Binghamton University students and faculty got an inside look at the publishing world Monday as professional writer Maria Gagliano described her experience founding and running her non-profit magazine.

Gagliano, the business director of Slice magazine, recalled launching the non-profit literary magazine in 2007 with fellow writer and book editor Celia Johnson in her talk as part of of the Binghamton Center for Writer’s “A Writing Life” series.

“We went into publishing with this idealized notion of what it is to work in publishing,” Gagliano said. “We were feeling really disillusioned with how it worked. We decided to take this frustration and turn into something good.”

According to her, the goal of Slice is to bridge the gap between emerging writers and established authors by offering a space where both are published side-by-side.

“We are really thrilled when we find something by someone whose never been published before,” Gagliano said.

Members of Slice are currently working on the 16th issue, which will be published in the spring of 2015. Using a team of 10 to 15 readers, featuring literary editors and agents, Slice collects 10 stories per issue from the 1,500 to 2,000 submissions that they receive to publish for the two yearly editions.

Alexi Zentner, associate English professor at BU, said that his work being published in Slice helped elevate his personal career.

“I’ve had at least two agents tell me they read my story in the magazine,” Zentner said. “It’s a magazine that does get exposure to the industry.”

Gagliano said that Slice’s objective is to be the stepping-stone for emerging writers to find their way in the literary business, and advised emerging writers not to give up because of early rejection or because of bad experiences at a job.

“Entry level jobs are really crappy and you kind of have to see them as apprenticeships,” Gagliano said. “I think the most important thing is for them to keep writing if they really love it, and to not be discouraged by rejection. If they really believe in what they’re doing and have a story that needs telling that they should keep doing it and work really hard at it.”

Gagliano recounted that a defining moment in her career with Slice was hearing that one of her published writers went on to be selected by The Best American Essays as the notable pick.

“It was the first piece she had ever published,” Gagliano said. “It was the highlight of her career, and definitely the highlight of ours. Anything that reminds us this is why we’re doing this.”

Associate director of the Center for Writers Christine Gelineau said she hoped that attendees got a grasp for the process of getting published, and realize the importance for writers to be literary citizens.

“The generosity of their mission, and the creativity and energy that they bring forward is unusual and something for writers to embrace,” Gelineau said.

Satadisha Saha Bhowmick, a first-year graduate student studying computer science, said Slice magazine offers opportunities that were not available back home.

“In India, we don’t have opportunities like this,” Bhowmick said. “As a writer, I’m looking for opportunities like this to get my work read. It’s a wonderful initiative.”