Alumni Spotlight: Camille Smaby, Class of ’15

What are you up to right now?

I am the Senior Marketing Manager, Metadata Optimization at HarperCollins Christian Publishing with a specialization in children’s literature and fiction. I’m the bridge between metadata and consumer marketing where I get to work on BISAC codes, off-page keywords, and consumer copy for online retailers. I also am querying my YA novel to agents.

Thinking back to your student days, what’s one piece of advice that would have made the biggest difference in your college experience or career planning? 

Ask questions voraciously, the worse someone can say is no. By asking questions and exploring career possibilities you will learn what you like and don’t like, what type of work/life balance you want, and what type of career is aligned with your style and habits.  

How did your Creative Writing major prepare you for the challenges and opportunities in your current field? 

My Creative Writing major is essential for what I do. Writing marketing copy is a blend of storytelling and grammatical knowledge, and convincing a consumer why to purchase your product over any other company. You have to hit on what do I want this consumer to feel when they read the copy? What type of story am I inviting them into. Things that have a firm root in my creative writing background. 

Based on your experiences, what advice would you give to students feeling uncertain about their post-graduation path? 

Start trying new things! I wish I had taken the time to really explore the possibilities senior year and see what adjacent areas touched my degree. When I graduated, I was unsure what I wanted to do and eventually ended up in a graduate program. If you’re uncertain, start trying things that put you outside of your comfort zone. You’d be amazed what you learn about yourself in the process, and it might place you in an area you hadn’t thought about before. 

If you attended or are enrolled in graduate school, what prompted your decision to attend graduate school? What do you see yourself doing after graduating? 

 It was after getting my BA that I discovered children’s literature as a career, and I knew that was where I wanted to be. I narrowed down graduate programs that offered a very specific degree focus and chose the one that made the most sense to me. Getting my MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults is the reason I have my job today. I’m highly specialized in this audience, the tropes, the formats, of children’s literature and I use it daily in my current role. I also plan to teach at some point in my career, so having the MFA is a requirement for that as well. Lastly, the program really pushed my writing to a new level honed my storytelling ability.