By Peter D. Verheyen, Editor, Guild of Book Workers Journal
Thank you to Cara Schlesinger and Chris Ameduri for their years of dedicated service and work publishing the Guild's Journal, a publication that enjoys a strong reputation for excellence in our field. Cara and Chris will continue to shepherd the 2019 Journal so that it gets to your mailboxes, something I am very grateful for as it will allow me to better learn the established workflows. Thank you both!
That a special election had to be held to fill the position of chair, with the suspension of publication the alternative concerns me greatly. I have always regarded the Journal as a signature GBW benefit and contribution to the field. That issues of succession and sustainability can be complex I know first hand from my experiences with The Bonefolder: an e-journal for the bookbinder… – ultimately we were victims of our own success. I see making the Journal sustainable the primary goal, and as such will want to create pathways and incentives for members of the editorial board (and outsiders) to take on greater responsibilities, i.e. assume leadership when my term ends. If you are interested learning more, write to me at journal@guildofbookworkers.org. I want to hear from you.
Not sure and looking for inspiration? All past issues of the Journal (Except last one) are also available via the Guild’s website – a rich trove of writings and starting off point for further explorations. If you haven’t yet, make sure to take a look. In addition, I would like to (re)invigorate the Guild’s blog where you are reading this. Topics here could be developed into articles for the Journal if appropriate, as well. Remember, one does not have to be a member to be an author. There is much we can learn from exchange with peers outside of GBW and globally.
Equally important are identifying authors and topics. You, the members play a vital role in this by sharing your work, ideas, projects, etc. in presentations, on listservs, blogs, social media:
- What do you want to see more of in the Journal?
- Who should the Journal be writing for?
- Are there voices, topics, themes you would like to see gain more exposure?
- Are you working on a compelling project that you want to share?
- Do you want to share interesting forms of outreach and promotion of the book arts?
- Start a conversation about important issues relating to the field and/or profession?
The list could go on... The important thing is that you, the readers and members of the Guild engage with the Journal (and organization in general) to let us know what you would like to see more, or less of.
So, look for regular outreach from me in the Newsletter, the GBW blog, and on the Guild's and other social media channels. I’ll also be reaching out via Book_Arts-L, an active global community. If you have ideas, or better yet articles and similar for the Journal and blog please let me know by writing to journal@guildofbookworkers.org or using the article submission form over on the Guild's website.
I look forward to hearing from you.