Start-ups

The feeding frenzy has begun and I haven't even gotten used to the idea that I'm going to be a publisher.

I sent out the information about the new ezine, Living Voices, yesterday and specifically noted that I would not be accepted submissions until August 1st and people are sending them already. I didn't even look at the submissions. I don't have time right now. But I am finding out about starting a new venture.

I want the magazine to be more than just an ezine. I want it to be a print magazine with real paper and real print, so I have to contact publishers and see about prices and put together a budget so I can pay writers and find out how much I really have to have for expenses and enough to keep me in food and necessities. Then I have to put all this together into a report so I can begin sending out grant proposals. I am also finding out about how to get advertising for the magazine and I came up with the idea of having a major corporation sponsor each issue, which will be quarterly to begin with. I'll post content on the web as well, but I really want a print magazine. I have approached Southwest Airlines. I have to start somewhere.

I will check out other airlines, too, because I think it's a good match with a magazine that talks about people in different regions and parts of the world (I hope). Tie in the regions and people with ways to get there and I just might be able to pull it all together. I also have to work out an advertising budget. That should be fun. I've been involved on the fringes of advertising all my life and handled placement of ads when I put together the security industry newsletter I edited and wrote for three years, but this is very different.

I also contacted the owners/editors of Glimmer Train magazine to see if they would be willing to discuss how they got started. I also contacted James Redfield, who wrote The Celestine Prophecy and is currently finishing a movie based on the book, to do an interview for the debut issue. I have a little different idea, something more interesting to writers: dealing with self publishing and the hype that followed the book. I am also going after J. K. Rowling and Sir Arthur C. Clarke about interviews for future issues, or the debut issue if James Redfield says no. Getting big name authors for interviews will have to be an ongoing process, but it's one I can handle. I did it for The Rose & Thorn over the past year and was pretty successful. I'm just going after bigger fish and working it into a business plan.

Yikes! I just realized I used the words "business plan" in a sentence referring to me. That's frightening. I don't remember ever wishing to become a productive adult. I just wanted to be a hedonistic dilletantte of a writer, not a publisher, but that is where I'm headed.

I am gaining some sort of name recognition since authors are approaching me to review their books. They can't possibly have read my review or they wouldn't ask. LOL I guess it pays to write and get it out there.

But back to the business plan. My goal is to start a publishing company and publish my own magazine and books based on the magazine. Living Voices is about the small stories, the people that make up history but that history never notices. I envision anthologies of regional stories and stories covering certain periods of history. I'll start with America, but I want to expand to encompass the people all over the world. Think about the people that make up nations, the faces behind the country's facade, people who do not necessarily agree with national and international views of them and their countries or their politics. The big names will always make the news, but what about the average person in the street? Those are the stories that are worth preserving, the truth of the day to day existence in and around historical markers. Anyway, that's my goal and my vision.

The next few months should prove interesting as I find out how to put this all together and whether or not I can put it all together. I'll keep you posted. You might actually be interested in how it all works and if not . . . ?

Time for me to shut up and get busy. I have an essay due for Parabola magazine tomorrow and I need to get cracking. I do have my own fish to fry. I guess sex and a personal life aren't going to be an option for me for a long time. Oh, well, I won't miss what I haven't had.

That is all. Disperse.

News

December 2004: Living Voices Magazine: Preserving the Past and the Present for the Future.

J. M. Cornwell, prose editor and chief webmaster for The Rose & Thorn until June 2004, is launching a new E-zine, Living Voices, a literary e-zine with an edge. Stories of the past, present, and future; stories you can't forget and want always to remember. The little stories and moments that define history, stories that touch on big historical events or happen outside of written history that focus on a moment caught in time. Think about Emily in the graveyard in the play, Our Town. These are the voices that will be preserved in Living Voices.

Living Voices will accept submissions beginning August 1, 2004.

GUIDELINES: Someone once said that life is in the details, the moment to moment minutiae; that is what I want to see. Stories your grandparents, uncles, aunts, and parents told you, the stories of their lives before, during and after wars, old letters, your stories and memories.

Submit your memoirs, fiction, nonfiction, retellings of stories of your past and your family's. Take those moments into the future or the past or onto other worlds as long as the character is the main focus.

NONFICTION: Essays, memoirs, family stories/histories, author interviews, and book reviews to 2000 words.

FICTION: Maximum 3500 words. No confessions. Genre fiction must be character driven.

POETRY: Any style up to 50 lines.

TIPS: Prose or poetry may be complex and literary but must contain a moment worth preserving, like an insect in amber. I want to see the stories of people and not the broader canvas of world events. Show me why I should, and why you do, care or remember that one moment.

Submissions may be sent to LV Submissions and must contain SUBMISSIONS and the type of submission (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, interview, or review) in the subject line.

Living Voices is also looking for poetry, nonfiction, and fiction editors. Send your background and qualifications to J. M. Cornwell to be considered.

I guess that makes it official.

Uncle

I give up. I'm tired of fighting.

Today, has been a day of changes, some small and some pretty big. It all started with finding out my Prodigy e-mail address will be discontinued as of mid August. I've had that e-mail address since I went online the first time nine years ago. I run all my writing thru that e-mail address and I have to give it up. I have no idea how many people who have some of my submissions will respond after the e-mail is defunct and I know that sending them a notice will make no sense to them if they haven't even reached my submission yet. It would only confuse things if I send them a note letting them know now. I'll just cross my fingers and hope they will pay attention to the phone number and the snail mail address, especially when sending checks.

I decided to look into setting up a business account just for e-mail, but that makes no sense. I've been threatening to start a magazine of my own, so I did. The new magazine is called Living Voices and will be located at Living Voices in the next few days. It's not active yet, but the domain name is registered and it's mine . . . at least until they renew it automatically in two years. *deep breath*

The past year has been full of changes for me. I lost a comfy job when they down sized me and was thrown into unemployment and writing full time. I have done more in the past few months than I have done for the last several years, but starting a magazine of my own was a bit of a stretch. So many friends, peers, and colleagues told me I should stop spending my energy and talents on unappreciative people or on others period. Two names spring immediately to mind, but I'm going to take the high road and let you read back thru old entries to figure out who I mean.

*Deep Sigh* I just paid out a chunk of money to do this and I will have to make it work. I want to be able to pay writers and poets, but I also want to take this magazine to print within the next two years. I am biting off a big piece of the literary pie and I know a lot of magazines have folded, but it's still worth the effort. I'll send out a general announcement and press releases and make guidelines available and then the feeding frenzy begins. I can't wait for the priceless pearls among the sand.

I guess it's time to get a shower and run errands, go to the post office, and get outside so I can let out the scream of shock and surprise I've been holding in all morning since I decided to do this. Please excuse me. I need to go scream. Thank the heavens I live in a secluded region.

Okay, I'll shut up now.