Launching an Open Process Initiative

Editorial processes and publication practices are generally invisible and—may we suggest—undervalued. A colleague just down the hall, a long-time contributor, or a writer submitting for the first time may have no idea what work, conceptual and material, happens in order to publish a literary magazine online.

A recent talk about “open access” by Kairos editor and VCU MFA alum Cheryl Ball motivated us to bring to the forefront more of what is happening behind the scenes at Blackbird—“open process,” if you will—from the production room floor, and sometimes from the editorial table.

As we try to solve problems related to online publishing, we always look to the web for help and solutions, but heretofore we have not published our own process, troubleshooting, and questions. By doing so now, we hope that some of our revealed discussion may help others find solutions to problems. We also hope to engage fellow editors and publishers in this conversation.

We are turning our "behind-the-scenes" work outward now in two forms. One effort will be to occasionally publish a BirdLab Feature revealing something about process for a given piece of our core content. “Familiar Scars vs. Original Intent: A Photo Restoration Case, ” is the first of those features.

The other means is through the blog, BirdLab: an open process initiative, hosted externally to the journal itself.

While BirdLab Features will likely touch on content-specific cases, the blog will document a variety of problems and solutions, while also asking what steps to take next as we continue to respond to change, and to refine our guidelines for best practices.  

   Return to Familiar Scars vs. Original Intent: A Photo Restoration Case
   Open in a separate window BirdLab: an open process initiative [external process blog]