Thanks for your interest in writing with Imprint! We are a UCF student-run online magazine that is supported by the Department of Writing and Rhetoric. Our mission is to entertain, empower, and evoke action to leave a lasting impression on the UCF student population. We currently publish three issues per year at the conclusion of the Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters. Our magazine contains articles written by students of all majors, cultures, and walks of life. 

For your article to be considered, you must be a current UCF undergraduate or graduate student, and your article must be written with a UCF audience in mind. Content should be applicable to the UCF community. At Imprint, we are passionate about creating a publication by Knights, for Knights!

We encourage potential writers to read the previous issue of Imprint to get a feel for the kinds of articles we’re looking for.

Prompt for Issue 25 (Spring 2023):

Imprint is looking for stories about an experience you had in college that shifted a value, belief, or perspective that you once held. Issue 25 seeks to focus on the “evoke” part of our mission. We want to hear stories that are going to illuminate readers on subjects that inspire self-reflection and growth.  

Consider:

• How have your values changed since attending college?
• Who or what provoked the shift in your value, belief, or perspective?
• What did you gain from that experience?

We are looking for articles about:   

• A club on campus that spreads awareness about issues 
• A person you met at college that changed the way you think about the world
• A class/ professor that made you think differently about a certain topic
• A simple experience that opened your eyes to something new
• Impactful experiences with family, professors, or friends

Consider one of these approaches for your article: 

1. Focus on a situation, event, or world matter that inspired a realization. Explain how the experience left a lasting impression on you. How did it change you or your previous opinion on the topic for the better?
2. Did you have to face a particular experience that brought you out of your comfort zone?  Who or what helped guide you through it? Did anything good come out of it?
3. With UCF being the biggest undergraduate school in the country, how has attending UCF shifted your worldview? What have you learned in regard to how the world works that you previously thought was different? 

Essentially, we want to know about a time in your life when your perspective shifted, what led to that shift, and how it has impacted you. 

Note: Issue 25 is also accepting submissions written in feature-style journalistic writing. Meaning, submissions do not have to be autobiographical, writers can choose to interview other students (s) as long as the theme is addressed in some way.

What we are NOT looking for:

• Fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction

Here are some additional guidelines for Imprint articles:

• Content must be appropriate – no swearing or explicit material. Imprint is meant to be inviting and comfortable for all readers.
• No “rant” articles. While Imprint does consider opinion and personal experience pieces, it is not a platform for political bashing, intolerance, or insults.
• Articles must be a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 1,500 words in length.
• Articles must be written in a legible, 12-point font and double-spaced. If the editors cannot easily read your submission, it will not be considered for publication.
• Articles must be submitted as a Word document – either .doc or .docx file extensions. If the editors cannot easily open your article to make revisions, it will not be read or considered for publication.

Please submit your query with a working title in the subject line. Query examples are plentiful online.  Please look at one before submitting.  Send queries to [email protected] by February 17th, 2023. If we like your idea, we will work with you to complete a draft.

We can’t wait to read it!

For further information, contact Debbie Weaver, Editor-in-Chief, at [email protected]