I’ve been a member of the Military Writers Society of America, or MWSA, since 2010. A retired Navy colleague and author told me about the organization and said, “They’ll even review your book.” That was enough to get me hooked, and within a year, my first book Believing In Horses earned a Gold Medal in MWSA’s book awards program and was a finalist for the organization’s prestigious Founder’s Award.

I ended up making great friends and finding many similarities with members. As a 501c(3) non-profit, we are volunteer-powered, and I’ve held a variety of positions including President, Vice President, Outreach Committee Chair, Veterans’ Workshops Presenter, Book Reviewer, and Editor of MWSA’s Dispatches magazine. I took over the magazine one year ago, and it’s been a steep learning curve. The last time I had been the Editor-in-Chief of a magazine was the Navy Recruiter magazine in 1989! And I had a paid staff back then.

In case it might be helpful to anyone else finding themselves in a comparable situation, I’ve pulled together five tips and lessons learned along this particular publication journey.

1. Remember the primary purpose of the publication. MWSA’s tagline is “Saving History One Story at a Time.” Dispatches provides members an opportunity to write and be published in a magazine. For some, it is their first time published, and the first time they have shared a particular story that they felt needed to be told. For others, they are sharing their knowledge to help fellow writers. Our magazine’s purpose is to lift each other up.
2. Know what your audience wants. With a broad and varied group of military, veterans, families, and civilians of multiple generations, there isn’t a cut and dry answer to this. However, my 15-year familiarity with the organization and its members helped. We are writers and readers who have a military thread in common. We like to learn about writing, each other, current projects, and books. It doesn’t hurt when we help our members publicize their books.
3. Incorporate regular columns and have them in the same approximate location in issues. When I inherited the magazine, the only regular columns were the Editor’s and the President’s. I followed my advice from items 1 and 2 above and developed regular columns including The Writing Craft, Member Spotlights, Recommended Reading, Marketing and Publishing, Our Organization, MWSA Book Reviews, and Poetry, along with member-written feature articles. This incorporation makes for a more predictable and standardized magazine. Readers know what they can expect and can skip to what most interests them. Or they can read it cover to cover, which is what I hope for.
4. Recognize that each contributor has his or her own voice. I learned to resist the temptation to say, “That’s not how I would have said that.” Contributors have bylines, and there is a reason for that. It’s their words, not mine, or those of my wonderful volunteer assistant editors. I try to help our members put their best work out there by editing using the Chicago Manual of Style and our own MWSA Publications Style Guide. But I continually remind myself that my job is as the editor, not the re-writer.
5. Implement an Organized Yearly Overview Editorial Calendar. My Navy background taught me the importance of checklists, so I knew I needed a plan to get and stay organized. I created a simple Excel spreadsheet after exploring multiple options. Putting out a 50+ page magazine four times a year with year round submissions that I received via email and a submissions form quickly became unwieldy. Since I am reliant mostly on member submissions, this system helps me stay on track and allows me to suggest potential articles to writers. I also have a few go-to writers who pull through when needed and an “evergreen” file of content to use as needed.

I hope you may enjoy our most recent issue of Dispatches magazine dedicated to Vietnam veterans, their families, and those who support them in recognition of the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War fifty years ago. Choose the image below to see what our talented members have to say.

If you have any suggestions or your own lessons learned, please share them in a comment!