Recently, journalist and author A.J. Jacobs participated in a Reddit AMA session. The user AmITinaFeyYet posted this question: “Do you have any advice for college students/aspiring journalists?”
Jacobs (pictured, via) recommended that any person who sets out for this career path should become “an idea machine.” He went on to say that one devote “15 minutes every day just generating ideas. Then pitch them relentlessly and be prepared to have 99 percent of them rejected.”
During the online conversation, Jacobs also revealed how the idea for the Global Family Reunion event and the It’s All Relative book came to be. He received an email from a fan who claimed to be his 12th cousin. He “loved this idea that we’re all connected. It’s like 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, but we’re ALL Kevin Bacon.