We’re about to send issue three of Film Stories to the printers – and here’s what we’re up to.
Well, crikey.
Back in early November, the Kickstarter funding round for Film Stories magazine completed, and I was finishing the first issue of it. Truth be told, it was all a bit of a whirlwind, and I half joke that if I’d have known how difficult all of this would be, I might have thought twice.
The idea of launching a print film magazine in 2018? Of selling it by mail order? Of pretty much committing career and commercial suicide in one move? Well, it’s been a bit of an adventure, put it that way.
But heck, I’m glad that I, and the small team behind Film Stories, did it.
Because what’s been really special, and I never saw it coming, is the swathe of support from the brilliant people who buy and read the magazine, who download the podcast, who just like what we’re doing. Every copy sold, every retweet of a post, every download – well, it means a lot. And because Film Stories is entirely independent, without even a sniff of a big publishing house behind it, it also makes a bigger difference than you may always see.
We don’t have marketing budget. We spend that on paying writers instead. And on time. It’s the oxygen you’ve all given the project that’s got us to this point.
Because it’s been that groundswell of support that’s got the project this far, I wanted to pen an occasional update as to how the project is going. Which is what this is. Am happy to answer questions in the comments too, if there’s anything any of you want to know.
The basics
As this is being written, Film Stories issue three is being prepared for print. It goes at the end of this week, and will be sent out from Monday 18th February.
Film Stories is now monthly, and as such, it’s straight into issue four, for which I’ve secured the cover this very week. More news on that soon.
Issue three is pivotal for us. Lots of you who backed us on Kickstarter opted for the three month trial subscription, and as such, if you all drop off at this point, then a) we’ll know that something we’re doing isn’t right, and b) we’re in trouble. We’ll have a clearer idea on that in a few weeks!
So far, Film Stories has, across its three issues, given 13 people their first paid writing work. The downside is I’m a long way behind responding to pitches, and trying to overhaul the email system here to help me get to them quicker. I know it always sounds like BS, but the response has been far in excess of what I was expecting, and especially on deadline weeks, I just have to get on with getting the magazine out the door. But I am gradually making my way through said pitches.
Thank you. For your patience, for your support, for your kind words.
New subscription offer
Lots of people have asked us about bringing back the three-month subs price, and so that’s just what we’ve done. It’s three issues for £14.99, including postage. That’s an offer for new and existing subscribers. You can find it here: https://www.webscribe.co.uk/magazine/filmstories
Also, if anyone wants to help sell magazine subscriptions (and individual copies), maybe in person or on their website, do get in touch ([email protected]) – we’re close to a tipping point where the magazine isn’t reliant on its initial Kickstarter funding to keep pressing forward, and we’ve an issue or two to get to that target. We’re open to ideas as to how to get the magazine to even more people to help us hit that target as quickly as possible!
What next?
Film Stories is already a podcast, a YouTube channel (lots on there now), a magazine and a single reader event before Christmas. We’re just finalised a bunch of further reader events next, and have a hugely exciting further strand for Film Stories that we’re looking to get off the ground in the next few months. We’ve been talking to a few people in the industry about it, and they seem quite excited as well. As you may have spotted, when we say we’re going to do something, we tend to move quite quickly. As such, we’re not quite ready to fire the starting gun on that one yet, but when we do, we won’t be dawdling!
Most importantly
A huge thank you. From me and the Film Stories team, this has been a really life-changing few months. If all goes to plan, we’ve only just begun…
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