Hi, Danielle. Thanks for your question. Often editors come to this magazine—and others—through internship programs offered by journalism schools across the country. They start as assistants and move up the ladder. Editors (and researchers and designers and production people) are also hired from other magazines and websites here in New York City.

But there's no one way of becoming a magazine editor or designer. And you don't necessarily need to have gone to school for it. I myself don't have a degree in journalism and never intended to be an editor. I started as a freelance writer for a New York–based magazine called TIME OUT NEW YORK. One thing lead to another; I was hired as an editor, then kept getting promoted. After I had been at TIME OUT for three years, I was hired by US, and then by GLAMOUR, where I worked with Kristin van Ogtrop. And when Kristin got the big job editing REAL SIMPLE, she hired me to work for her.

Does that answer your question, at least in part? If not, let me know.

Hi Danielle,
My path to REAL SIMPLE was more traditional than Jim's. I went to school for journalism at a small university in the Midwest, and specifically studied magazine journalism--as opposed to "print" journalism that many J-schools offer. Then I actually started out at REAL SIMPLE as a summer intern in a program run by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME). I had one semester left at school after my internship and when I graduated that December they asked me to come back as a freelance staff member. I worked in the freelance postion for about four months before joining the staff full time. I like to consider my internship as a two and a half month interview.

I've now been at REAL SIMPLE for a little over a year and am an assistant editor. I'll soon be joining the ranks of the Simply Stated bloggers in Home and Organizing.

I also didn't get a journalism degree, per se, although I did major in English literature, so I had a comfort with words and editing overall. I'd simply always been a media maven and specifically a devotee of magazines. In my last year of college I got an internship at a magazine, which led to my first 'real' job as an editorial assistant at another magazine, and so on and so forth over the past ten years or so until I landed at Real Simple, where I'm a senior editor. So, the bottom line: To get on the path to working at a magazine the intern thing is vital. It can be frustrating to spend summers/semesters working for peanuts, but in terms of nabbing that first job on salary? Someone with solid experience at another publication, no matter how large or small, will usually get the gig. Bonus points, of course, for having previous internships at publications with a similar focus to your area of interest but it's not vital and you can move around within areas as time goes on and you gain more experience. Oh and like Kristin, I'll also be joining the Simply Stated blogger ranks soon, covering health, fitness, and wellness topics.

Hi Danielle. I've come to work at Real Simple in a manner completely different than that of Jim, Kristin, and Liz...on the other hand, I work at Real Simple in a quite a different capacity than they do. In college I majored in sociology, which has very little to do with the actual crafting of magazines (though I did do quite a bit of research on how and why people use magazines and other media, as well as edit and write for my school's newspaper). Studying sociology also had very little to do with my initial career path - music industry publicity (to gain that job, I interned at several record labels while I was in college). After a year in the music biz, I learned that I was not really interested in the publicity side of things, so I switched careers and became a writer/editor/producer/designer/wearer of all hats for a music website. That job led to a few different jobs editing, designing, and producing websites in the late 90s/early 00s, until I landed the Webmaster position at IN New York magazine (a New York City tourist guide). After four years at IN, I came to RealSimple.com as a producer (basically, the person who takes all of the words and pictures you see in Real Simple and turns them into web pages) and now (three years later) I manage the day-to-day production of everything on the site.

Considering the timing of the beginning of my career versus the advances that have been made in online editorial and production education, I can't really say that my path was typical of someone who is in school now looking to do what I do. When I first started working in online, education in that area didn't really exist, so someone who is looking to work in this field might benefit from some coursework. And as everyone else mentioned - in any field - internships are key.

Hi Danielle,

My name is Julee...I'm currently the associate fashion editor here at Real Simple, and I definitely contribute landing my job to hard work, a lot of help from mentors and most importantly, something I like to call P-Squared....Passion and Persistence! Here's my story:

I took a route similar to Kristin's, as I majored in Journalism (along with Leadership studies) at the University of Richmond (Va.) and then supplemented my education with as many internships that I could get. During the summers between my years in college I made sure I was interning in NYC. Being from rural PA, I rented out a dorm room at Barnard College each summer and often had to find odd jobs to pay for my dorm and board, since most of my internships did not pay. By the time I had graduated, I completed internships at Bergdorf Goodman, VIBE magazine, and CONDE NAST TRAVELER magazine. I employed my passion and persistence every step of the way, since a lot of internships are hard to secure. After graduation, you'd think that landing a job would have been easy for me after having such extensive experience, however, that's not how the editorial side of publishing works. They don't take the best and the brightest of each graduating class...rather there is only a certain number of spots on each staff, so you basically have to wait until someone leaves or gets promoted. It's all about timing!! Again, P-Squared comes back into play. Eventually I scored an interview for the assistant to the managing editor at Real Simple...aka Kristin van Ogtrop....and I got the job! I have been at Real Simple for three years now and I've been lucky enough to move up to my current editorship. I hope that helps! Just remember to stay focused and go for what you want!
P.S. I will also be joining the ranks of Simply Stated and blogging about fashion in the Beauty and Style section.

I recently moved into a new neighborhood that's very social; several people call and stop by daily. While I love the sense of community, some neighbors pop in a touch early or call a tad late. What's the current conventional wisdom for hours in which it's appropriate to call and visit?

Hi, Tara. I'm not an etiquette expert but will put you in touch with someone who is shortly. In my humble opinion, however, you yourself should establish the boundaries that are right for you. If "too late" for you is nine p.m., you should let your neighbors know that—politely, of course. Same goes if "too early" is eight a.m. The official etiquette here isn't as important as your own needs, within reason. And you sound like a reasonable person.

I also like your use of the semicolon.

Anyway, all of the above is just my opinion. I'll get you a more official answer soon....In the meantime, does anyone else have any thoughts about this?

First of all, I love Real Simple! I devour my magazine every month (and the website in between). My only concern is that often/the majority of the time, when doing stories on clothes, shoes, accessories, etc, the pieces featured are generally all in the three digit range. Sometimes there is one piece that is more reasonable, but everything featured is generally consistently a couple hundred dollars - for a skirt or a pair of shoes. That's just not realistic for the average working, yet stylish, American woman. Is there a reason that you all make those decisions? And is it possible to feature more items that are actually under $100 and attainable? Thank you!

Hi, Karen. Thanks for your question. I'm going to get you an answer soon either from our fashion director or from our editor in chief....I'm actually at a conference now in CA, so coordinating this is trickier than normal (I'm not in the office), but I'm working on it!