PROFunder is part of the Alumni Engagement service that works on bringing together alumni to help fund creative ideas brought up by Rowan students to enhance the university. One of the creative ideas that was sprung is Singularity Press, a publishing agency that will publish young adult fiction, along with giving students the opportunity to get hands on experience working in a publishing company. 

Megan Atwood, an assistant writing arts professor at Rowan, helped start the publishing company. 

“The idea of starting a publishing company seemed like a given in a way – what better way to give Rowan students knowledge they can use in the “real” world than to bring the “real” world to them?” Atwood said. “I wanted to start a company that would be student run and would provide–to a wide variety of majors– an opportunity that would allow students hands-on experience in their chosen fields.”

Since Singularity Press is in the very beginning stages of development, there is no publication process just yet, but they have hopes to produce only debut authors, to showcase those who have been overlooked. 

Devon James is in the Master of Arts in Writing program and works as an intern for Singularity Press. 

“When the semester began we started meeting and [Atwood] introduced the idea of a press run by students at Rowan that would publish debut authors’ works of young adult genre fiction whose works are inclusive,” James said. “This was presented as a nonprofit where proceeds would go to scholarship funds for students from marginalized backgrounds to be able to study in programs that would allow them to enter the publishing industry.” 

Atwood had the idea to produce a publishing company at Rowan for sometime but the project didn’t start until the beginning of this semester. 

“I had taken several classes with Professor Atwood,” James said. “During our graduate publishing course, she had briefly mentioned an idea for a press and I expressed interest in being a part of the startup.”

Atwood has big hopes for this company: help new authors who feel left out, have Rowan students gain experience in publishing and to advance the university itself. 

“If you are in art and want to design a book cover for your portfolio, Singularity Press is the place to do it,” Atwood said. “If you work in computer science and want to gain experience with encryption, this press would be a great place to try your hand at it. If you’re in writing arts and want to be an editor, of course, the press will help. We hope to work with marketing, PR, advertising and any other department or student major that fits.” 

Not only will this organization help students and the Glassboro residents, but it will also make the university stand out from the rest. Few universities currently have a student-run trading publishing company. 

Singularity Press helps students gain experience, but it also has hopes of giving scholarships to marginalized students that are interested in publishing if profits are made. 

“Singularity Press hopes to help redress the inequities in publishing and to enable people who may not have gone into the field because of money to come to Rowan and gain some invaluable education and experience–and have doors open to them that may have been previously shut,” Atwood said. 

While Singularity Press is still in the process of getting funding and becoming a trade company, there are high hopes for its future. As of right now, there are no open positions while the company is still getting off the ground. Once it officially starts, there will be several job openings.

Go to http://alumni.rowan.edu/proffunder_singularitypress to check out more about the company or email atwood@rowan.edu to get more information on the company. 

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