Webster finds his way as MQ's editorial assistant

Grad student Mike Webster is working hard at Montana Quarterly magazine, but he found time to file this report on his first week of work:

"The first week of my internship has been great and not lacking variety. Montana Quarterly is owned by the same parent company as the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, so in addition to working on the Quarterly's fall issue, I also help edit a few of the Chronicle's niche publications: At Home, Business to Business and Balance (a women's health magazine). This involves everything from copy editing, writing cutlines and occasionally, at my discretion, writing short pieces for the closing pages. My first piece, due next week, is a 200-350 word profile that pays $75, their freelance fee and the only way they can pay me for the summer (slowly chipping away at the 1-credit tuition). I'm also on the masthead now for the niche pubs as an 'editorial assistant.'

"On my second day I also sat in on the editorial meeting to discuss content for the fall issue of Montana Quarterly. Later that day I pitched two story ideas that are still strongly being considered for the fall issue. A small possibility exists that I might get to write one of them. On any given day, I also read (and largely reject) story submissions, and research and track down leads for story ideas: contacting publicists, searching for historical photos, surfing the web and making phone calls to see if a potential story has legs, contacting sources, etc. But really, a good deal of time is spent talking with the managing editor (my boss) and photo editor, both of whom share a general work area with me. We bounce story ideas off each other, browse headlines and otherwise just shoot the breeze. It's a great work environment, and I'm lucky enough to be near a large window with a view of the Bridger Mountains.

"So far, so good!"