Claire Hanan - The Official Website for Claire - Journalist, Publisher & Mizzou Grad

Even though it's only been two weeks, Shut-Eye is nearly complete. This time around we don't have to produce 100% of the content, which has saved a lot of time and worry, but we do have to plan the first year of issues as if we were. As the editor of Shuteye.com, I've researched our Google AdWords strategy to facilitate SEO, created blog content, mobile app plans and I've helped with the layout of the site (some of which will be up here soon).

While the site will offer much of the same kind of content that the print publication does, the main goal is to build community. In researching our original web strategy, we found that insomnia communities were remarkably common. In them, users discuss sleep remedies, lifestyle tips and some simply don't want to be alone. Shuteye.com strives to replicate this community while offering lists of late-night options, events and entertainment. Some of our blog titles include "I'll sleep when I'm dead" and "I'm dating an insomniac."

Of course we've got our hands in social media so follow us @shuteyemag and visit our facebook page. Let me know if you have any brilliant suggestions, and I'll be sure to consider them briefly.

Because the first week of SPI  is coming to a close, our program directors treated us to magazine tours. My group went the beautiful Conde Nast building at 4 Times Sq., and toured SELF. After looping through the editorial offices, fashion closet and creative department, we sat down with three associate editors and learned a bit more about what it's like to enter the industry.

The editors had all landed at SELF via different paths and learning this was both encouraging and refreshing. The production process is fascinating and ever-changing and I can't wait to be a part of it.

So despite the fact that Times Square resembles a zoo on steriods, today was pretty fabulous.

Salvete, omnes! It's been too long, dear readers. With the capstone project coming to a close and the rest of my coursework, I've regretfully neglected you. Anyway, what follows is an abbreviated update: 

David Simon's "Treme": Amazing. Watch it if only for the music alone. I wasn't sure if some of the holdover actors from "The Wire" would be able to make the transition, but they've become their new characters seamlessly. Check out one of my favorite scenes in which Creighton Bernette (John Goodman) gives the youtube world his thoughts on post-Katrina New Orleans. 

New York: I'm officially landing there June 5th, and will start the publishing program the next day. I can't even begin to express my excitement. 

The capstone: The trip to Meredith Corp. in Des Moines, IA, went fabulously. Details to come in the "Better Brunch" tab. Above is a grab of page in our "Brunch Bazaar" feature. I'm having issues uploading such a large pdf, but the entire mag should be available soon. 

What I'm reading now: 
Barbara Kingsolver's "The Lacuna" 
"Best New American Voices," edited by Dani Shapiro
"Gravity's Rainbow," Thomas Pynchon 

My website: 
What do you think of the new layout of the portfolio page? Let me know! 

As my capstone project lurches forward, I thought I'd update my fan club on our progress. Together with the editors at Meredith Corporation, and Professor Fennell, we've decided the focus of our magazine will be brunch. Yes, that meal you might have once a month, or once a year. We're going to give you a reason to have brunch every weekend. Here are a few:

1. Cocktails before 5 p.m.
2. In some cases, pajamas are allowed.
3. While dishes are both sweet and savory, they can be healthy and substantial.
4. It's an implied group event (read: fun).
5. It's more fun than your cardboard cereal, but less hassle than a formal holiday meal.

Have I convinced you? Are you too busy to answer that because you've just ran to your favorite restaurant to order the morning prix fixe menu? If not, I'll just have to let the final prototype do its job.

That's a good question. It's one that was (surprise!) asked of me on both of my publishing graduate applications. What I've come to realize, even though those applications have already been sent, is that there is no singular reason. In fact, I've decided to ardently pursue publishing because it combines all of my interests. Seriously, in some way, it combines ALL of them. So, for my own sense of clarity I'm listing those now.

1. Reading about: personal finance, Latin, words, writing, social/racial inequities in major cities, feminism, fashion, the economics of the U.S. education system, the CIA and FBI, spiritual discovery (appropriately placed next to governmental investigatory bodies). 
2. Editing all of the above.
3. Traveling and the accompanied sense of newness.
4. Writing and discussing all of these things.
6. The monetization and marketing of all media.

So I hope it's not just in my imagination that publishing, in some way, includes all of these. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know so I can submit my application to live on parents couch this summer.

This semester I'll be working with four other students to produce a stand-only magazine prototype for Meredith Corporation. Under the guidance of John Fennell (ex-editor of Milwaukee Magazine), we'll be writing, designing, editing, and proposing potential business plans for a magazine of our own that will most likely fall into one of these categories: grilling, decorating, DIY holidays, food-focused lifestyle, or general healthy living.

Tomorrow I'll find out the classmates with whom I'll work and then the race to May 6 commences, as we'll be pitching these prototypes to Meredith execs in Des Moines, Iowa. I'll keep you, loyal fans, abreast of any and all updates.