Saturday Newsletter: July 29, 2023

A note from Emma Wood

Hello, everyone:

I’m writing today with some big and very exciting news. As many of you know, I have been Editor of Stone Soup for the last six years and took over as Executive Director as well this past year. Juggling both roles with my other work commitments, a very busy family life (we have two young children), and a move, was an enormous challenge—and fun in many ways. But it quickly became clear to me that it was not sustainable for the long term. So, the board and I put our heads together, and after careful consideration about the next best move for Stone Soup, we decided that I would stay in the role of director and we would hire a new editor.

The board and I spoke with many interesting, qualified, enthusiastic people, and are thrilled to share that Diane Landolf, a freelance editor, a writer, and a former senior editor at Random House Children’s Books, is taking over the editorial reins. When I first spoke with Diane, I knew that I was speaking to a natural editor: she immediately honed in on small details from a recent issue, noting what was working—but more importantly, to the editor’s eye, what could be improved or fixed. She has the attention to detail, the knack for problem-solving, the readerly openness, and the experienced eye required of an excellent editor—as well as a genuine passion for Stone Soup’s mission. Like a number of people I spoke with, she had read Stone Soup as a child.

While I’m excited to see what Diane brings to Stone Soup, I am also deeply sad to be stepping away from my day-to-day work on the magazine and books. Over the past six years, I created 64 issues of Stone Soup and nine books by young authors. I learned how to create a magazine, how to edit a book, how to evaluate the work of young writers, how to read with an open mind, how to write with a sense of humor and playfulness, and so much more. I remain so grateful to William Rubel, Stone Soup’s co-founder and director emeritus, for entrusting me with the magazine (and so much more!) when I was much younger and had to rely much more on my grit and resourcefulness than my experience. I am also deeply grateful for all the young writers and artists who entrusted Stone Soup, and by extension me, with their work. Thank you!

On a practical note, as I step more fully into my directorial role, I am increasingly aware of some gaps in our staff knowledge base. We remain interested in finding volunteers who have experience in marketing (and specifically Google AdWords) as well as those with educational experience who might be able to help us work toward the next iteration of our educator portal. If this is you, please write to me at emma@stonesoup.com.

Onto the next chapter–