I hope they do.

For so long, social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have played such a large role in influencing consumers, including readers, but it seems that publishing houses, at least the one I am interning with, no longer care too much about that. According to my mentor, “the more traditional articles/listicles presence is more important than it has been for the last 10 years. I want to see The Millions, HuffPo, LitHub, etc. in [the author’s] writing résumé.” So during the acquisition process, instead of social media presence, I’m looking for the author’s writing presence, which is actually quite refreshing.

From the author’s side of things, I understand how hard it is to get published, so I see how that can be frustrating, especially if you’ve spent a lot of time curating your social media presence. But I have to admit, to have the focus coming back to the writing feels good. As a writer, I feel inspired to submit my work to more literary journals and really put my writing out there. I want to be recognized for the writing, not because I have the ability to build a social media platform.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still on social media (though I am transitioning off the Meta apps and into safer spaces), and I still think social media is a great marketing tool. But I think the focus on social media presence has been too strong for too long. So, if you’re an author, my advice to you is to get your writing out there. Submit your flash pieces, your articles, your short stories, just find the right platform and get it out there. Every published piece adds one more brick to the writing platform you are building.

Photo by Pat Farrell on Unsplash