For 12 days of Christmas, here are 12 exclusive behind-the-scenes facts about the monthly ritual of making Wymondham Magazine:
1. The magazine has three editors: me, Kim, and Jimmy. I field and edit the articles, and then upload them to the digital database. Kim and Jimmy manage advertising and designing everything.
2. The first ten days of the month are usually the quietest. We are relaxed after the release of last month’s edition. Our main job is posting articles from the last edition onto Facebook.
3. Then, on the 10th or 11th of the month, I will create the ‘mockup’. This is a shared document between us that plans and outlines everything in the next issue. I create it, write it, and build it, Kim and Jimmy oversee it.
4. On the day, at about 8pm, an email will ping in Jimmy’s inbox, stating that “Freddy Lowe has invited you to a shared Google Doc, ‘DECEMBER PRINT MOCKUP’”. Or whichever month it is.
5. 08:02pm, my WhatsApp pings:
JIMMY, 08:02pm: [screenshot of the email]
JIMMY, 08:02pm: It never ends, Freddy
JIMMY, 08:03pm: NEVER ENDS
(He loves it really.)
6. From the 10th to the 20th, I go through the News inbox, working my way up chronologically, and put all the articles into the mockup, editing them and storing the photos in another shared folder.
7. While I’m doing that, Jimmy and I will WhatsApp back and forth. It’s usually about the magazine, but sometimes it’s just about life.
Here’s an exclusive insight into our behind-the-scenes communication:
FREDDY, 12:24pm: I took the liberty of putting in a Council story that wasn’t strictly to do with Wymondham, because the News section needs extra.
JIMMY, 12:24pm: what was it?
JIMMY, 12:24pm: attleborough to be flattened
JIMMY, 12:24pm: get the locals cheering
FREDDY, 12:24pm: no
FREDDY, 12:25pm: ‘Council warns against Battery Disposal in Bins’
JIMMY, 12:25pm: scoop alert
FREDDY, 12:26pm: I know – it’s not exactly award-winning, but otherwise the news section only had one article
It’s usually about this time that the social media posts from earlier are gaining traction.
FREDDY, 11:47am: I’ve got good news
JIMMY, 11:47am: you’re quitting?
FREDDY, 11:47am: You wish
FREDDY, 11:47am: Our Facebook posts are gaining clicks, likes and comments! [smug emoji]
The context here is that I had written them all.
JIMMY, 11:47am: praise the lord
8) Other times, our WhatsApp veers off the magazine and goes into general life-coaching. Recently, I had to invoice a separate company for another work-experience placement, and I got Jimmy’s advice on how to do it:
FREDDY, 09:46am: I’m invoicing someone for [amount of money].
FREDDY, 09:46am: That feels obscene
FREDDY, 09:47am: I’ve asked her if she feels she’s getting her money’s worth, and she says yes
JIMMY, 09:47am: yes, this is how capitalism works Freddy. You perform a task you wouldn’t otherwise have done for someone and they give you money.
FREDDY, 09:52am: Ever get the feeling that I’m actually slightly thick beneath the academia?
JIMMY, 09:52am: oh noooooooo no no nooooooo no no not at all well maybe yes
FREDDY, 09:54am: But what I don’t know about Tolstoy isn’t worth knowing
FREDDY, 09:54am: Or Bram Stoker
FREDDY, 09:54am: Or French grammar!
JIMMY, 09:54am: knowing anything about Tolstoy isn’t worth knowing
9) When we’ve hit the 20th of the month, it is usually about now that I will have finished the mockup.
10) 21st of the month – Jimmy realises he has lost the shared mockup link I emailed him earlier.
JIMMY, 10:16am: can you send me the link on here
FREDDY, 10:16am: Oh sorry – did you not get the email?
JIMMY, 10:17am: hahaha
JIMMY, 10:17am: what’s this, sass?
JIMMY, 10:17am: I’m an extremely important and busy man
JIMMY, 10:17am: my email inbox has 23,000 unread emails
FREDDY, 10:17am: [sends him the link]
JIMMY, 11:07am: I’ve put some comments in the mockup for you
JIMMY, 11:08am: basically: Freddy please make these headlines more interesting
I go through and make the headlines more interesting.
11) It is also about this time that we will panic and need to find more content:
JIMMY, 11:11am: Freddy, we need more content
JIMMY, 11:11am: can you email [regular writer], [regular writer], and [regular writer]
JIMMY, 12:01pm: Freddyyyyyy
JIMMY, 12:11pm: more content
JIMMY, 2:30pm: Freddy there’s too much content
12) I upload the articles to the digital database. If it’s a Print edition, Kim and Jimmy will sort out printing costs, delivery, magazine print design, and all of that good stuff. And the magazine comes out to our lovely local readers.
Merry Christmas, Wymondhammers! Here’s to another year of this glorious 12-step process granting you your favourite local community publication.
