Every spring, our inboxes are clogged – in a good way! – with emails from all of you, prospective students of the Summer Publishing Institute checking in. You are talented, eager, full of great questions. So what is SPI really like? Can I hear from alumni? What kind of career help will I get? We understand: It’s The Dream of every word and book lover. We had (and followed) that dream too: Move to New York. Make friends. Learn the industry. Land my first publishing job. It’s all possible at SPI. But don’t just take it from us. Hear what members of the Class of 2014 say about their experiences: [Read more…] about Reflections from 2014 SPI Alumni
NYU Summer Publishing Institute
Silver Spork is Golden: From SPI to the Web
Silver Spork was never supposed to happen. How often do you think about any class project after you turn it in? Truth is, we dedicate hundreds of hours to assignments, present them in a classroom setting, and then leave them in the rearview mirror.
And that’s exactly what happened with Silver Spork, a full plan for a hypothetical new print and digital magazine created as a team assignment at the 2014 NYU Summer Publishing Institute (SPI). Our team of 11 students was even awarded a first-place prize by the judges, a group of heavyweight publishing executives. After the exhilarating 24 hours following our star performance, the team split up and we went our separate ways. Silver Spork became this myth in our minds that we would discuss after a few drinks. “What if?” That was the question.
“What if Silver Spork was a real brand?” We joked about returning to the idea years later after we were all successful publishing executives. However, it was never something that was actually going to happen…at least until I realized how painful the publishing industry can be. I won’t lie; Silver Spork came about because I looked around and saw extremely talented people struggling to find employment. And there I was with an extraordinary idea that needed talented people and an action plan.
I started talking to people from the original team and a few others from SPI who had shown excitement about the idea. I was fishing for interest, and the hook caught less than I had hoped. Still, we built a small team and established some arbitrary job titles. We began with a website. Then we started writing material for the site.
The beauty of an idea is how simple it can seem on paper: “I’m going to create [a digital version of] Silver Spork.” That was pretty much the pitch I ran with in the beginning. So when I found out that SilverSpork.com would cost me a few thousand dollars more than I had to spare (about ten dollars), it was back to the drawing board. My SPI colleague Bailey James (Executive Editor) and I (Editor-in-Chief) tried out a thousand new names: Silver Spork Brand, Silver Spork Food, Silver Spork Media, etc, but nothing rolled off the tongue quite the way we wanted. After a dozen more terrible names, we stumbled onto Silver Spork News. And suddenly, we knew we had it.
The funny thing about establishing a brand is all the new information you need to take in. If starting a website has taught me anything, it’s that I used to be an idiot and might still be. Let’s talk about some of the issues and solutions that we worked through:
- Contributors: Who was going to write for this site? We had a bank of posts built up from before the site launch, but blew through them pretty fast. After that we had to write articles by the seat of our pants (see 2). After the loss of the original team, we sought out friends from the program and from our lives to help us. Most of them didn’t work out, but some of them did. And those who did are still working with us today. Our contributors are the real heroes of the site. I might manage some stuff here and there, but they are the people who made Silver Spork News something to be excited about. They did this, not me. And I owe them everything.
- Writing by the Seat of Our Pants: If you’ve spent time reading articles on our site, there’s a good chance you’ve read something I wrote three hours earlier. Whether it’s because someone missed a deadline or aliens abducted our contributors, it falls to me and (if I’m trapped under a car or some other calamitous event) Bailey to keep our publishing schedule. We post at least one article a day. And you can quote me on that. We have not missed a day since we launched on September 4th, 2014. I’d miss my mother’s funeral if Silver Spork News needed a post. She’d understand.
- Art: This brand was started by a bunch of writers. But news flash: art is important. We’ve had two amazing artists (Angeli Rafer and Molly Johanson) working with Silver Spork from the beginning and they’ve been nothing but incredible. Our Facebook ads have the highest click-through when accompanied by an original Silver Spork drawing. Writing is worthless if no one reads it, so we need art to draw in the consumers. You can’t just draw a grasshopper in Microsoft Paint either. It’s gotta be real art that people want to see.
- Facebook Advertising: Wow. I’d be better off trying to understand Naked Lunch. Facebook Advertising is a simple interface that sets you up with everything you need to be successful. And then what? “You wanted college students 21 and up? Here’s an eighth-grader checking out your weed articles.” I will say this for Facebook: it gets us likes and page views, but not always from our sought-after demographic. It also puts everything into convenient charts to show how it didn’t do what it said it did.
- Management: I’m learning, okay? I became the leader of Silver Spork News because I had the most passion for the project and knowledge about working in the kitchen, not because I knew how to herd cats and communicate. I am in charge of scheduling projects for art, editorial, and marketing. I’m also the voice of the brand when speaking externally to restaurants and performing interviews. The only reason I can do any of this is by having a kickass second-in-command. Along with working another publishing job, Bailey James writes, edits, and posts material for the site, and she works as our Marketing Executive. Without her, all of my ideas would be nothing. She keeps me in line so that I can keep the brand on point and on time.
Silver Spork News is currently a 10-person team operating across the nation. Check us out at silversporknews.com or, if you’re looking to join the team, contact us at silversporknews@gmail.com.
by Ian Sims, Editor-in-Chief, Silver Spork News
A Book for Everyone: Students at the Sharjah International Book Fair
A sea of sheikhs in white robes and a moonlit dinner served from gold tureens on a rooftop terrace: that marked our last night in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, where four NYU M.S. in Publishing: Digital and Print Media students, Jessica Lei, Allie Levick, Kevin Murphy and I were fortunate enough to have attended the 33rd annual Sharjah International Book Fair. When we embarked on our six-day journey, we had no idea we would have the chance to attend a dinner presided over by His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah. Nor did we know we would pose for a photo with bestselling novelist Dan Brown, who attended the fair and gave a keynote address broadcast all over the Arab world.
[Read more…] about A Book for Everyone: Students at the Sharjah International Book Fair
The Wonder-factory: Down the Rabbit Hole
“We want our brand to hit you in the face when you get off the elevator,” said David Link, Co-Founder and Creative Director of The Wonderfactory. This Manhattan-based advertising, design, and app development company creates interactive experiences for Fortune 500 brands in the publishing and media industries. [Read more…] about The Wonder-factory: Down the Rabbit Hole
Publishers Weekly: Books Are Just the Beginning
Just as you might expect, the offices of Publishers Weekly (PW) are a bibliophile’s dream: everywhere you look are stacks of books piled on desks and overflowing onto tables and the floor. While the ambiance is of a library or bookstore of years ago, there is nothing traditional about the 141-year-old publication. The PW staff is involved in podcasts and radio shows, e-newsletters, e-blasts, and webcasts, plus services for self-publishers and much more, including plans to digitize their extensive archives. To learn more about this multiplatform business devoted to serving the book publishing industry (and that means libraries, too!), a group of NYU SCPS M.S. in Publishing: Digital and Print Media students last week spent a fascinating time at PW. They met key staffers and heard what they do. [Read more…] about Publishers Weekly: Books Are Just the Beginning
SPI Day One: Dos, Don’ts, and Diving Right In
Visualize this: an auditorium full of resolute and eager students who had just graduated from college. There they were, seated and patiently waiting to embark on a six-week journey that will lead them all into the same industry – publishing. It sounds potentially competitive and sinister, perhaps, but hardly so. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, an indication of the terrain that lies ahead for members of the NYU Summer Publishing Institute (SPI) class of 2013, the class that marks the 35th anniversary of SPI. We all sat in chatty harmony awaiting the arrival of the morning’s editorial keynote speakers: Brandon Holley, Editor-in-Chief of Lucky, and Bill Phillips, Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of Men’s Health. [Read more…] about SPI Day One: Dos, Don’ts, and Diving Right In
BEA 2013: Volunteers and Voices of Change
Students wearing neon green T-shirts with the slogan “Keep Calm and Read On” seemed to be everywhere last week at Book Expo America. There they were in the autograph area controlling crowds, at publishers’ booths helping with signings, at conference sessions, and at author breakfasts. Forty-nine Master of Science in Publishing: Digital and Print Media and 2013 Summer Publishing Institute students were roaming the massive BEA space at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center serving as volunteers and picking up industry knowledge—and plenty of great swag as well. Advanced reading copies anyone? ARCs were there for the picking from bestselling authors like David Baldacci, Scott Turow, Lisa Scottoline, Cassandra Clare, and more. All in all, getting the chance to volunteer at the largest book conference in America was a great treat for students and an awesome way to kick off a summer of studies—and reading!
[Read more…] about BEA 2013: Volunteers and Voices of Change
Eats and Feats at Every Day with Rachael Ray
The delectable aroma of herbs, spices, and Mexican cooking greeted M.S. in Publishing: Digital and Print Media students as they arrived at the test kitchens of Every Day with Rachael Ray for an industry visit. Naturally, at a food magazine, the test kitchen is key–and the perfect place to start our tour! Christine Guilfoyle, the magazine’s Group Publisher, who graciously set up the student visit, explained that a goal of Every Day with Rachael Ray is to help readers understand the everyday practices of good cooking. [Read more…] about Eats and Feats at Every Day with Rachael Ray
At SPI, Lunch Counts, Too!
“It’s all about attitude” said Katie Levine at one of the eighteen Brown Bag Luncheons arranged this year to give NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute students a chance to meet with alumni in small groups. The subject of the lunch was “Twists and Turns: Unexpected Careers after SPI.” The speakers were Katie Levine (class of 2007), now a Communications Specialist at HBO, and Cara Ann Serio (class of 2005), Manager of Corporate Affairs at Ralph Lauren. Each shared stories of their career trajectories, insights into the industry, and the positive impact that their SPI experience had on their professional pathways. [Read more…] about At SPI, Lunch Counts, Too!
NYU Media Talk Gets Social
Social.
If the attendees of the latest NYU Media Talk had to sum up the event using a single word, that would have been it. Students and alumni of the NYU Summer Publishing Institute (SPI) mingled with faculty members and prominent figures of the industry both before and after the highlight of the night: a panel discussion entitled “Social Content: What’s Working? What’s Not? What’s Next?” [Read more…] about NYU Media Talk Gets Social