Reboot! (And Issue 06 launch)

Hello!

Issue 06 of the The Anti-Misogyny Club journal launches today and I couldn’t be prouder. Before we get to that, I wanted to talk about something mentioned in last month’s newsletter, namely that there are new things in the works. BIG PLANS.

In order to build dramatic tension, before I tell you what they are, I’ll tell you why things are changing. It’s a bit long but it’s relevant context so please bear with me.

I started The Anti-Misogyny Club because I wanted to actually do something about misogyny, as opposed to ranting about it in my kitchen, and I had a real longing to connect with other creative feminists in this shared struggle. In the 16 months since the gallery launched, and with now 6 issues of the journal published, I’ve been blown away by the quality of the art and writing submitted and by the willingness of so many like-minded feminists to support and get involved in this project. I am truly so grateful, and honoured, and inspired. There is absolutely no shortage of talented feminists writing, painting, drawing, making music and so much more, and it gladdens my heart to be party to it.

The ‘but…’ you’re waiting for comes down to time, money and the question of whether any of this is having any impact.

The truth is that hardly anyone is buying the journal. By way of example, Issue 05 sold 19 print copies and 9 digital copies. The Anti-Misogyny Club makes £1.79 for each print copy, and 74p for each digital copy, a total of £40.67.

I want to be very clear that I’m not complaining. In this brutally capitalist society, I’m more than grateful that people are willing to part with their scarce and hard-earned cash in order to buy a copy. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: no one gets into the literary journal business to make millions. I don’t want to make millions. But I also don’t want, and can’t afford, for running this club to cost me money. I’m working on switching platforms and services (webhosting, could storage etc) to reduce running costs but I can’t get rid all of them, and so as things stand, the club will likely run out of money before the end of the year.

More—much more—than the financial problem is time and impact. It takes a lot of time to put together the journal. In the beginning of The Anti-Misogyny Club, we were a two-person team, but now it’s just me (not for any dramatic reason, just life). Putting together each issue takes many hours, juggled around other responsibilities. It’s frustrating that something that takes so long—and is bursting with such breathtaking creativity—isn’t being seen by more people. It feels like I’m doing a disservice to the contributors. And it’s not that The Anti-Misogyny Club is without a platform. As I write this, there are 3,056 subscribers to this newsletter, and across the different social media platforms, about 20k followers. I want more of those people to see what the brilliant artists and writers who contribute to The Anti-Misogyny Club can do. And I want to spend more time on growing this club, building the community aspects of it, so that more people can be a part of it and we can have real impact, together.

I’m so proud of the work The Anti-Misogyny Club has done so far, and so grateful. Submitting, subscribing, purchasing the journal, reposting on social media, messaging to say they appreciate what the club is doing—the support has been phenomenal. I don’t long to connect with other creative feminists any more, because I’ve found so many of you through this club. This isn’t the end for The Anti-Misogyny Club. It’s a new beginning. It’s a reboot.

So here’s the plan. I’m going to:

• move to open, rolling submissions, publishing as many as possible in the online gallery and the best in this newsletter, so that thousands of eyeballs will see them, not low double-digits

• refresh the content and form of this newsletter to make it more interesting, bringing a curated selection of feminist news stories, essays, art, writing, social media posts, books, protests and anything else that catches my attention and would benefit this community

• publish the newsletter fortnightly (every second Tuesday) rather than monthly, to better keep in touch and up to date with what’s happening in the world

• set up a community noticeboard, for sharing events, protests, creative projects or other feminist happenings

• set up a club directory of feminist-owned small businesses, linking to your books, paintings, crafts or anything else you’re selling

• set up collective feminist creative projects we can work on together

I’ll be doing behind-the-scenes admin to set all this up in the next few weeks or so, and the first rebooted newsletter will reach your inbox on 9th September.

Previous issues of the journal will remain available for the foreseeable future.

When first turning on paid subscriptions to this newsletter, I promised not to badger you for money, and I’m going to honour that promise. But I would love to cover the costs of running this club. I would love to pay contributors, even a token amount. And I would love love love to fund large-scale (or lots of small-scale) creative, collaborative feminist projects. To that end, I’m asking that if you can, you consider a paid subscription. I’ve lowered the subscription fees to £3.50/mth or £35/yr, if you can spare that much. Or you could also buy me a cup of tea.

If you can’t offer financial support, I completely understand. Could you, instead, share this newsletter, even if just with one other person you think would be into it? There is strength in numbers, potential in numbers, and the bigger we grow this club, the bigger the impact it can have.

Thank you for taking the time to read all that. I hope it’s clear why I’m making the changes I’m making, and I hope you’ll come on this journey with me, which is something of an experiment. If you have any questions/comments/suggestions I am all ears, and you can reach me at info@theantimisogynyclub.com.

And now on to the main event: Issue 06 launches today!

Isn’t she (as always) absolutely gorgeous? The cover image, Gender Is A Spectrum by Patrick Scattergood, comments on the “battleground” of gender and calls for understanding, empathy and kindness. Inside, there’s some fantastic poetry, touching on beauty standards, dating, catcalling and trans rights, among other topics. There’s creative nonfiction with Sundress Season by Kim Rapoport and They Slept With The Monster Inside Of My Head by Abby Paradis, incredible art by Allie Ailis, Sally Steele-Corbett, India Andrews-Eden and Edie Noesser. There’s cultural criticism, with JK Rowling’s Penis Problem by Sunny Anne Williams and What Happens When We Attribute Violence To A Fruit? by Tilly Aistrop and so much more besides. It really is worth your time. Print and digital copies are on sale now.

I’ll see you back here for the New & Improved The Anti-Misogyny Club on 9th September, ready, willing and able to smash the patriarchy, alongside all of you.

Rachel