A friend of mine recommended Alexandra Levit's book They Don't Teach Corporate in College. I enjoyed it so much that I interviewed Alexandra for an article on myths about the working world (more on that later). Once I heard about all of her new writing projects (including How'd You Score That Gig? which comes out this week), I also asked Alexandra to do an interview on the blog. She graciously accepted...
Urban Muse: How have you managed to juggle working full time with your writing and home life?
Alexandra: When I was writing my first book, They Don't Teach Corporate in College, I had no choice but to work full time and write on the weekends, as I had to make a living! I was fortunate, though, in that the book did well, and I was able to parlay it into a new career as an author and public speaker. By the time I was working on my new book about dream careers, How'd You Score That Gig?, I had the freedom to do my marketing communications consulting three days a week, and spend the rest of the work week interviewing and writing. I tried not to work on weekends this time around, so that I felt I had enough time to spend with my friends and family.
UM: Did you go through an agent or directly to publishers for your first book? What was that process like?
A: I sold a nonfiction book proposal about surviving the corporate world as a new college grad directly to a small publisher, and was then paid a small advance to write the book. Selling it actually wasn't that difficult and didn't take that long, but one of the worst days of my life was when that first publisher went out of business, and the book, already written, was without a home. Luckily, with the help of an agent this time, I re-sold the book eventually and it was published as They Don't Teach Corporate in College in late 2004.
UM: Any tips you'd like to share with first-time book authors?
A: First, find a niche, or a topic you think is interesting that you can offer a unique perspective on and that hasn't been done to death already. Then, start and market a blog on this topic before attempting to sell a book proposal. Having a successful blog makes one very attractive to editors who are looking for writers with an already-established audience.
UM: You've successfully positioned yourself as an expert on young people in the workforce. How does one create a niche for oneself?
A: In order to sell anything, a book included, you must be able to differentiate it from the competition. We've mentioned niches. To find one, look to your own experiences for something that's personally meaningful to you, that you feel passionate about. Then do some research to determine what has been written on that subject, and by whom. Your goal is to create a spin on the topic that hasn't been addressed before, in which you can offer certain knowledge or expertise. The spin doesn't have to be completely different from what's out there, just a littledifferent. Even though I've published a few books already, I still have to differentiate each new idea I come up with. For instance, How'd You Score That Gig? is different from other books about dream careers in that it organizes the jobs by personality profile and is written in an engaging narrative style rather than a thumb-through, reference style.
UM: What's next for you?
A: I'm in the process of promoting How'd You Score That Gig? and my third book, Success for Hire, now. This summer, I will begin work on Change Your Job, Change Your Life (Random House/Ballantine, 2009), which will profile people who have made drastic but successful career changes. If any of your readers have done this, I would love to hear from them!
UM: Alexandra, congrats on your new book, and thanks for sharing your insights with Urban Muse readers!