Addressing an audience of students at Franklin & Marshall’s Philadelphia Alumni Writers House, four alumni recently shared the paths that led to their varied careers in publishing.

“It’s so interesting to watch all of your experiences collide,” said Sofia Cohen '21, editorial assistant at Routledge/Taylor & Francis, an academic publishing company.

She was joined by Rebecca (Bolstein) Chen ’14, Samantha Friedlander ’20 and Kyra Lisse ’22 at the Nov. 12 panel.

From freelance writing to bookselling, the group emphasized that every experience counts to get a foot in the door of the industry. 

“If you can't immediately get into publishing after college, that does not mean you won't get there,” Chen said. 

Below, learn how F&M shaped the professional lives of these alumni working in publishing. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Rebecca (Bolstein) Chen ’14

• Editor at TOKYOPOP
• Location: Montgomery, N.Y.  
• Major: English (creative writing)

I'm really glad I went to F&M. A lot of schools offer creative writing classes, but not necessarily a major. I toured a lot of other small liberal arts schools in Pennsylvania. Franklin & Marshall was the only school where I felt like creative writing was important. They had a whole building [the Writers House] where writers could hang out. There were talks and events, and that was really enticing to me.

“Franklin & Marshall was the only school where I felt like creative writing was important.”

Rebecca (Bolstein) Chen ’14

Sofia Cohen ’21

• Editorial assistant at Routledge/Taylor & Francis
• Location: New York City  
• Major: English (creative writing)

I first took a bit of a detour [after F&M]. I worked as a writing coach at a STEM high school. I really enjoyed it, but I knew that I didn't want to pursue education as a career. After two years there, I thought about pivoting and started to look into publishing. I really relied on the F&M alumni network and connections to learn about the industry. Those conversations were so helpful. I learned a lot about what opportunities were available and the way that publishing works. It’s actually how I learned about academic publishing. 

“I really relied on the F&M alumni network.”

Sofia Cohen ’21

Samantha Friedlander ’20

• Marketing associate at Tor Publishing Group
• Location: New York City  
• Double major: English (creative writing) and psychology  

I graduated in 2020, which was an interesting time to be entering the workforce and adulthood in general. I had already applied and been accepted to the Columbia University publishing course. It was a great inside look of the industry as a whole. I started to think, “Maybe I want to try marketing publicity as well as editorial,” because editorial jobs are notoriously the hardest to find. It’s a very common pipeline. 

After the Columbia program ended, I wound up doing an editorial internship with a tech company. Then, I wound up doing freelance writing because I wanted to keep flexing that muscle. It's always good  – no matter where you are in publishing – to have writing experience. Even if you're not in editorial, you're writing copy or thinking about ad campaigns. There's a lot of writing in this job.

“It's always good – no matter where you are in publishing – to have writing experience.”

Samantha Friedlander ’20

Kyra Lisse ’22

• Assistant managing editor at Ayin Press 
• Conference director at Yetzirah: A hearth for Jewish poetry
• Location: Philadelphia 
• Major: English (creative writing)
• Minor: Classics 

I'll echo EWF [Emerging Writers Festival] and the Writers House more broadly. I had the opportunity to bring some writers to campus (Felicia Rose Chavez and Dara Horn). That gave me a glimpse of event planning. That's now some of the work that I do both for Ayin and for my role directing the [Yetzirah] conference. It’s a multistep process: the outreach, the check-in, getting venues figured out. Those F&M experiences of outreach and engagement have helped me in a lot of different areas of my work. 

“Those F&M experiences of outreach and engagement have helped me in a lot of different areas of my work.”

Kyra Lisse ’22

English at F&M

You can major or minor in English at F&M. A major in English follows one of two complementary tracks: creative writing or literature. No matter which track you select, you will gain experience in both areas.

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