A 2025 Overview of a Sample Set of Journals from Two-Year Schools

In February 2025, I interviewed 10 community college faculty. Each is an editor or supervisor of a literary journal published by their community college.

Community College Literary Journals

The journals are published in two formats: electronic and paper. Seven are available in both formats, one is paper only, and two are electronic only. All journals include fiction, poetry, and essays. Nine also include art. Art includes original art, such as graphic designs, and photographs of other artworks such as ceramics, murals, or paintings.

Seven of the journals are given away for free. Three have a price between 4-10$.

Three journals originated in the 1970s. Two began in the 1980s. One started in the 1990s. Two journals originated in the early 2000s, and two more began after 2010. All journals publish one issue a year. The smallest total number published by a journal, 15, and the largest total number published, 56. 

Eight journals take the full academic year to put together and publish. One journal takes one semester, and one journal is put together in just two months.

Journal Solicitation & Submission Methods

Most journals ask for submissions through campus channels such as their own website, the campus website, or student email. On-campus, non-digital solicitations are done through posters and faculty encouragement. Although faculty encouragement is effective, faculty don't always encourage students to submit.

Off campus submission solicitation is used when the journal publishes work from writers outside the campus community. Off-campus methods include Duotrope, Submittable, Poets and Writers, and New Pages. Three journals use social media for solicitation of submissions.

Submissions usually go through a college webpage, email, or a Google form. One journal accepts paper submissions in addition to electronic submissions. Two journals use Submittable.

Half of the journals include contract (granting of rights) language in the submission process; the other half send it upon acceptance. None use a formal contract.

All journals offer a free copy of the journal to published authors when it's a paperback. Some journals also offer prize money for outstanding pieces chosen by editors. None offer payment to all published authors.

Journal Formatting and Distribution

All 10 journals use an in-house process to format their content, both digital and paperback. Students sometimes help with formatting, but it's rare. Faculty members generally do not handle formatting. The formatting is usually done by the graphic design department or the campus marketing department. One popular software used for formatting is InDesign.

Promotion and distribution of the journals happen both on-campus and off-campus, but it's more common on-campus.

Promotion of the journal includes paper posters around campus. Some journals are also featured on the campus website. About half of the journals use message boards and social media for promotion. Additionally, 50% of the journals host an annual event where authors read their work, and the journals are distributed. These events are both on and off campus; some editors stated on campus events are better attended while some stated the opposite.

For distribution, half of the journals are given out for free. Three journals are free and made available around campus in common areas, such as the library, and/or included in swag bags. One is sold at the campus bookstore, one on Amazon, and two are distributed at off-campus literary events.

Faculty and Student Journal Involvement

All the journals have faculty involvement. Most also involve students. The journals are created inside and outside of a structured curriculum.

Four journals are embedded in a creative writing course curriculum. Two journals are managed by a creative writing club. Four journals are separate from any club or course. Two of these offer student volunteer editorial positions, while the other two offer paid student positions.

Students are involved in the evaluation submissions in most cases. When the journal is part of a course, faculty direct and supervise students as they read and select pieces for publication within the context of a broader curriculum and program. In clubs, faculty also direct and oversee student editors. Journals run by an editorial board also have faculty direction and input during the evaluation process. For two journals, there are occasions when students are not available and therefore only faculty evaluate submissions and select pieces for publication.

The methods of evaluation vary in terms of formalization and structure. Some journals use the same methodology each year, other institutions change the methodology each year. In some instances, faculty-created rubrics or guides are used, in some instances students create the editorial policy prior to reading of the submissions.

Most often, faculty have the final authority in the selection of submissions for publication.

Challenges

Challenges fall into three broad categories: working with students, limitations created by working within an institution, and outside pressures or barriers.

Student challenges include: recruiting and retaining students, maintaining student motivation, especially during busy times in the semester, student lack knowledge and/or skills, and frequent student turnover due to two-year programs. Additionally, for journals who solicit only student work, receiving enough submissions can be an ongoing or occasional difficulty.

 

Institutional challenges are often connected to limited staffing and monetary resources, and communication. Timelines and deadlines are tight, and faculty workloads can limit possibilities. Some editors state they have limited resources for editing and spreading the word about submissions. for printing and availability of individuals to do formatting can change, making planning and budgeting hard. Fluctuation in the availability of and allocation of resources can also create challenges. Administration changes, for example, can lead to a reduction in resources.

There are barriers beyond the institution. Literary communities can be elitist, creating barriers for community college journals such as being overlooked for awards and general acknowledgement. The rise of AI has also led to some AI-generated submissions.

Achievements and Innovations

Achievements are often in response challenges or as the result of new visions and fall into these broad categories: deepening meaningfulness for students, changes in the production or appearance of the journal, deepening meaningfulness for and connection to the institution, and expanding the contribution to the immediate community.

Connecting a college’s literary journal to student learning and experience is paramount; therefore, accomplishments related to students are seen as most notable. For example, improvements made to begin embedding or further embed the editing, production, and promotion of the journal into a creative writing course promote honoring the students’ editorial and aesthetic vision which in turn ensures that the students’ learning and experience is fore fronted and the journal reflects the diverse and ever-changing student population. Innovations that build marketable skills include students collaboration with established authors through interviews, the creation of podcasts, videos of readings, and other side projects based on the journal's content.

Aesthetic improvements include:

the inclusion of artwork.

formatting changes to better display to written work.

locating higher quality printing service.

Production improvements include improved timelines, the formalization of processes, and recognizing authors through prize awards. The expansion of solicitations to include national and international submissions is also seen as an improvement; this change benefits students by granting them access, and in turn an opportunity to discuss, the yet unpublished writing of established authors.

Innovations that deepen the journal’s connection to the institution are seen as benefitting the journal, the creative writing program and the institution. Example of interdepartmental innovations include theater students reading pieces from the journal and digital design students producing cover art. Offering free paperbacks through the campus and in student swag bags introduces potential students to the creative writing opportunities on campus, expresses the institution’s support of creativity and artistic endeavors, and creates community goodwill. Administrative specific improvements include stronger alliance with campus stakeholders via clearer processes and goals and better managed finances.

Not all journals participate in off campus promotion of the journal but those that do cite the following as inventions and achievements:

use of Kindle and Amazon for distribution.

off campus release events that include local writers

participation in literary festivals

sponsoring high school contests

including community writers in the solicitation for submissions