We Are the Champions...

            Yes, the chorus of this song was playing on repeat in my head the day the Rockhurst Review finally came in.  The Review is Rockhurst University’s national literary magazine, which means we accept submissions from writers all over the country, and even a few from abroad.  I was the Managing Editor this year, which is a fancy way of saying I did all the dirty work, and I will be again next year, plus an assistant/Managing Editor in training, so I am putting together a little step-by-step checklist for myself and future editors so the process can go a little more smoothly.  And since I have talked so much about the Review (see my post about my office - http://allisonbody.blogspot.com/2012/02/cupboard-at-top-of-stairs-i-have-office.html), I’ve decided to share with you all a little sneak peak of a draft of my checklist:

1.      Sometime in September, rid the Review’s email account of the mysterious advertisements in foreign languages and be ready to start sorting submissions into folders by authors’ last names.

2.      Over Thanksgiving break, bring home all of the printed submissions you have received thus far and fill out cover sheets for them with the author’s information, then sort them into alphabetical folders.  You can do this by yourself, or you can bribe your ten-year-old cousin with orange soda and a Mary-Kate and Ashley movie to help you.

3.      Over Christmas break, read, read, read, read submissions, checking yes, no, or maybe as to whether you think they should make it into this year’s edition. 

4.      When you get back to school, read, read, read, read, and beg/bribe/bully every English major you know into pretty please reading a folder for you and PLEASE return it soon. 

5.      Right before Spring break, track down all of the people who did not return their folder soon.

6.      Sit with Dr. Miller, the editor-in-chief and benefactor of the magazine, and sort through each of the evaluated submissions, picking which ones have received the most yeses or maybes and making the final decision as to what makes it into the magazine. 

7.      Befriend Anne Pearce, hands down the coolest and quirkiest art director/art professor, and have her whip up a few art submissions for you.

8.      Type up the submissions that were mailed in.  Take a break so you don’t go cross-eyed.  Type up more submissions.

9.      Bribe Matt Hodapp, your future assistant editor, with leftover tacos to sit in your living room until midnight on a Sunday and proofread every single submission multiple times.

10.  Email submissions, cover page, table of contents, and everything else you have painstakingly typed to Randy the Printer.  Does Randy have a last name?  We don’t know.  He is simply referred to as “Randy the Printer.”

11.  Pick up a print from Covington Press and let Dr. Miller inform the literary agent that he will be taking you all to lunch at Californio’s.  Enjoy delicious butternut squash soup and fascinating conversation at Californio’s (apparently Dr. Miller had Harry Truman over for dinner once!). 

12.  Scramble to re-check every little detail, give the publisher the go-ahead to print, wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat about something on the table of contents, then decide that it is all out of your hands and get the best night’s sleep you’ve gotten in a while.

13.  REJOICE WHEN THE GLOSSY, BEAUTIFUL FINAL COPIES ARE DELIVERED!  (and refuse to stress about the occasional typo). 

Yeah, I think I’ve got this under control for next year.