Time to renew!

My dear readers,

Now that we have surpassed our first year, one of the regular tasks of running the magazine is keeping up with subscription renewals. It is really vital that the magazine keeps its subscriber base strong; the hard costs of printing, distribution and mailing are supported by our amazing subscribers. We also pay our regular contributors, illustrators and photographers honorariums for their submissions. Not to mention rent, promotions and advertising costs! It all adds up to be quite an expensive production.

I'm confident that you will see the value in each quarterly issue; everyone involved really provides their very best work each and every time. The funny thing about creating such a high quality production is that sometimes people assume that it is funded and created by some lavish publishing empire. In fact, I am the only full time person involved: as publisher, editor, art director/designer, marketer, distributor and more, I am fully dedicated to making the magazine a sustainable publication.

Vital members of the team are editor-at-large Deidre Martin and subscription/shop manager Jenny Tzanakos. My husband Glen is also taking on more roles as the magazine grows. I am so grateful for all their hard work.

I have just sent off renewal invoices to those whose subscription ended with issue 6. In an attempt to find a more effective and streamlined method of renewal, I have sent these notices as Paypal invoices. In the past, I have sent off reminder emails, but the response rate hasn't always been great since folks forget to go to the online shop or lose the email in their full inboxes. With an invoice, you just have to click and respond to the one message. The other benefit is that we pay less in transaction fees which means that more of the subscription money goes to paying the print bill!

So I hope you don't mind the impersonality of the Paypal renewal method, but please know that I personally see all the renewals and plan on thanking each of you individually for your continued support.

If your subscription has lapsed, you can always renew and catch up with back issues, too!

If you've purchased a single copy or have been curious about the magazine, we invite you to join our family of subscribers.

We love our subscribers and readers and I hope you can see that in every magazine we make. Speaking of which, lucky issue 7 is in the design phase and will be going to print in September. I'll keep you posted of its progress; it's going to be a hearty fall issue! I'm really excited about our cover illustrator, but I'll keep you in suspense a while longer...

again, thank you.

-Janine