An Editor's Bliss

Reader Contribution by Jennifer Nemec
Published on July 17, 2008
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We’re right in the thick of putting out the magazine this week (we ship the issue that you all will see in September at the end of next week). Even though it always involves stress and work literally piling up around me, I truly love it. It comes with an energy and a fast pace that fuels my deadline-driven soul. I’ve been working in publishing for 15 years this summer, and I can’t imagine another life for me.

My time with “The GRIT” (as our more venerable readers call it) has been especially sweet. The group I work with here has a very special chemistry. The best part is when we get the machine going. When it’s purring right along, the magazine and our team become one. K.C. provides the inspiration, Hank the instigation, and Jean and I are almost to the point of finishing each other’s sentences. While each of us has moments of panic, we keep each other going and help each other through.

“I just talked with Michelle [she’s our off-site art director], and she’s really excited about how far ahead we are,” I tell the rest of the staff. “We are just worrying because we’re usually more ahead of schedule.” And they reassure me that, yes, people will want to read about laundry.

The nuts and bolts of putting out a magazine aren’t incredibly thrilling to talk about – adding a comma there, futzing with an image until it fits just so, cutting a few unneeded words to make an article fit in the space we’ve got – but watching the pages as they all come together and seeing the cover in color on the wall brings a particular thrill, and a palpable excitement hangs in the air.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to make magazine magic for you all.

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