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Join the West Trade Team: Current Available Positions (All Volunteer)
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West Trade Review is a nonprofit literary journal based in Charlotte, NC, and is dedicated to supporting the literary and arts community. All staff are volunteers.
We have two regular reading periods (April 1-August 1 & August 15-December 15) and sponsor a contest period (January 15-March 15) for both poetry and fiction. We publish three quarterly online editions (summer, fall, winter) and one large print edition each spring (approx. 225 pages).
Our mission is to perpetuate the work of artists both well known and yet-to-be-known, simultaneously enriching our world through the written word and visual arts. We strive to reflect diversity in style, content and perspective throughout prose, poetry, photography and other artwork.
Our focus is to simply present to you the best art possible by both emerging and established creative minds.
We are committed to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and seek to publish underrepresented voices of all types (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, cis and trans women, gender non-conforming, agender, non-binary, genderqueer, those who are two-spirit, people with disabilities). Individuals from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply for any open position.
Work from West Trade Review was recently selected for inclusion in Best American Essays, Best Debut Short Stories, and Best Small Fictions.
Send a cover letter and resume to Ken Harmon at [email protected]. Please place position title in email subject header.
Work for all positions is completed remotely (Submittable, Slack, Trello, and Zoom).
POETRY AND CREATIVE NONFICTION READERS
Readers are the back bone of every literary journal as they are the first to encounter all submissions.
Candidates for positions as readers should:
- be self-motivated and capable of meeting deadlines
- have a solid educational or professional background in creative writing and/or literature that allows for insightful analysis of a submission, including strengths and weaknesses of each piece
- have approximately 5-10 hours per week to devote (time required varies weekly)
- be capable of reading quickly and efficiently without sacrificing quality
All work is completed remotely via Submittable and Slack. Biweekly Zoom meetings (1 hour) are required.
This is a volunteer position.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
West Trade Review seeks a social media community manager for engaging and connecting with the journal's audience on social media (Twitter, Instagram, Threads, and Facebook). The primary function of the position is to control the workflow across platforms and to manage the work of others on the social media team. The community manager's focus is to connect and engage with an audience that’s interested in literature and art, to drive traffic to our website, establish journal's presence on social media, and to build an online community of writers and readers interested in our published work in an interactive way by sharing posts and commenting on or liking posts. Applicants should possess excellent communication and organization skills and work well as part of a team. This is a volunteer position and remote work via Trello, Buffer, and Slack. Prefer background in creative writing and/or literature. Prior work with a literary journal is a plus.
SOCIAL MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS TEAM MEMBERS:
Members of this team need the following skills:
- to be self-motivated and capable of meeting deadlines
- to understand the function of social media as tool for communicating with a specialized audience (Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook).
- possess the ability to clearly express oneself in writing
- have approximately 2-3 hours per week to devote
The social media and communications team meets on Zoom biweekly for approximately an hour to discuss current and upcoming projects.
Members of this team develop ideas for promotions and write weekly social media content for Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Team members may also work on the monthly newsletter using the Mailchimp software. Knowledge of Mailchimp program as well as Adobe Express, Adobe Audition, or Trello preferred, but not required. Will train.
Internships (unpaid, remote):
Note: This is an unpaid position supporting an all-volunteer staff.
The focus of an internship is to familiarize you with all aspects of what it means to run a literary journal and exist in an independent literary environment. This includes assisting editors with projects as needed and learning about the reading/editorial process, social media engagement, how a journal supports its writers, layout/design using Adobe Creative Suite, building webpages, designing newsletters, editing audio and video files, data analytics, etc. All work is completed remotely and will require 10-15 hours a week of your time. Internships are available each fall, spring, and summer. Send resume and cover letter outlining the requirements of your internship and your interests in literature, creative writing, publishing, and/or the skills you'd like to develop during your time with us to Ken Harmon at [email protected]. Place "Possible Internship" in the subject line. Any questions may be directed to this email address as well.
