Why Join Literary Publications?

The top reason I would give anyone to join literary publications is the flexibility and creative freedom. This is a class that can give you an outlet to really find, improve, utilize, and apply your specific skill set in creative ways. Literary publications is a student-led course that ultimately creates NDSU’s Northern Eclecta: Art and Literary Journal. 

The class is split into three teams: the editing team, design team, and PR team. The editing team’s main priority is editing all of the written submissions that are sent to Northern Eclecta for the chance to get published. Since this is a literary journal, and we compile the accepted submissions into one finished product, the authors or contributors of these pieces still have a say whether they want to make any of these changes or leave the piece as is.

The design team is mostly responsible for creating the layout of the journal and designing the cover and promotional materials for Northern Eclecta. Using an app like InDesign or Canva, the design team inputs all of the pieces into a cohesive format, and adds any extra design elements to the layout.

The PR team handles all of the social media posts through Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and is responsible for updating our website. They are also responsible for sending emails to everyone who submits to the journal, and keeps track of the RSVPs for the launch party.

If you decide to join Literary Publications, or any course that allows such creative freedom and flexibility, my recommendation is to take advantage of it. I don’t mean you should do something you dislike just to experience it- if you’re interested in going into publishing or writing, and you want to stick with editing because that is what will benefit you the most- do it. If you want to join the PR team because you already have experience with creating social media content- by all means- use what you know to best apply yourself to the course. 

If you’re looking for an easy A class- I don’t know that this would be the best fit. There is ultimately a lot of time and effort that needs to be done even outside of class to make sure the journal is ready to be printed at the end of the semester. 

Some of the things that we do, could also use more talents than I’ve previously mentioned. For example if you’re interested in photography, you could incorporate that interest to take staff pictures, or photographing tabling events, or just maintaining a record of what the class is doing on any given week and posting those pictures to the social media sites and help advertise for Northern Eclecta and the Literary Publications course. If you’re interested in business or entrepreneurship, you can help decide what kinds of things might help attract interest, what sorts of things you want and are able to sell, set prices for the merchandise, and handle tabling events. If you’re interested in writing a blog, but never really had a platform to do so, this could be the chance to see what types of things interest other people and be an easy low-risk way to get started. There are so many ways to incorporate things that you already know how to do in a low-risk capacity to try new things and get a chance to see how the publication of a literary journal is handled within the span of a single semester.

Apply the talents you already have, cultivate new interests, try something new, or apply previous knowledge in new ways. This class really does have something for everyone, and if you apply yourself and your talents effectively, it could be one of the best, most fundamentally rewarding courses you may ever take at NDSU.

—Caitlin