Glossary of Terms

Artist

“A person who creates art (such as painting, sculpture, music, or writing) using conscious skill and creative imagination.” We consider all of our contributors to be artists—poets, fiction writers, memoirists, and visual artists alike. As you read through our Submission Guidelines, you may see the word “artist” arise at times in certain contexts that are meant to encompass all of the creators we are interested in publishing. 

Draft

“A preliminary sketch, outline, or version.” We consider a draft to be any version of a piece still in progress. From the first scribble in your Notes app, to the typo-ridden Word doc, to the version you are still actively refining—anything before the final, published version, we consider to be a “draft.” Sometimes, a draft becomes a finished piece in a clear, shining moment of revision. Other times, it may wobble on the line between draft and final piece: there is often a liminal space between the near-final and the final draft. 

Publication

“Produced or released for distribution in a book, magazine, newspaper, platform, etc.” We consider the publication to be the final piece—the final draft, the version—that you want to share with the world. We accept submissions and publish work based on whether this final version is a good fit for our magazine. 

Revision

“As in alteration: the act, process, or result of making different.” Revision is the process of changing, editing, and refining a piece over time. It can involve adding, omitting, restructuring, changing tense, changing form—altering even the smallest detail, like adding or removing a comma. At Copytext, we are interested in witnessing and reveling in all forms of revision. 

Version

“A form or variant of a type or original.” We consider a version to be a variation of a piece that the artist considers finished (published or not). In professional contexts, “versioning” often refers to different final, published versions of a piece, where there is a core concept that is tweaked for different specs or publications. In the same way, within the context of art, we consider versions to be variants of a final piece. At Copytext, for the sake of submissions, we are only considering a single, final version of your work—alongside two earlier drafts. Eventually, we may be interested in moments when a final piece or publication undergoes yet another revision, which would then create multiple versions of the piece. For example, a musician may create a concert-only version of their song.