From Page to Publishing

Our originally proposed project changed dramatically when we were awarded only half of our initial request. In fact, that result actually pointed us toward the strongest part of our original plan, and we are so grateful for your partnership with Saint Paul Almanac as we move forward on that path.

Originally, we proposed a plan that included a 12-week series of writing workshops set in four different cultural communities - followed by engagement with local publishers like Milkweed and Gray Wolf and U of M Press to demystify how to get from the page into print - and culminating in a highly focused mentorship in editing with an equity lens... reading for truths, experiences, and means of expression not typically represented in the mainstream press.

Your funding decision immediately pointed us toward the key component of our plan - supporting a mentorship program focused on equity editing and connecting apprentices with local Black publishing arts organizations who are advancing equity and inclusion in the field.

Thank You!

To date our primary activity has been planning: We engaged an experienced literary arts project manager. Together with our CEO they developed a viable calendar of three-hour learning sessions over six weeks. We engaged an experienced Black writer/editor, who is also a seasoned educator in the schools. We designed an application for interested learners and launched a call for applications.

And we expanded our thinking again. To provide materials to actually edit, we launched a call for submissions, and the results of our editing process will be a virtual publication that will be featured on our website and sampled through social media - an innovation we had not even thought about in our original proposal. Thanks to your support, our early vision for workshops has morphed into a new direction in collecting new writing, editing it with an equity lens, and publishing it in a widely accessible, cost-effective format that will be permanently available online.; Over many years and several variations, Saint Paul Almanac's previous community editor program was a 12-week program encompassing both a writing workshop and an editing class. Typically, the participants consisted of five senior editors who offered guidance and teaching to 20 aspiring editors, an executive editor/course facilitator, and a project manager. Their overall group assignment was to select 100 pieces from hundreds of solicited manuscripts and to edit them for the upcoming Almanac anthology. The selection of work was based on a group-created rubric that yielded fiction, nonfiction, and poetry about the history, places, and people of St. Paul authored by aspiring, emerging, and established writers.

With MHC support, In the spring of 2023, the community editor program became the template for the new, more formalized apprenticeship project, which consisted of 10 apprentices, one senior editor, an editing instructor, and a project manager. The group met twice a month for a total of six sessions, 18 hours, during April, May, and June. Now, rather than accept everyone who wanted to participate, we sought apprentices through an application process that demonstrated a serious intent to pursue a literary career, and a commitment to advancing BIPOC culture in the publishing industry. We were happy to receive over 40 applications, which offered a great pool of candidates.

We were blessed with an active and engrossed group of distinct individuals, who demonstrated that they were dedicated to doing their work in between sessions and being engaged in both the large and small group sessions led by an equally devoted and highly esteemed leadership team. Such a group process is rare today among easily distracted and noncommitted individuals!

The team of Community Editors fulfilled learning assignments, and worked together to select 40 pieces (from over 100 submissions from the community) to be published in our first-ever E-Magazine in Fall 2023 (after the timeline of this apprenticeship project).

The apprentices were excited about the work they did to produce SPA's first online publication. Even though we allowed for one missed session, most showed up for every session and worked hard and consistently to meet the deadlines for each session they attended. Their evaluations of the project are quite positive. Here are two examples:

Aria Dominquez
I agreed to be a community editor because I'm interested in the process and believe in the value of sharing stories.
* What have you learned? What specific skills are you taking with you? It was interesting to see how Submittable works from the back side and how the process can work to have pieces assigned to different editors who can leave written comments. It was helpful to see samples of editorial suggestions and to go back and forth so we know how to proceed.
* What was the best part of the project? Hearing the enlightening and interesting observations of other editors sometimes changed the way I saw a piece. I learned to look for other ways of seeing pieces that I might not have otherwise thought of at first.
* How will you use what you've learned? I hope to use what I've learned in future editing projects, one of which begins this summer.
* Distilled down to: I believe in the value of sharing stories. The best part of the project was hearing the enlightening and interesting observations of other editors, which sometimes changed the way I saw a piece. I learned to look for other ways of seeing pieces that otherwise I might not have thought of. I hope to use what I've learned in future editing projects, one of which begins this summer.

Samantha Singh
I think we can really gain fresh and diverse perspectives from editors with different gender identities, ethnicity, religions, etc. I learned a lot about the whole editing process, how to use Submittable, how to read and provide feedback on poetry specifically and more. I learned from other editors how to discern the author's unique voice and how to develop it without overstepping or taking away from their style.
* Best Part: Talking with other people at every meeting, sharing our thoughts and ratings of certain pieces was so fun and I have many memories of our group laughing or just having fun when discussing a piece because of our passion for the specific ideas.
* What's next: I was really interested in publishing and when publishers came in. It piqued my interest in terms of a future career. (She is completing high school.)
* Distilled: We can gain fresh and diverse perspectives from editors with different gender identities, ethnicity, religions, etc. I learned from other editors how to discern the author's unique voice and how to develop it without overstepping or taking away from their style. The best part was talking with other people at every meeting, sharing our thoughts and ratings. I have many memories of our group laughing or having fun when discussing a piece because of our passion for the specific ideas. When publishers came in, it piqued my interest in terms of a future career.