On December 11, Undergraduate Students for Publishing held its biannual book launch! Each semester, Pub Club publishes the manuscripts of two Emerson students, as well as a genre fiction literary magazine called Generic. Pub Club takes students through the entire process of real-world book publishing, from acquiring and discussing submissions to editing, designing, marketing, and digitizing. Each semester, everyone’s hard work pays off in the form of the book launch party, where we celebrate the authors and their published work!
This semester, Pub Club published Thoughts & Prayers by Owen Elphick, a poetry collection about gun violence, and As Most Things Are, a collection of female-centered coming-of-age stories written by Hannah Kelly. Both authors read samples from their books and answered audience questions about the writing process, their favorite parts of being published, and of course, how they’ve been doing. Then it was time for everyone to get their copies of the books!
Every semester, all proceeds from the book sales go to charities of the authors’ choosing. Owen’s charity was March For Our Lives, and Hannah’s charity was Planned Parenthood. Not only do you get copies of great books, but you also know that you’re supporting a worthy cause. If you missed the chance to buy the books, don’t worry—Pub Club will be doing a backstock sale at the beginning of next semester.
Besides the books, there were also copies of issue 16 of Generic! Generic is Emerson’s only exclusively genre fiction literary magazine on campus. If you missed it, keep an eye out for copies around campus!
If you’re interested in being involved with Pub Club, there are many opportunities for you next semester. You can work on the book project for Wilde Press or Generic magazine. Submit your 50-80 page manuscript or your genre fiction story next semester if you’re interested in writing. If you’re into the publishing side of things, there will be many staff positions open in editorial, marketing, and design, so stay tuned!