Beth Rodgers

In Augst 2014, I began working as an Intern Editor at Bella Magazine in Pensacola, Florida. Bella is the official women's publication of the Pensacola News Journal, a Gannett publication.

 

In addition to editing articles bound for Bella, I edited articles for the Pensacola Home and Garden Magazine, edited material for a special section of the Pensacola News Journal, and wrote an article for the Weekender (a Thursday supplement to the Pensacola News Journal). 

 

 

FIRST THINGS FIRST: WRITE

 

My first task at Bella was to find out what it felt like to be on the writing size of the equation. I wrote an article for the October Breast Cancer issue of Bella ("BRCA: Would you want to know?"), which was republished later that month in the Pensacola News Journal special "Pink Pages."  It was amazing to see the words of my first article in full color and illustrated in the beautiful glossy pages of Bella as well as online. It was even more of a thrill two weeks later to see my article in the supplement to the main newspaper.

 

FORTY-EIGHT THOUSAND? 

 

Ultimately, I wrote several articles and edited over 90 articles (in excess of 48,000 words) in this very valuable internship--see the SUMMARY tab for an article by article tally.  

 

This portfolio includes these pages:  

• Articles:  all the articles that I wrote (in draft and as published);

• Edited: articles by other writers that I edited using Word/markup organized into groups: (1) first submission; (2) marked up; (3) as published

• Edited proofs: the articles that I edited by physically marking on the galley; 

• Published: the pdf's of published articles I edited that were not included unter the Edited tab.  These are organized month by month.

 

 

Take Aways

 

I learned that a magazine can be very fast-paced, that being in a newsroom is exciting (intoxicating, even), and that teamwork--as in many pursuits--is crucial to success.

 

Working on "both sides of the pen" made me see how a writer can make an editor's life easy, and that skillful writing is both desirable and marketable. I was relieved to discover how easy the transition from teacher to editor has been and I look forward to learning more in my spring semester when I will continue at Bella.

 

My focus next semester will be to master InDesign and more of the nuts and bolts of creating the physical layouts, those items that fall outside the realm of "writing only." This month, I was able to photograph some fashion items that will be included in the January issue of Bella,  another new experience--this one from behind the camera.

 

This was and continues to be an amazing experience. I was honored to be the first ever Intern Editor for Bella, and I am flattered that they are welcoming me back. I look forward to learning even more in the spring.

 

                                                                                    Beth Rodgers