First and foremost, I am pleased to announce that Issue 037 is now live! Once more we present to you a collection of stories that, to paraphrase Ursula K. Le Guin, change all the maps and create new mountains.
You would think that ten years in, we would be settling in for the long haul and perhaps even resting on our laurels a bit. It’s no small feat in publishing to make it this far, after all. Instead, LSQ is doing the opposite. We’re just getting started!
Year ten is a landmark for us, a chance to look around and see where we’re at, but also a chance to decide where we want to go. This has given me a chance for reflection. I have a vision for Luna Station Quarterly. It’s attainable and sustainable and simple: LSQ should be a thriving community, supporting each other under the banner of Story.
To get things going, we’re laying the foundation to help it truly flourish. This week we launched a brand new version of the website. It’s got a fresh new design that showcases our stories and posts beautifully. We’ve also added some new features I’d love to share with you.
- A big, beautiful banner on the home page. Be sure to watch that space for the return of our featured story of the week and author interviews!
- Our blog is now easier to navigate. The menu now breaks things down to highlight our active columns.
- We’ve added a “Community” menu that currently links to our Patreon, Newsletter, and features our friends, interviews, and reviews. We’ve got ideas for adding a few other features as well to connect us all.
- There is now a cover artist gallery where you can learn more about the outstanding art that gives face to each issue.
- Finally, we’ve added our own custom submission manager!
So, that’s the website! I’m so proud of how it came out and I hope you stop by often and enjoy using it.
Along with that huge change comes the first step in better supporting the authors whose stories fill the pages of our magazine. The challenge I’ve had before me is how we can honor the true worth of our author’s stories without adding advertising to the website.
Some of you may be wondering why I don’t go down that road. Honestly, I dislike ads on the internet as a rule. Between privacy concerns and accessibility issues, there is evidence that advertising has done a great deal of harm to the ideals the free and open internet was founded on. I don’t intend to contribute to that. So, while I could open up LSQ to handle advertising that would at least be relevant to our readership, I am doing all I can to avoid that scenario entirely.
Some of you may have noticed we have a Patreon account. Our patrons currently support every issue of LSQ and cover most of the costs of running the magazine and website. I am so grateful that they keep us solvent, but there’s a gap between what we currently do and what we need to achieve that vision I have. This is where you, our amazing readership, come in.
I’m working to build a strong community of readers on Patreon and I want you to join me. In the coming days, I’ll be updating our profile with revamped rewards, goals and information. I’ll be sharing insights into LSQ, interesting finds, and other inspirations.
Patronage starts at just $1 a month. If you’d like to pledge a bit more, the $5 level also includes the ebook edition of each issue. There are print edition and other rewards at higher levels as well. You can find all the information about patronage and our goals at our profile page on Patreon’s website.
You can also support us by purchasing a subscription to the ebook via Weightless Books. Individual issues are available in print and digital editions, too! (Those print editions are so, so pretty.)
I would be honored if you would join me in making this vision of a thriving, supportive community of writers and readers a reality. Supporting women-identified writers and their work is one of the most important things I do and I’d love to have you with me as Luna Station Quarterly steps toward its second decade of publication.
Now go enjoy those new stories!