Production Overview

How (and when) do we publish each issue of SftP?

Each issue of SftP takes approximately 9-10 months from initial idea to release. All of these processes are explained in more detail here.

Initialization: Developing the theme and Call for Proposals (CFP) A core group--PubCom members, SftP members at large, a working group or chapter, or another group we're collaborating with--first starts with developing the CFP. This document provides an initial framework for the questions we hope the issue will attempt to answer and topics or ideas we want to platform. The CFP goes live on the SftP website and there's an open submission window of 1-2 months. During this time, the core group recruits additional Editorial Collective members and shares the CFP to their networks and comrades.

Reviewing submissions Once the CFP window closes, the collective takes around one month to review submissions and decide which articles to accept, reject, or save for later issues or SftP Online. Acceptances are sent out, and EC members sign up for editing assignments.

Editing Once authors have committed to writing for the magazine, editors work with them to create articles that are engaging, honest, and provide radical/critical feedback on the topic at hand. A typical article goes through 2-3 drafts before going into Technical Editing (fact-checking), and this process takes about 2 months.

Technical Editing, Copy Editing and Proofreading Once articles are near final, the Technical Editors review and check sources to ensure that each article is factual in letter and spirit. Authors may need to revise wording or provide additional sources. Once fact-checking questions are resolved, copy editors and proofreaders review each article to ensure it is grammatically correct, readable, and adheres to our Style Guide (based on Chicago Manual of Style). These processes take 1-2 weeks, depending on how quickly everyone responds to edits.

Design When an article has been proofread and no comments remain, the editors review the article to ensure correct bylines, final title, and to select 2-3 pull quotes (used for emphasis and to break up text in the PDF/print edition). These final articles and artwork selections are handed over to the designer, who will work on 3-4 design rounds, during which authors and editors, as well as proofreaders, will review for typos or style issues. The design process takes about 4 weeks.

Printing If the issue is in print, the Publisher and Designer work with the printer to create a hard proof for review and then print and ship to all subscribers and chapters. This process takes about 3 weeks.