Student media swag

Being the Editor-in-Chief of The Pioneer Log has taught me a few things. First, that it takes a lot of tooth pulling to get people to actually read the newspaper. Second, that people love to look at the newspaper. And third, that Lewis & Clark is a great place filled with intellectual and talented people. As EIC, I have way too many responsibilities, and most of the time I end up writing the leftover articles that no one wants to write. I love writing, but it can get old to write about boring not-terribly-exciting stuff all the time.

Which is why I like to participate in all sorts of student media, specifically, Synergia. Synergia is Lewis & Clark's Literary Magazine for Gender and Sex Expression. I worked on the literary magazine in high school and I've always had a passion for judging people's art. And literary magazines are really fun because you don't have to write anything!

Tomorrow, Synergia will be released to the public. My co-editor and I have been working hard all year to collect content, lay out the book, and rush to get it ready by the Gender Studies Symposium. Tomorrow morning, our little publication will be in the hands of 200 lucky people--and that is a great feeling.

Cover art by Aaron Williard ('13)

For those who have never worked on putting together a magazine before, there's a lot of work involved. I'll give you the condensed version:

1. Beg for content. There's no magazine without content. It can be really hard to get your intelligent and talented peers to cough up their work for your publication. What people don't realize is that being published is a huge deal! This is some résumé material, ladies and gentlemen. We made posters, sent out blast emails through the Feminist Student Union listserv, Gender Studies listserv, Opporunities and Announcements, etc. And of course, begged our friends--who, lucky for us, are artist types.
2. Wield the red pen. Creative writing pieces don't normally need much editing, and neither do academic essays, but occasionally there is a misplaced period. Editing, for me, is tons of fun. It is a bit of a power trip. The worst part about editing anything though, is that sometimes you just have to reject people. My co-editor and I chose the most passive form of rejection, which is just to let the poor souls who didn't make the cut find out when the magazine comes out. Sorry!
3. Design, design, design. Laying out the book is the most laborious and time consuming process, but it is also really exciting. You get to pick where the pictures go, what pieces of writing match up best with what pieces of art, how big the titles should be, and what fonts to use. We used Adobe Creative Suite 6, utilizing Photoshop and InDesign. These programs are really cool and what's even better is that we have access to them FOR FREE (I highly recommend going to Powell's and buying Adobe CS for dummies. Teach yourself something)!
4. Send it away. Over the course of three weeks, the book is processed and edited by the printers. You receive drafts back (what's called the "proof") and accept them, and make stupid little changes that you didn't notice before, like moving titles up a quarter of an inch and other tedious awful nonsense.
5. Distribute! Finally, after weeks of compiling, composing, and orchestrating, the book is ready. I feel like a proud parent whose baby is finally going to prom... or something... I don't really know. Either way, our book looks badass and I can't wait to hand it out tomorrow.

I didn't mention everything. For example, you get to look through volumes and volumes of paper samples in search of the perfect card stock. We had to have a meeting with the printer about getting our title hammered with gold foil. There was a miscommunication about our printing date and it is really a miracle that this thing was produced in time. All in all, it is something that I'm proud of.

And even though it is work, it's a nice break from the fast-paced world of journalism. For the PioLog, I produce something every single week. I know that I should feel good about this. But I don't know, there is something so much more satisfying about sitting with something for a few months, making it absolutely perfect, and having it be a special occasion.

Pick up Synergia tomorrow at any of the information tables for the Symposium. If you can't find a copy, leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail and I'll hook you up. And really, it's never too early to submit your work for next year! Email synergia@lclark.edu for more information.

Happy reading!