Intern Juan Payan-Lopez Reflects on his Internship with Steady Moon Press

The smoke from the aged cigarette sitting between my fingers spiraling upwards towards the collection plate of a ceiling, all previous donations sat up there, whirling in an aqueous fashion; my crisp white shirt stained with sweat and odor, my furrowed brow examining the paper before me – red pen in hand, I begin. I actually do not smoke cigarettes, but if I did, this is the job stereotype/cliché that my mind holds in reserve for an editor (right next to the private eyes and detectives). However, I could not have been more wrong; not once did I see the whites of any leaves of paper (Steady Moon Press is a green and e-company – making paper archaic), hold an editing pen (let alone a red one), or smoke a cigarette. No, instead, my time was spent behind the white glow of my laptop, performing all the basics: highlighting, Googling, scrolling, staring, typing, e-mailing, reading, and of course, re-reading. 

The past four months have been strenuous balancing a non-paid, a part-time, and full-time student throughout the semester; but I’m ever grateful to Steady Moon Press and its founder Amanda Clark for the opportunity that they have presented me with. I am both appreciate and sad to move on; appreciative of the authors and poets who submitted and whose countless poems I sat reading and editing, honing my skills – I will never forget the experience I earned with the writing, editing, and publishing process; sad because I know the industry doesn’t work the same, and there won’t always be the one-on-one consultation of a seasoned veteran (like Ms. Clark). I, like all of you, look forward with great anticipation to the arrival of the final product: 2013’s The Poet’s Word.