Making a Magazine: Behind the Scenes of The Inkwell

By Chiara Hampton

Dear readers, the moment we have all been waiting for has arrived. December 2nd marked the launch of the winter edition of our literary publication The Inkwell. While fawning over lovely submissions from our student body at Sofi’s Southside last night, we took a moment to reflect on the work which went into this semester’s issue. If you’re curious about what happens behind the scenes of our micro-publishing operation (this is the publishing society, after all), here is a glimpse into the creation of Rot.

 

Planning

“We started thinking about it in August” - Kirsten, President  

The first (and most logical) step was to choose a theme. In full early bird spirit, our team began discussing ideas in August before conducting a poll and voting on ‘rot’ as this semester’s concept. Once term rolled around, flyers were posted around campus and submissions opened to the student body.

*Note: if you are interested in having your work published, send us a submission for our second semester issue!

Editing  

“Read and reread many, many, many times!” - Lucy, General Editor

After submissions closed on October 17th, the committee’s task became to mould a body of raw writing into a cohesive collection. The genre editors (we publish prose, poetry and drama) each chose ten submissions they felt were thought-provoking, well-written and applicable to the theme. The editing team discussed each piece and narrowed this list down even further. Selected authors were then informed of the good news! Copy and general editors got in on the action and verified that the spelling, grammar and general flow of the pieces were immaculate. Communication proved key at this stage, as editors could not simply make changes without consulting authors (a bit of back-and-forth is integral to this process). When everyone was happy, the shortlist was shipped off to design, ready to be transformed into a visual masterpiece.

Designing

“Visual interest without sacrificing readability” - Stephanie, Head of Design

Once written submissions were edited and artwork selected, Stephanie placed them in order and paired art with texts. Drawing on inspiration from Pinterest (which she refers to as “favourite place on the internet”), she then chose a colour palette and fonts to suit the theme and tone of submissions. While laying out the issue in InDesign, she identified several visual motifs, including the yellow title boxes in Rot. Once necessary details were added and the manuscript declared both aesthetically pleasing and readable, the issue was sent back to editing.

Perfecting, Printing and Sharing with You

After Stephanie worked her design magic, the editors pored over Rot a final time to proofread and assure that the writing was formatted correctly. The team then moved on to printing, finding the best deals in shops around Edinburgh and deciding between A3 and A4 paper sizes (a more critical and exciting choice than you might imagine). After some deliberation, printing wrapped up and (voila!) a magazine was born.

Needless to say, we’d like to assure that a copy gets into the hands of anyone and everyone who wants one. Last night’s launch party was only the first opportunity to find copies of Rot. They will be available in Teviot, campus cafés, and other local coffee shops. If you would like a taste of student writing and art, please consider picking one up.

We're going to be back and bigger next semester, with more events, and the special 10th-anniversary edition of the Inkwell! Keep an eye out on this page and our facebook page for more information and if you have any ideas about what you would like to write about/hear more about, please don't hesitate to contact us and let us know!