Elizabethtown College’s annual literary magazine Fine Print acts as a showcase for student and faculty work in art, writing and poetry. Fine Print is currently looking for submissions. Based on their own experiences with seeing their work published, the editors encourage others to take the plunge and submit their work.
Fine Print compiles pieces of short fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and art. Submissions are open to anyone that is interested, regardless of major. The magazine comes out every year before finals week, but there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to get it ready. It takes around a month to edit all the pieces, design the layout and print the magazine. Two of the Fine Print editors shared some of their insights into their roles and experiences.
Poetry Editor for Fine Print, junior Lucy Krug, has been on the staff for three years. When poems are submitted to the magazine, Krug will assign them to staff on the review board as well as edit and review submissions herself.
“I joined Fine Print because of my own love for creative writing and workshopping/editing other people’s pieces,” Krug said in an email. “There is so much potential in every piece, you know?”
Art Editor for Fine Print, senior Zeke Ciafre, is also in charge of designing the layout for the magazine. His love of print media was one of the main reasons he joined.
“I just love designing things that are printed,” Ciafre said. “I feel like I actually like to hold it and see it in my hands.”
Both Ciafre and Krug have submitted work to the magazine, and they hope to inspire students to do the same.
“Fine Print is a wonderful, accessible, local way to gain a better understanding of how getting published works,” Krug said. “It is a great opportunity to start gaining confidence, put your name out there, and feel proud of the art you have created.”
Ciafre added that for those who submit art pieces, there is the additional incentive of potentially being picked for the front cover. This cover image also sets the tone for the rest of the magazine; as Ciafre shared, “last year, the layout colors were directly pulled from the cover.”
Ciafre encourages those who submit art pieces to be creative. Any medium is allowed as long as a photo can be submitted of the work. Krug also encourages creativity and mentioned that even humorous written pieces are welcome.
Overall, submitting work to Fine Print is a great opportunity to be published and showcase creative works. It can be really rewarding, and it all starts with that initial leap of faith to submit.
“Just submit what you’re most proud of,” Ciafre said. “Submit what you think is your best work and what you really like because chances are other people will like it, as well.”
Submissions are being accepted until March 1. Those interested can submit up to four total pieces of work. For fiction and creative nonfiction pieces, there is a 5,000 word maximum between all submitted pieces. There is no word count for poetry, but both poetry and art pieces are limited to three submissions. For more information about submissions, please contact fineprint@etown.edu. Submit a piece here: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=Ek-IHdeg8EKLFTqRyFO8tQ_BMCoydAVNuLRunCqgBWBURjJURDVYQk1EWDVROTZFVU9JTUM4S1QySC4u.
