So, I have spent a lot of time over the summer thinking about what I am going to talk about in the blog this year. Last year I wrote as we were going through things so you might notice a sort of progression of the ideas. This year there may be a progression in the end, but I actually worked on a list of topics for the year. They may or may not follow the year’s progression. I hope to get these posts out around the time that you might need them.
I also want to encourage you, the reader, to interact with the blog. I look forward to seeing comments posted from readers. I had one person, who I have never met, post comments and start a discussion in the blog. I can’t even describe how exciting it was. It really encouraged me to keep up with this project. I want more encouragement. Won’t you please help me out.
So on that note I am going to ask you to contribute to the first official post of the year.
In one of the first posts to this blog dealt with the organization of a literary magazine staff (http://litmagcreation.blogspot.com/2007/09/organization.html). Boy, when I look back over it I see that there isn’t a lot there. So it’s a good thing that I start with this again. The organization of your staff may be the most helpful thing for a successful magazine. If no one knows what anyone else is doing then nothing gets done. The question that I have been wrestling with is, “Is there such a thing as too much organization?”
We all know that there is definitely such a thing as not enough organization. A lot of us deal with this in our everyday lives. Little or no organization leads to so many problems that it is often enough to bring down an organization, group, or even a publication. Nothing gets done and things are rushed. The details that refine a magazine are lost in the mix. This is a sure way to turn out a mediocre publication. My concern is that I, personally, may fixate too much on the organization of the staff and not on what the magazine needs. This stems from the fact that I can spend hours developing a staff organization, but that certainly doesn’t guarantee that the jobs will be performed to expectation. As an adviser, I should be concerned with keeping the structure there, but I have found that by the end of the publication cycle for the year, the staff miraculously dwindles to a handful doing the work. This makes me think that we should whittle the staff down to the core of people that we are left with at the end of the year. This is where the idea of “too much organization“ comes from. I hate to see members get positions in on the staff, but not take initiative to get their part of the job done.
This is the dilemma that I am going to pose to my co-adviser as well as the editor-in-chief for the coming year. How can we more effectively run the magazine? This is where you, the reader, comes in. I would like to know how you organize your staff? How do you get people to do what they sign on for?
5 comments:
I am taking over as advisor for my school's literary magazine this year. It is only my second year in the district so I feel like I have a lot on my plate. I helped out with the magazine last spring when I learned that the current advisor would be out on maternity leave this year. At the time, I noticed that the majority of work fell to two students and the advisors. As those two students will be seniors this year, it is clear that greater interest needs to be cultivated throughout the school. I would love to hear any advice you have for generating interest, both among students and staff, in order to achieve success in my new endeavor.
Jennifer-
I hate to say it, but that is a problem that we all face. You have to try got get the word out to the underclassmen. Here are some suggestions.
-You may want to try by talking to students in the gifted program. -Talk to the English teachers to find stellar students. Talk to the art teacher(s) to find the strong artists.
-The staff that I started with was actually recruited from the yearbook staff.
Let me know if you find something that works for you.
Mr. M
It seems setting up an efficient lit mag staff is a universal problem. Last year we had about ten students attend the first meeting, but by the next meeting the only people to show up were those that had been involved in the lit mag in previous years. This year I am one among five seniors, three of which essentially shoulder all the work. We have two juniors who may play a bigger part this year. No matter how dedicated our chief editors are, it's near impossible to produce a quality publication with only three people. Here are the things I'm going to try to recruit new students:
- Ask people who have submitted to the magazine in the past. They obviously have shown interest, and it's an easy place to start.
- Always go to teachers, but have a staff member talk to the prospective student in person. That's who they're more likely to listen to.
- Food has never failed as an incentive.
The organization we used last year was mostly a joke. There were the people who were dedicated to the publication and the people who weren't. Three people shared all the work of publication. We tried to assign positions and divide the work: editor-in-chief, production manager, literary editor, photography and arts editor... It didn't work. People fought over what titles they wanted and didn't even do the work in the end.
This year I envision people being apart of committees. There will be a group for reviewing and selecting entries in writing and art; a group that works with InDesign and layout; a group that works with the publisher, advertises, and sells the magazine; and two or three executives that oversee everything. Some decisions will be made as a whole, but most of the meetings will be by committee so it will be easier to work with people's busy schedules. Hopefully it works.
Sadly, our school doesn't even have a literary magazine. I'm very interested in starting one, and I've already talked to my English teacher about it. She seems very enthusiastic about the idea. The only problem is that I don't know where to start. I understand that I'll have to advertise and recruit staff members. But to be honest, I've only heard the idea of a literary magazine - I've never actually seen one nor do I understand what it takes to operate one. I know this type of ignorance isn't preferred in someone who wants to start a literary magazine, but I'm trying to do research. Really, though, I'm so confused. And I'm sorry to hijack the post like this, but if there's just some basic information you can share, I'd really appreciate it.
Lynda-
It is just enough that you are interested in starting something that hasn't been in your school. Check out the previous posts for some information. Also, I am going to try and address some of this in the next post.
Please feel free to contact me. I may be able to help you better through e-mail, rather than through posts.
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