Soft Publishing Fall 2026 Class / Soft Publishing Assignments

Week 1

1. Answer the ten Soft Manifesto questions
2. Visit a local book collection (new or used bookstore, corporate or indie, library, archive) and observe the direct and indirect values on display
3. After your visit, add an eleventh question and answer it

Week 2

Write a brief publishing manifesto informed by the Soft Manifesto answers and (the lecture 2 / publishing framework).

Week 3

1. Using physical mediums and the resources available to you, publish a small printed artifact.
   
2. Select a portion of your work that you feel would be best represented in a printed format.
3. You can use this template that uses a single piece of paper with a series of folds and cutting. You can explore other formats.
4. Create a prototype and prepare to present it, and the reasons and values represented in the prototype, to the class.

Week 4

1. Using digital mediums and resources available to you, publish a small digital artifact.
2. First, select a reason from “95 reasons for having your own website” from Bell Kiosk (Elliott Cost)
3. Choose a tool from the digital resources list (TBD) that will best represent your reason for having a website and the content you wish to publish on it. You can explore other formats not listed.
4. Create a prototype to the best of your ability and prepare to present it, and the reasons and values represented in the prototype, to the class.