Literary Magazine Begins New Publication

The SM East Freelancer accepts all types of art: photos, paintings, stories, ceramics, poems, jewelry. No matter what your talent, you can find a place for it in the Freelancer.Staff meetings will be every Thursday, starting August 28, in room 517. English teacher Amy Andersen is the current adviser, having taken over for English teacher Laura Beachy, the one who dubbed the magazine the Freelancer. The reasons for this name, says Beachy, are obvious.

The Freelancer features a variety of photography, design, art and writing from East students.

“It’s punny and the double meaning is awesome. Freelance writers write what they want when they want. … Just the idea of, like, Lancers being able to submit freely,” she said. “There was just no othr possibility for a second choice.”

The number of students on staff is uncertain until the meetings actually start, but the editors hope for a lot of interest; they want to put more leadership positions in place than there have been in the past. Senior co-editor Mae Heitmann wants as many people to know about and appreciate the Freelancer as possible, and says there is no limit to the amount of submissions they will consider
“My hopes for this year I would say are to have more publicity and get more submissions, especially on the art side since we were a bit heavy on the writing side in terms of submissions last year,” Heitmann said. “Also we are hoping to have better communication with those that want to submit or those wanting to buy it at the end of the year.”

Variety is key on the Freelancer: it’s a magazine of all the arts, not just literary, and having a multiple examples of a lot of different forms of art is important.
“[My favorite part] is the variety of different works that we get to see and looking at everything that comes in to Freelancer for us to put into the magazine,” senior co-editor Hannah Swanson said.

In order to choose which pieces to actually put in the book, the editors will put each submission up on the board and decide whether they like it or not. Pieces they like are put in the “yes” pile, and the ones they don’t like or don’t have room for are placed in the “no” pile. The “maybe” pile is submissions filed for reconsideration in the case of a shortage.Still, the editors want to make sure that no one feels judged. Although they want as much publicity as possible, more than in past years, they want readership to stay what it has always been–people who legitimately appreciate the art.

The magazine should cost around $4-$5 when it comes out for selling sometime after spring break.