ZYA Community is a Community Interest Company who supports and platforms individuals from marginalised communities. This really resonates with me, and I’m passionate about diversity in publishing, so I was excited about the opportunity for a placement with them. Over the last few months, I have been working on revamping ZYA’s blog to create a new and exciting digital magazine called The Mix that showcases a variety of diverse artwork in an accessible and attractive format that will hopefully increase engagement. Here are my main takeaways from the experience.

Image credit: “My Life Through A Lens” on Unsplash

Going digital

‘Digital disruption’ has been at the forefront of publishers’ minds for at least the last decade. While print has proven that it’s not going anywhere, publishers do increasingly have to think about innovative ways to use technology in their practice. ZYA’s work and audience is mostly situated online, so I had to consider this in every decision I made. There are specific skills that are essential for digital content, and these can be useful even for publishing print books, especially since so much of marketing and distribution takes place online nowadays. While I am interested in publishing print books, creating a digital magazine taught me a lot about keeping your audience and format in mind in every stage of publishing.

Decisions, decisions, decisions

Sitting at a desk, sifting through submissions, I felt like the strict judge on a TV talent show, crushing people’s dreams. Of course, I shouldn’t feel bad about being selective and curating a high-quality lineup that fits the theme and style of a publication: that’s part of being an editor. To be honest, I can struggle with making decisions and having confidence in myself and my judgement. Being in charge of what my own placement would look like, and who would be published by ZYA was daunting. I think I held myself back slightly through hesitation and a lack of confidence. It’s really important to believe in yourself and your judgement, and through this placement, I’ve been working on building up confidence and making and supporting my decisions, and practicing my project management skills.

Creative connections

As you probably noticed, my placement was not at a publishing house or directly related to books. However, I was given a lot of freedom regarding how publishing could come into my placement. Ultimately, I exercised many of the skills a traditional publisher might, while also doing things a bit differently. I got to take on different roles of designing and editing, created a style guide, and interacted with creatives from other disciplines. I attended ZYA’s Creatives of Colour meet-up and met some incredible artists, including writers, so I still gained insights and connections in publishing. It’s quite cliché, but the placement is what you make of it: you can gain valuable publishing experience even when not working with books or traditional magazines.

I’m excited to share The Mix with you later this month. To find out more about ZYA Community, visit their Instagram or Twitter/X, and look forward to the launch of their new website.

You can also find me on Twitter/X and LinkedIn.