Last week, on April 25th, Tarpon Springs hosted their annual book festival in the downtown area. Each year, they attract a variety of vendors, including authors, artists, and food trucks. However, this is the first year that Steinbrenner’s student literary magazine, The Echo Teen Art and Lit Mag, has participated in.
The Echo is a non-profit publication that was founded by a group of dedicated creative writing students at Steinbrenner in 2013. The magazine accepts submissions of fiction writing, poetry, and artwork from teens aged 13-19 across the globe.
This year, the staff has begun branching out past their usual online sales and into local book festivals. “We thought it would be a really good idea to promote our magazine and get the word out,” said senior Keirsten Lee, Co-Editor in Chief of The Echo.
After setting up early in the morning, the group of staff, accompanied by their advisor and a member of their alumni, sold magazines from previous years as well as stickers created by the publication artists.
“It was very nice meeting people in the community,” said junior Bailey Mollohan, The Echo’s Communications Editor and soon to be Editor in Chief. “We had a lot of our team here today, so we got to split into an A shift and B shift… so we had people working at the booth and people walking around and visiting other vendors,” she explained.
“We raised about $300,” said Lee, all of which will be used to fund future endeavors of the non-profit, such as printing the latest issue of their magazine.
Overall, the Echo’s booth at the festival was a success and an important step forward for the publication. “It was a really awesome experience… we’ll definitely be coming back here again,” said Mollohan.e
