This past semester, junior public relations and writing and rhetoric major, Kimberly Ruiz, had the opportunity to intern under independent novelist and author of several McGraw Hill textbooks, Judith Boss.
Author of college textbooks, including “THiNK” and “Analyzing Moral Issues,” Boss is also the author of a suspenseful romantic novel set in Antarctica called “Deception Island.”
Boss earned her Master’s of Science in human development from the University of Rhode Island. She continues to travel and work with students from URI and Brown Medical School. She even assisted indigenous people in Guatemala and Mexico.
The internship opportunity that Ruiz had focused on Boss’ involvement as a novelist and the work that went into editing textbooks and running public relations.
Ruiz applied for the internship in late August of 2016 and began working with Boss at the beginning of the Fall 2016 semester.
Ruiz’s responsibilities included event coordination, publicizing Boss’ appearances and works, maintaining Boss’ social media accounts, contacting literary agents and pitching young adult novels, maintaining contact with editors and editing textbooks.
“While some of the things I learned were common knowledge, such as how to put a selling subject line in an email,” joked Ruiz, “the importance of the overall experience was ingrained into me.”
Ruiz said,“The most significant thing I learned was how pitches work with literary agents and how to use Adobe Acrobat for editing textbooks and other literary pieces.”
Ruiz initially sought out the internship to fulfill a requirement for her public relations major, however, she considers the time spent working with Boss much more than a graduation requirement. She plans to take her newfound skills and apply them wherever she goes next in her career.
“I have learned so much through this hands on experience,” Ruiz said. “Everyone that has the opportunity to should consider completing an internship within their field of study. This experience was very positive and even drove me to apply for an internship with McGraw Hill, which I am currently waiting to hear back from.”