WAND: Editor in Chief

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WAND: EDITOR IN CHIEF

The Wizard Activist News Dispatch (WAND) is more than just a quarterly publication featuring the HPA’s current campaigns and recent accomplishments. It is also a powerful donor stewardship tool, and a means of developing strong relationships with our most influential supporters and strategic partners. The Editor-in-Chief’s challenge is to ensure that the narrative of our organization is being told in a way that inspires support and allegiance from these important constituencies. Each issue of the WAND should be curated to demonstrate our impact, highlight our unique community of volunteers, chapters, and members, and showcase our one-of-a-kind aesthetic and sense of humor. Readers of the WAND should come away from each issue with the sense that no other nonprofit organization is doing what the HPA does. Because it’s true!

Responsibilities

• Work with HPA Senior Staff and WAND staff to identify the major headlines for each quarter and visualize each one as a compelling story.

• Work with Layout Editor and Graphic Designer to develop visual concept for each issue, as well as projected word counts and page assignments for each story.

• Work with Managing Editor to assign stories to writers and clearly communicate deadlines. Follow up as needed.

• Arrange for a Letter from the Executive Director (or other organizational leader) for each issue.

• Work with Executive Director to craft each issue’s appeal to donors.

• Assist writers with any questions they might have about their stories.

• Review stories to ensure they meet basic expectations of content and quality before clearing them for copy editing.

• Oversee timeline of each issue as it passes from writing to editing to layout.

• Assist layout editors and direct placement and design of content as needed.

• Review final product and initiate any major changes or improvements as needed.

• Work with Layout Editor and Managing Editor to finalize each issue before it’s sent to publication.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and relevant professional experience required; BA in journalism or similar degree preferred.

• Experience with management of print and/or online publications.

• Understanding of the HPA, fan activism, and fandom communities.

• Strong copywriting and editing skills.

• Ability to manage complex projects, monitor timelines, adhere to strict deadlines, and ensure that a volunteer staff does the same.

• Graphic design and layout skills a plus.

• Feel comfortable operating in a start-up environment and working with weirdos who have an offbeat sense of humor.

• Deep, all-consuming passion for social justice, literature, and popular culture.

Please submit a cover letter, resume, writing and publication samples to matt@thehpalliance.org if you are interested. We'll be in touch soon if we wish to set up an interview.