ROWAN WRITING ARTS
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      • Spring 2021
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        • An Interview with Devon James & Rachel Barton
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        • CCCA Career Fair: Having Your Future in Mind
        • Alumni Success: Entering the Working World
        • Behind the Scenes of Rowan's Hiring Process
      • Fall 2018 >
        • Singularity Press: Rowan's New Start Up
        • Writing Arts Club
        • How Can We Evaluate Creative Writing?
        • More Inclusive Events for Technical Writers
        • Guest Speaker Manuela Soares
        • Glassworks Reading
        • Spotlight: Taylor Henry, Recently Published Rowan Alum
      • Spring 2018 >
        • Publishing and Writing for the Public: A Reconstructed Concentration
        • What You Think You Know About Technical and Professional Writing is Wrong
        • The Toni Libro Medallion Award Winner: Myriah Stubee
        • An Interview with a Publisher
        • Excellence in Writing Arts Medallion Winner: Sara Skipp
        • The College of Communcation and Creative Arts 6th Annual Student Awards and Showcase Ceremony
        • Rowan Alum, Marissa Cohen, On Self Publishing and Advocacy
      • Fall 2017 >
        • Upcoming Classes in the Writing Arts Department
        • The Writer's Journey Blog by Earl Garcia
        • Rewriting The Department's Social Media Platforms
        • Rowan University Writing Arts Club Reinvents Mission
        • Glassworks Launches Issue Fifteen
        • For Futuristic Consideration: An Exploration of Careers in Writing
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        • Easing the Tension: Breaking Down Technical and Professional Writing
        • Growing the Technical and Professional Writing Concentration
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“Singularity Press: Rowan's New Start-Up”

by Rachel Barton
As a Writing Arts major, I’ve been told quite consistently by those unfamiliar with my field just how difficult finding a career will be. To be best prepared, I have tried to pursue as many internships in jobs related to writing and publishing as I could. I was always anticipating that each internship would show me what I didn’t want in my career, but that has rarely been true. Rather, it turns out I want to work everywhere. I’ve interned at publishing houses, literary magazines, online magazines, and multicultural nonprofits and discovered a variety of ways I could pursue my passions for reading and writing.

I first met Megan Atwood while pursuing one of these internships. We met to discuss the trade publishing world and possibly figure out what my best role would be in that realm. Megan came to Rowan after working in trade publishing for almost two decades and having almost 40 books published. Along with our meeting, she lent me a couple books on publishing careers. While I found Megan to be immediately friendly and knowledgeable, I didn’t think that we would interact further. She had never been my professor and, it seemed, never would.
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Students Devon James, Sarah Knapp, Britt Eng, and Rachel Barton at a Singularity press meeting.
​Shortly after the end of Spring semester 2018, Megan won a SEED grant to begin the process of building a publishing house through Rowan University. She used the money from that grant to employ a well-rounded team of interns. Megan focused half of the team within Writing Arts and half of the team on PR and marketing. Devon James and Sarah Knapp, both graduates from WA and current students in the masters’ program, joined the team. After taking Megan’s Publishing course, they were armed with knowledge needed to contribute. Megan also selected Brittany Eng and Griffin Gallagher through an interview process. They showed not only an immense capability in their field, but also an interest in learning about publishing.
I joined the team in a less official way. As head intern for the Writing Arts department, I slipped in like a stowaway. Although I wasn’t chosen for the project, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. Megan’s talent and personality, backed by such capable students, were sure to produce something really special. We began with technical aspects: choosing a name, creating a logo, defining our publishing company. From the beginning, we knew the startup would focus on publishing YA genre fiction. Having read a ton of that growing up, I understood the sense of community built in to each world. From there, we chose words and concepts that we felt best suited that focus before ultimately deciding on Singularity Press. The word singularity has a variety of definitions. Along with referring to “uniqueness,” singularity also has definitions in science and mathematics. In cosmology, a singularity is a place and moment when a celestial body becomes in- finite and unknowable. In mathematics, a singularity is a point at which a given mathematical object is not defined—not “well-behaved.” And in social systems theory, a singularity refers to a small change that creates a big effect as it ripples out.
​We also knew where we wanted our press to go, once we had started it. Singularity Press, once realized, would be a nonprofit, using any profits to support marginalized individuals in pursuit of internships in the world of publishing. Although we knew who we were as a press and what we aimed to do, we still had to get there. And to get there, we needed funding. Finding funding became our highest priority. We applied to and are still in the process of applying to grants and funds. 
Through Rowan, we applied for and won a position on Prof Funder. Prof Funder features various causes for the month of November and opens up for tax deductible donations. Along with sharing our link all over social media, we also got quite creative in fundraising. I offered a sonnet to anyone who donated a certain amount of money and we’re holding a book drive to raise funds as well.
​Megan guides us through the technical processes of launching a press, but also allows us to lead the creative endeavors. We run the social media accounts and come up with ideas for future book launches. Our social media plans feature quotes from famous authors, significant works in YA, as well as engaging questions shaped around dates and holidays. We focus on building worlds and creating immersive marketing plans. Once Singularity Press is off the ground, we want to incorporate multimodal experiences and different forms of storytelling. I’ve interned in many places and tried out a few different careers. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t admit that working on Singularity Press has been one of my favorite positions. Although it has plopped into my lap at the conclusion of my time at Rowan, the work I’ve done with Megan and the rest of the interns has been disproportionately significant. Not only is the work we do interesting and helpful to my future career, but it has also provided the opportunity to develop a genuine sense of community and teamwork that I will truly miss when I’ve gone.
Other Articles: 
  • Writing Arts Club 
  • How Can We Evaluate Creative Writing
  • ​More Inclusive Events for Technical Writers
  • ​Guest Speaker Manuela Soares
  • Glassworks Reading
  • ​Spotlight: Taylor Henry, Recently Published Rowan Alum
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  • Home
  • Advising
  • Programs
    • Undergraduate Programs >
      • Minors >
        • Writing Arts Minor
        • Creative Writing Minor
        • Technical & Professional Writing Minor
        • New Media Minor
    • 4+1 (B.A.+M.A.) Program
    • Degree in 3
    • Certificates of Undergraduate Study >
      • CUGS in Creative Writing
      • CUGS in Technical and Professional Writing
      • CUGS in Writing Studies for Educators
      • CUGS in Professional Communication
      • CUGS in Writing for the Environment
    • Graduate Programs
  • WA Major
    • Writing Arts Journey
    • Required Courses >
      • General Education >
        • Science and Mathematics
        • Social and Behavioral Sciences
        • Literature, History, Humanities, and Language
      • Introduction to Writing Arts >
        • History & Materiality of Writing
        • Issues in Writing
        • Technologies & the Future of Writing
      • Methods Choice >
        • How Writers Read
        • Tutoring Writing
        • Communication Theory
      • Creative Choice >
        • Creative Writing I
        • Writing Children's Stories
      • The Writer's Mind
      • Writing, Research & Technology
      • Senior Seminar: Methods of Analysis and Evaluation of Writing
      • Portfolio Seminar
      • Free Electives
      • Literacy Studies >
        • Writing With Technologies
        • Situating Writing
    • Elements of Language >
      • Rhetorics of Style
      • Linguistics
      • Semantics
      • Editing for Publication
      • American English Grammar
      • Introduction to Anthropological Linguistics
    • Concentrations >
      • Creative Writing >
        • Writing Comedy
        • Writing the Young Adult Novel
        • Creative Writing I
        • Creative Writing II
        • Writing Children's Stories
        • Writing and Craft for Elementary Students
        • Writing Fiction
        • Writing Poetry
        • Writing Creative Nonfiction
        • Screenwriting I: Writing the Short
        • Screen Writing II: Writing the Feature
        • Magazine Article Writing
        • Fundamentals of Playwriting
        • Film Scenario Writing
        • Tutoring Writing
        • The Publishing Industry
        • Professions in Writing Arts
        • Internship
        • Research Practicum
      • Publishing & Writing for the Public >
        • Introduction to New Media
        • Self Publishing
        • The Publishing Industry
        • Writing for Popular Culture
        • Publication Layout & Design
        • Rhetorical Theory
        • Environmental Writing & Rhetoric
        • Writing for the Workplace
        • Writing Comedy
        • Professions in Writing Arts
        • Fiction to Film
        • Participatory Media
        • Photojournalism
        • Online Journalism I
        • Media Law
        • Applied Media Aesthetics: Sight, Sound and Story
        • Internship
        • Research Practicum
      • Technical & Professional Writing >
        • Introduction to Technical Writing
        • Writing for Nonprofits
        • Scientific Writing and Rhetoric
        • Medical Writing and Rhetoric
        • Tutoring Writing
        • Writing for the Workplace
        • The Publishing Industry
        • Professions in Writing Arts
        • Internship
        • Research Practicum
    • WA Learning Community >
      • Publishers
    • Portfolio Seminar Overview >
      • PS Analysis Statement Assignment
      • Checklist
      • Core Values
      • Questions Concerning Core Values
      • PS AS Peer Group Instructions
      • Portfolio Contents and Uploading
      • PS AS Rubric
      • FAQs: Students
      • FAQs: Instructors
  • Internships
  • Careers
  • Faculty
    • Faculty Resources >
      • Best Practices in Online Learning
      • Syllabus Requirements
      • HyFlex/Remote Learning
      • Canvas Support >
        • Writing Comedy
      • Accessibility in Online Courses
      • Racial Equity Online
      • Supporting Developmental Writers Remotely
      • Building an Online Classroom Community
    • Acknowledgements
  • Blogs
    • Writer's Insider Blog >
      • Spring 2021
      • Fall 2020
      • Spring 2020
      • Fall 2019
      • Spring 2019 >
        • An Interview with Devon James & Rachel Barton
        • Confession Travel Writer
        • Self-Publishing: A Change in Perspective
        • CCCA Career Fair: Having Your Future in Mind
        • Alumni Success: Entering the Working World
        • Behind the Scenes of Rowan's Hiring Process
      • Fall 2018 >
        • Singularity Press: Rowan's New Start Up
        • Writing Arts Club
        • How Can We Evaluate Creative Writing?
        • More Inclusive Events for Technical Writers
        • Guest Speaker Manuela Soares
        • Glassworks Reading
        • Spotlight: Taylor Henry, Recently Published Rowan Alum
      • Spring 2018 >
        • Publishing and Writing for the Public: A Reconstructed Concentration
        • What You Think You Know About Technical and Professional Writing is Wrong
        • The Toni Libro Medallion Award Winner: Myriah Stubee
        • An Interview with a Publisher
        • Excellence in Writing Arts Medallion Winner: Sara Skipp
        • The College of Communcation and Creative Arts 6th Annual Student Awards and Showcase Ceremony
        • Rowan Alum, Marissa Cohen, On Self Publishing and Advocacy
      • Fall 2017 >
        • Upcoming Classes in the Writing Arts Department
        • The Writer's Journey Blog by Earl Garcia
        • Rewriting The Department's Social Media Platforms
        • Rowan University Writing Arts Club Reinvents Mission
        • Glassworks Launches Issue Fifteen
        • For Futuristic Consideration: An Exploration of Careers in Writing
      • Spring 2017 >
        • Technical Communication: An Overview
        • A More Inclusive Future for Technical Writers
        • Easing the Tension: Breaking Down Technical and Professional Writing
        • Growing the Technical and Professional Writing Concentration
      • Fall 2016
      • Spring 2016
      • Winter 2015
      • Fall 2015 >
        • 2014 and Prior >
          • Archive
    • The Bulletin Board
    • RU Writing? Podcast
  • Creative Writing
  • Writing Center
  • Alumni
    • Undergraduate
    • Graduate
  • Awards
    • 2021 Emerging Writers Scholarship
    • Denise Gess Literary Awards >
      • Rowan University Award for Poetry
      • Edward J. Czwartacki Award for Fiction
      • Pat B. Tweedie Award for Creative Nonfiction
      • Award Winners
    • Excellence in Writing Arts Medallion Award
    • AnToinette Libro Graduate Medallion Award
    • Past Awards >
      • 2008 Hollybush Writing Competition
      • Write Rowan, Right Now! Contest
  • Student Groups
    • Rowan Writing Arts Club
    • Avant Literary Magazine
    • The Whit Newspaper
    • Her Campus Rowan
    • Odyssey at Rowan
    • Singularity Press
  • Calendar
  • ECCCA
    • RU Deptartment of Writing Arts - Home
    • News & Announcements
    • Rowan University - Home
    • Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts at Rowan University - Home
    • Student Groups