ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Jaclyn Swope '10

Publisher Account Manager, Nielson Book Research

I graduated from Moravian in 2010 after following the Writing track of the English major. Post-graduation, I took a couple of years off from school before starting a master’s course in Publishing at Kingston University in 2012. For the past year, I’ve been working as a Publisher Account Manager for Nielsen Book Research in the UK, after starting there as an intern while working on my dissertation. I always credit working at the Writing Center with really helping me to grow as a student at Moravian – beyond making me a better writer, it also influenced my desire to pursue an editorial career in publishing (even if that’s not what I’ve ended up doing!) and greatly improved the communication and analytic skills that are so fundamental to my job now. And in terms of where I’ve ended up physically, studying abroad in London my junior year definitely informed my decision to move back!

For current students, I’m torn between saying know what you want and strongly stick to it, or be open to different things you might not initially think to do. Let’s go with both! I was so sure I wanted to work in publishing that I pursued an advanced degree in it, but that led me to an unexpected job where I mostly work with numbers and data analysis for publishers, which I really enjoy and is quite different from my original editorial aspirations. Either way, take chances! And especially from a publishing perspective, but I’m sure this is applicable to every career, do your research and know what’s going on in the industry – knowledge will show through.