BUIES CREEK—You’ve just graduated and you have a degree. Now what? That’s the question Campbell University’s Michael Ray Smith answers in the June issue of “Writer’s Digest.” Smith, who served as chair of the department of Mass Communication at Campbell, is now working with writing students to help them break into print. He is the featured source for an article titled “Commence into Print,” a practical guide on how new graduates can break into the competitive world of writing. Among his ideas in “Writer’s Digest,” Chuck Sambuchino’s article is to write for free to demonstrate talent and tenacity. He is quoted as saying consider “nonprofit groups—every one of these organizations has the need for a writer. Let people know you’ll write for free. Depending on how much you work, they may give you a stipend.” Sambuchino contacted Smith based on Smith’s fourth book, “FeatureWriting.Net,” a guide for freelancers to earn a byline and a paycheck. Writer’s Digest is the premier magazine for freelance writers. This year Smith has been interviewed by “The New York Times,” “The Boston Globe,” “The Chicago Sun” and many other periodicals and online services. This summer Smith will take student interns to a national convention where they will write feature stories for an international wire service. Students in his writing classes have published articles for regional publications including the “Fayetteville Observer,” Raleigh’s “News & Observer” and Dunn’s “Daily Record.” Melissa Lilley, senior of the year in Campbell’s Department of Mass Communication, noted, “I didn’t know you could get published while still working as a student until Professor Smith pushed me.” Lilley will begin working full-time as a writer in June. Meanwhile, Smith is working on his fifth book and doing research as an Archie K. Davis Fellow. His students’s work including contributions by colleagues can be seen at: https://www.campbell.edu/coas/masscomm/news.html
Campbell University offers a degree in mass communication and prepares students as writers and generalists in all facets of communication.