My profile
Born in Warrington, Ruth was educated at Appleton Hall High School. She later read English Literature at Queens’ College, Cambridge, and went on to King’s College London to undertake a P.G.C.E in the teaching of English at secondary school level.
After her years in the South, she felt the pull to move northward again. She lived for eight years in York – always a favourite holiday town of hers – where she completed a Phd. in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century women’s writing at the university. She then lectured for three years at the Norwegian Study Centre (part of the Department of English and Related Literature). Here her task was to enlighten visiting Scandinavian students on aspects of British culture including language, history, politics and literature. The job involved occasional trips to Norway, and it was as a result of constantly comparing the two countries that she and a Norwegian colleague set about researching and writing a book on the perceptions of British travellers in Norway in nineteenth century.
In 1998, Ruth moved back to the North West as her father was seriously ill. She became Head of English Language and Literature at Abbey Sixth Form College in central Manchester. Always preferring writing to teaching, Ruth took up an editorial position at Manchester College of Arts and Technology (MANCAT) in 2003. Here she was responsible for managing a team of editors and liaising with lecturers and other freelance writers in the production of open learning materials.
Ruth’s first passion remains writing. She is currently working freelance for a range of family history and literary magazines penning articles on a variety of topics from syphilis and drowning to governesses and obituaries! Ruth also works part-time in her sister’s second-hand book business, based in Warrington. This is an online service supplying hard-to-find history books to academics worldwide.
Ruth lives in Altrincham with her husband, Zainul Sachak, a business consultant. She enjoys swimming, travel, eating out and the intellectual stimulation of the Lit and Phil and the Portico Library.
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Dear Ruth,
I am sure that you have had many enquiries of this type, however, I am starting out as a freelance historian and writer. If you have time, some brief advice on how you got started, with some do’s and don’ts would be gratefully received.
Many thanks and I hope to hear from you.
Yours Sincerely,
Gareth H Griffiths BSc (Hons) MSc
Griffiths Brothers Enterprise Limited
www.griffithsbrothers.com
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Dear Gareth,
Thank you for your email.
I expect it all depends on what sort of history you want to write. I sent speculative articles to the (many) family history magazines now on sale in places like WHSmiths (Practical Family History, Family Tree Magazine, Your Family Tree, Ancestors and Family History Monthly). Each has its own particular way of working, so its important that you get a few copies of the magazine and try to understand the readership before sending off an article. Once I had had a few articles accepted, and had established a relationship with the editors, I found that they then asked me to write on particular topics and sent me commissions. I have gone through the same process with a number of literary magazines, educational magazines and magazines of more general interest. Always remember to stick to their deadlines and word count and to include pictures where possible. In fact, an article without pictures is unlikely to get published, so find out how to send digital images if you don’t know already.
I also found it useful to join some local historical societies (namely the Portico Library and the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society). Through these I have met people with an interest in editing, publishing etc and, through them, I have managed to gain various leads. One person (a designer and typsetter) was looking for an editor to help her with some work from a university publisher; several other people have asked me to edit memoirs or histories of one kind or another.
I have also joined a couple of writers’ societies: The Society of Authors and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. These have provided invaluable advice on how to obtain writing commissions.
I hope this has been helpful. Good luck with your writing career and thanks for your interest.
Regards
Ruth A. Symes