Back To School Issue - Schooled Magazine

Don’t Let Your PapersGo To Waste...Get Them PublishedBy Cory StephensThere is an interesting phenomenonon college campusesacross America. There are thousandsof us attending hundredsA B ofuniversities. We read, we study,we debate, and, to the chagrin ofsome, we write. Some people writepersonal responses to culturalevents, some write essays aboutEdgar Allen Poe, some writeresearch papers and dissertations.All of this is fine. WhereCthe intrigue lies, though, is whathappens to the writing after it isgraded? Did you really spend all ofthose hours researching, documenting,writing and revising toprove to one person, even if it wasa professor, that you had somethingworthwhile to say about aof your blood, sweat, and tears.I invite you to publish. Naysayersabound, don’t get me wrong.Some people think publishing isfor Steven King, Hillary Clinton,and Dr. What’shisname, PhD,M.D., D.Sc. These are they whoare convinced that publishingis an elitist endeavor reservedfor those who have “earned” it.I hope that you will consider analternative perspective though.Writing and its publication isnothing more than formally addingyour voice to the larger conversationsall around you. Fromthat angle, what harm is there inone more perspective, one morevoice, and one more opinion?You may even be surprisedtopic?at how many people are actually3112 oremI respectfullyad 8/25/06invite you3:21toPM Page 1aching for your writing. Case inreconsider the final resting place point, in response to my query forDthis article, Deborah Barlow-Taylor,managing editor of SchooledMagazine, wrote, “Our missionis to help students build up theirresumes and portfolios before gradation.We are always looking forcontributing and freelance writersand stories.” If you write, and theywant to publish what you write,what’s stopping you? After that,it is only a game of matching youraudience and your purpose to thatof a publisher.So who am I to prescribe soboldly what you should be doingwith your writing? I am the supervisingintern over the BrighamYoung University Publication Lab.You may not have realized it, butwithin your very own communitylies the only undergraduatepublication lab who’s sole purposeis to teach students and beginningwriters, step-by-step, how to submittheir writing for publication.The lab is staffed with experiencedtutors who are available toreview your manuscripts, help youresearch markets, prepare coverand query letters, and answerany questions along the way. Thelab itself is stocked with marketguides, style guides, and how-toguides detailing every step of theprocess. We have books cateringeverything from children’sto comedy writing, song lyrics tofantasy novels. And it is all freeto students and members of thecommunity. So whether you arethe next great American novelist,an avid mountain biker with a fewtips to share, or you simply want“published author” to spice upyour resume while making a fewbucks on the side, we can help.Publishing is not for someoneelse. It is for those who havesomething to say Eand are willingto put forth the effort to say it.No battle cry ever stirred anyone;no call to arms ever mobilized anarmy that didn’t get past a couplefolks muttering to their neighbor.If we are indeed the Americanfuture, let’s let them know we’rehere. Let’s join the conversations. SMBYU Publication Lab(801) 422-9316publish@byu.eduHours: Fall/Winter, M-F 12-5pmUVSC Online Writing Lab(801) 863-8310www.uvsc.edu/owlBy appoinment only.The Original BBQ Chicken PizzaInvented In Italy.Reinvented at California Pizza Kitchen.University Mall575 E. University ParkwayCorner of University Parkway and State Street801.765.1777www.cpk.comDine-In • Take-Out • Curbside ServiceGift Cards Available