From Pen to Bookshelf: Insight on Getting Published

Monday, November 19
7-8 PM at International Affairs Building 407

A panel of writers and editors took the questions of the audiences, the enthusiast writers, about how to publish their writings. Co-hosted by the Columbia University Muslim Students Association and the Undergraduate Writing Program, the event has been an eye opener on media publication entrance process.
 
Let’s get the ball rolling…

Understanding the media is the first task a writer has to do. Reading the magazines, papers, or latest catalog of publishing companies is a way to understand the “taste” of the editors. 

Ideally, the writers should also check out the submission guidelines on each magazines, papers, or publishing companies. Make sure the writings content and layout feeds their hunger.
 
Pitch! Secondly, a writer should understand on how to sell him/herself before he/she sells his/her writings. Sound like a high class prostitution? Could be! The point is, that the editors are gonna read the writer’s cover letter (in this this era: cover email) before looking for the attached writings. Writer’s pitch should answer basically three editor to-ask-list: (1) why do you write the idea?, (2) why should it be written by you?, and last but not least (3) why should your writing be on their media?
 
Next, don’t sweat the small stuff. A genius and brilliant and cutting-edge writing most probably ends up in a trash if the writer put the wrong name/publisher on the cover letter.
 
A few Q&As came from the audience were:
Q: Do we have to wait for a “moment” to send our writing to the media?
A: NO! The media takes a lot of times (1-6 months) to read our writing. We never know when the “moment” comes. Write a lot, send a lot, (and get rejection letter a lot!).
 
Q: If we got rejected, what should we do?
A: Read the comment from the editor, edit the writings, and send them right away to another media. Ohya, never throw away the rejection letter from the editor. Once you get succeed someday, show the editors who have rejected you that they are wrong. What a sweet revenge huh!
 
Q: What’s the easiest way to enter a media publication?
A: Any, but “book reviews” has been being considered as one of the fast track for new writers to put their name published in the media.

The editors and writers who came:

Charles Berret is a PhD candidate in communications at Columbia University. He researches the cultural and technological history of typographic media, specifically during the invention and development of digital typography. He previously worked as a journalist in Cairo and a book reviewer for several literary journals.

Emily Cooke is a freelance writer and the literary editor of the New Inquiry, an online journal of criticism. Her work has appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the Times Literary Supplement, n+1, and the Millions. She holds an MFA from Columbia University.
 
Glenn M. Gordon is the assistant director at the Undergraduate Writing at Columbia University. He was the editor-in-chief of RedersDigest.com and a senior editor at Self and Child magazines. His writings has appeared in numerous publications, including New York, Time Out New York, Self, Huffington Post, Seventeen, Departures, and Reader’sDigest. He wrote frequently on men’s health and sexuality topics for WebMD and CNN.com. He has appeared as a guest on several TV news programs and cooked live in The Food Network.
 
Alexander Landfair is a former nonfiction editor of Narrative magazine, where he worked with previously unpublished writers as well as celebrated authors. He has also worked in editorial capacities at the Columbia Journal of Arts and Literature and The New Yorker. His own work has appeared in the Boston Review, Publisher Weekly, and the Western Humanities Review, and he has received awards and recognition from the Spoon River Poetry Review and Poetry Magazine.
 
Craig Moreau received his MFA from NYU. His first collection of poetry, Cheslea Boy, was published by Cheslea Station Editions 2011. The collection is currently featured for forthcoming collaborations by Emotive Fruition and Warner Photography. He has been published or worked with Tin House, The Iowa Review, BOXCAR Poetry Review, Lambda Literary, and Electric Literature and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is originally from Iowa.
 
Aaron Ritzenberg is Associate Director of First-Year Writing at Columbia University. His scholarly writing focuses on the relationship between literature and social change in the United States. His book, called The Sentimental Touch, is coming out soon.
 
Tana Wojczuk is a lecturer in the Undergraduate Writing Program at Columbia University, collaborating with other UW faculty to develop a pilot theme-based course in American Studies. She is an essayist and critic whose work has been published in Tin House, The Believer, Lapham’s Quarterly, the New York Times (letters), Guernica, Narrative Magazine, The Rumpus and elsewhere. She is a nonfiction editor at Guernica Magazine and a graduate of Columbia’s MFA program in creative nonfiction writing.

Contributing to the Society: A Wikipedia Experience

Wales says that he is on a mission to “distribute a free encyclopedia to every single person on the planet in their own language,” and to an astonishing degree he is succeeding*.

Wikipedia is a revolution. I still remember when I was in a junior high school, reading “Ensiklopedia”, an Indonesian encyclopedia was really an effort. I had to go to a library, and asked the librarian to borrow the encyclopedia. In my junior high school, as a school in a rural area of West Java, Indonesia, encyclopedia was treated as a high value manuscript and was saved in an exclusive cupboard. Only students with permit from a teacher could read the “holy book” in the library. I was very lucky that I eventually lived in Yogyakarta, a city in Indonesia which famous for its education development. Accessing the encyclopedias was not a big issue anymore (I did not need a permit nor the books was not put on a special cupboard), even though limited supplies made difficulties in reading them. In addition, the Internet café was easily found and affordable for the students in Yogyakarta. 
 
A few years later, Wikipedia comes to the Internet. I did not think that googling (or at that moment, if I am not mistaken, using “Yahoo! Search”) was not popular in my university, as we used the Internet mostly for sending emails or chat with parents or people outside the city. However, when Wikipedia came up, my fellow students and I could easily access information that used to be the exclusive contents of encylopedias. The advantage of Wikipedia is that the Wikipedia compiles many sources and provides general knowledge which newly exists or arises. People do not need to wait for the new revised edition of encyclopedias to know the information. Another advantage of Wikipedia is that people can also contribute to the content. It gives chances to particular people who understand particular knowledge to share their information to the society. Some people might worried to the fact that people might put mislead information, but Wikipedia provide checks-and-balances system on the media. People can edit and look the edit made by themselves or by the others.

Last week, on the Foundations of the Sustainable Development class, the MPA in Development Practice learnt the issue of human rights and gender equality. One of the discourses was the women who become victims during a war. I brought up the issue of Jugun Ianfu, sexual violence victims during Japan colonialization era in Indonesia on 1942-1945, that I made a research on it when I was in senior high. To regain my memory on the dates, I tried the google and was led to Wikipedia.
 
 
I was surprised that in the Bahasa version of Jugun Ianfu, it was explained as “wanita penghibur” (sexual entertaining worker), not “korban pelecehan seksual” (sexual violence victims). I am totally sure about the info as I have ever interviewed two of the survivors. The Jugun Ianfu were mostly young women who was invited to learn sing and dance or to study, but actually were kidnapped and trafficked to the Japan military camp. Thus, on the Wikipedia page on Jugun Ianfu, http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugun_ianfu, I deleted the words “penghibur” (entertaining worker) and “terlibat” (join) into “menjadi korban” (being a victim). So far, there is no later change of my edit. This is the advantage of the Wikipedia as I have written above, even though I have never thought that I could contribute to the site, or maybe to society. Yet, people still have to be critical to the contents of Wikipedia and involve in checks-and-balances to provide fair and better information to the society. ▪

This writing is a weekly reflection writing on
the New Media and Development Practice class. 

*Schiff, Stacy. 2006. Know It All: Can Wikipedia conquer expertise? Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/07/31/060731fa_fact#ixzz2BYB0OX6G

 

An Island and An Archipelago: Maps and Gaps

Developing countries like Madagascar (smaller blue dot) and Indonesia (bigger red dot) are unique to be looked into further. Especially, both countries have similar characteristics: island(s). Madagascar is a small island country in Indian Ocean, and Indonesia is an archipelago country. The fact that Madagascar’s earliest settlers arrived from southern Borneo, Indonesia, is another unique factor that makes me interested in both countries. I want to look further into these countries’ economy, education, and information and communication technology development. I believe those factors are interconnected in supporting the countries’ development.

Figure 1. Primary School Completion Rate vs Income per Person

In term of economy, Madagascar faced a crisis in 1982 which created its economy moved backward (indicated by diminishing Income percapita). The country is now developing its economy, even though in a quite slow progress. However, Madagascar’s primary school completion rates keep increasing along the time. On the other side, Indonesia’s income per capita and primary school completion rates are both in increment.

Figure 2. Internet User (per 100 people) vs Personal Computers (per 100 people)

The information and communication and technology is growing in both Madagascar and Indonesia. Personal computer ownership in Indonesia is slightly higher than in Indonesia than in Madagascar. Even though the personal computer ownership rate is relative similar, the internet users (per 100 people) in Madagascar do not improve as significant as in Indonesia. In Indonesia, there were a lot of internet cafés, where mostly students were able to access internet in cheaper price, which made people who did not have personal computer could access the internet. Thus the internet users rate have a significant increment. However, the last data shown was in 2006, and according to the World Bank[i], Madagascar has declared the Madagascar Action Plan for 2007-2012, which promotes the expansion of ICT infrastructure and access in the country including the establishment of ICT centers in schools.

Figure 3. Internet User (per 100 people) vs Cell Phones (per 100 people)

Nevertheless, ownership for cell phones in Madagascar and Indonesia hiked with Indonesia has a higher increase. This could be opportunities for both countries to accelerate internet usage for their citizens. Ericsson[ii] predicts that although current mobile data use among prepaid users remains low, smartphones are providing access for internet connectivity. For Indonesia, as an archipelago country, broadband internet would be very efficient in providing access to internet than the connectivity through Digital Subscriber Line. For Madagascar, the broadband internet development also would be beneficial as it is accessible by the citizen through the cell phones. The main thing to consider is how the internet usage will be advantageous for the development of Madagascar itself.

As experiencing little comparison between Madagascar and Indonesia, the interactive maps by Gapminder have provided visual descriptions that make people able to see the development, the growth, and even comparison within criteria and countries.

***

This writing is a weekly reflection writing on 

the New Media and Development Practice class. 

[i] Survey of ICT and Education in Africa : Madagascar Country Report. Retrieved from https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/10706 at 15 October 2012.

[ii] Profitable Prepaid Smartphones: How operators in developing economies can ride the prepaid smartphone growth wave. Ericsson Discussion Paper June 2012

#OnTheNews: Digitally Connected Students, Engaged Community

I have just found a picture my self on the United Nations Foundation website for the "Digitally Connected Students, Engaged Community", an article related to the Social Good Summit 2012 where I was there as a fellowship of the Digitally Connected Student. Sitting in the first row with other students from Columbia, Georgetown, Hunter College, and so on was awesome moment. Especially since we are all social media enthusiast, we were kinda interconnected each other even though we had just met for a first time. Attending the events itself (and got a fellowship, and .... paid!) was an interesting experience, and being in a website was another embarrassing interesting advantage for me.

Well, I might never appear on a magazine cover, but on a UN Foundation website is not bad at all. I guess!

Urasenke Chado Tradition

Today, I joined Japan Student Association at School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University to visit Uransenke NYC at the 69th Street Lexington Avenue. With 23 other students, surprisingly that mostly are NON Japanese, I learned and enjoyed a tea ceremony.

The Tea Master explained to us on the history of the ceremony and also the circumstances of the place. Before we entering the ceremony place, the Tea Master told us that the sliding door in front of us is a "magical door" that would bring all together from NYC to Japan. And it's true!

The wooden floor, the tatami, the ikebana, the calligraphy, and of course the two ladies in their kimono have brought my friends and me to another world. The place of the ceremony also has a small garden, giving a peaceful surrounding.

In this tea ceremony, I met with Masa, my classmate in MPA in Development Practice and also Naoko, a second year student who wore Batik that catch my eyes.

The story of the tea ceremony itself is quite long. But, I happily to share with you all as below. I retype from the Uransenke Chado Tradition brochure to minimize my misinterpretation of the Tea Master explanation.

Tea is known to people worldwide, but nowhere has it contributed as much to the cultural milleu as in Japan Here, the preparation and drinking of tea, in a special form called matcha, became the basis for a profound spiritual and aesthetic discipline that has had a pervasive impact on Japanese civilization.

Matcha is powdered green tea blended with hot water. this form of tea was introduced to Japan in twelfth century by Zen monks returning fro study in China. In Zen temples, it was used as a mild stimulant to clear the mind during meditation, was valued as a medicine, and had symbolic ceremonial use. In time, the enjoyment of matcha spread to the ruling and noble classes, who would hold lavish tea functions that featured the displayed and use of Chinese art objects.

From these two disparate uses of matcha, there evolved the idea of tea gatherings acting as distinct mediums for spiritual and aesthetic fulfillment, and this gave rise to creation of rooms designed especially for such gatherings. Important ti this development was the emergence of a unique Zen-inspired aesthetic concept; the appreciation of the subtle, austere beauty that may be discovered in things that seem humble and unassuming.

In the sixteenth century, Sen Rikyu (1522-1591), a man of great creative insight and a leading figure in the cultural and political arenas of his time, realized the quintessence of these ideas in his austere "thatched hut" style of tea, and his rare artistic sense and ideals based on Zen effectively transformed the activity of preparing, serving, and receiving tea into a comprehensive discipline, establishing in the foundations for Chado, the Way of Tea.

The keystones of Sen Rikyu's Chado ideals are expressed in these four words: wa, kei, sei, and jaku. Wa means harmony; the harmony that should exist in human relations, between humans and nature, in the selection of the tea utensils and the manner in which they are used, and all other facets of Chado. Kei means respect. respect is paid to all things and comes from sincere feelings of gratitude for their being. Sei means purity, and implies both worldly and spiritual cleanliness. Lastly, jaku means tranquility - a state of spiritual peace.

Based on these, people who study the discipline of Chado learn to be caring about every element that it involves: its setting, the articles employed, the etiquette exercised, the foods and even the water used. Through their training and study they aim to refine and cultivate themselves as human beings.

In a quiet old neighborhood in Kyoto, the cultural capital of Japan, the estate of the Uransenke line of Sen family has stood on ots present site for three and a half centuries. The oldest tearooms were originally built by the third generation of the family, Sen Sotan, Rikyu's grandson.

The complex of tearooms and gardens has been designated an important Cultural Property by the Japanese Government because of its importance in Japanese cultural history and art. This estate, where the spirit of Sen Rikyu abides, is the home of Uransenke, and is the heart of Chado for the millions of people who study and practice Chado as thought by Uransenke around the world. 

Over four centuries have passed since Rikyu's time, but his descendants through the generations have actively carried forth his legacy. Each successive heir to that legacy has also added yo it, so that Chado has remained vital and meaningful. In our modern age, it continues to offer us an effective path for cultural enrichment and self-cultivation, and a timeless formula for sharing a beautiful moment thanks to the agency of tea.