There's been a fair bit of behind-the-scenes to get done before I began bringing work here. So far, I've maintained the Twitter and done up this website (new theme: the old one really didn't do it for a Gothic magazine, as my business partner pointed out. Now, we've white text on black background, and I'm digging how that simple inversion fits so much better.) Things are picking up: I'm seeing follower count on both the site and Twitter tick upwards, but more importantly, engagement is starting to build. If you'd like to follow this website on Twitter you can find it here.
Submissions News
I'm thrilled to report that since opening submissions I've had about fourteen works of art submitted. Seven of them have been a mix of prose and poetry, and happily, I woke to five of them onSaturday morning! To date, I've accepted a sonnet by Kristin Garth (whose work outside of Ravens can be found here, and I've been lucky to negotiate an agreed-upon price with Linda M. Crate for four poems. Both authors sent me work that fit so beautifully with what I was imagining. Given that I have minimal specifications in guidelines, it felt like magic.
I've been slowly working through around eight submissions. I'm all up to date on the reading, so now it's just deciding what should go where and what I can afford. This submission period has been a learning curve in that I don't think I'll run subs for eight weeks next time around. As it stands, due to an unexpectedly high volume of work, submissions will now be closing next Friday, 5th April. They will open up at some point, but due to the issue of funds, I cannot say exactly when. I have scheduled that the first piece will be posted on the site on the 30th of March - a sonnet from Kristin Garth. As to the monthly bundle, I'll first do a March/April bundle, since one piece will be uploaded in March. However, if you wish to access this or any of the work on this site before anyone else, our Patreon backers will be getting a special sneak peek of what is coming up.
Patreon News
Firstly, I gained a new Patron this week, so hello, welcome, and thank you to Anastasia! You join our previous two Patreon supporters Teresa Loesch and Cai. Every week we will highlight any new Patrons we get in this blog, so if you want to see your name here (or, even better, your name and message on the special Patreon page), head over to our Pateron here.
Secondly, I'd like to discuss the Patreon. Right now, all payments are coming out of pocket, which is unfortunately something I can't do indefinitely. Already, the number of pieces I want to buy have outpaced my budget. At current rates, I could afford to run Ravens for maybe six months before having to close. As such, we will need outside support to continue our dream of paying artists for their fabulous work, and will go into detail about our financial goals in another update later in April.
Thank you all again for your support and believing in Ravens.
Warm regards,
Sarah Editor-In-Chief.