I was sitting in my living room last week after handing in my final assignment for my degree, and I thought to myself "wow, I'm free" – fast forward a week and I am the opposite of free. But I bloody love it. Being busy gives me life, an effervescence that is unstoppable and exciting.
In 2017 after finishing Tag (my college's annual magazine, for which I was executive editor), my two friends and I were planning to start up our own magazine. The three of us were editors of Tag and we were super close at the time and incredibly passionate about design and journalism. We were so enthusiastic about the magazine and we were going to take the leap, but a few months down the line and we had parted ways – at three different universities and with new friendship groups, the idea for the magazine fizzled out and we didn't ever pick it up again.
University and my blog kept me busy up until late last year and then I began to freelance in writing and journalism. Magazine editing, conceptualising and journalism all being huge passions of mine still, I was overjoyed when the final module for my degree was to design a 4-page magazine... let's just say mine was 17 pages long and I sent it to the printers.
At first, my magazine was a little lack-lustre and then my tutor told me to amp it up as it was far from what I was about. After working hard on it for around a month (plus a fair amount of late nights), I finally had something I was proud of.
When my magazine arrived back from the printers, I was so excited. I instantly posted it on social media and the response was mind-blowing. Over 500 likes on Twitter, countless messages asking where the magazine could be bought and people asking me to make the magazine a reality. It was a no-brainer.. I loved working on magazines and working on my university project lit a fire within me that I couldn't put out. So I made an Instagram account and BOOM – Dear Curvy Girl was born.
So, what is Dear Curvy Girl?
Dear Curvy Girl or DCG for short is a BRAND NEW independent, non-profit, community-led magazine. Founded by a curvy girl (that's me) and designed with curvy girls in mind, this magazine is new, fresh and just what the curvy community needs. Although the title suggests a magazine aimed solely at women – DCG has women as the main target audience, but the curvy community is broad and includes all genders. Writers from all backgrounds and gender identities are encouraged to write for DCG and of course read it too.
We are open to ideas for the first issue of the magazine until June 7th and then I'll be focusing on getting the website up and running before the first drafts start trickling back in. If you want to pitch an idea to me for the magazine, drop me a line at molliequirk@gmail.com with 'DCG IDEAS' in the subject line before EOP on Monday 7th June. I will still be open to submissions for the website after this date.
Over the past week, I have really worked hard on turning my dream into a reality – over 100 people have expressed an interest in contributing and I have been assigning articles, deadlines and giving out positions to some super talented journalists, designers, writers and editors. All contributors, columnists and editorial positions are sadly voluntary at the moment though, which breaks my heart.
I don't plan to make a single penny from DCG – it will open up to pre-orders in the summer and then the money made from pre-orders will go directly into funding the printed copies of the magazine and the shipping costs. I won't make a single penny and I am completely okay with that. Obviously, if DCG takes off, does really well and goes national or even global – I will of course turn this hobby and project into a business so I can pay myself and most importantly my writers, contributors, columnists and editorial team.
So.. what's the plan?
Today (June 4th) I will begin announcing my trusted team of editors and columnists – which I am so excited about. I am so grateful to each and every person who has offered to help me bring DCG to life and I am so excited about the future of this little venture.
By the end of June, we should have a fully live and functioning website – a place for people to browse the latest articles, content and get to know the people behind DCG a little more. There will also be a tab to 'shop' but this page won't be live until around August.
July will be when all of the copy comes back to me and my team and we will proof, edit and then input the copy onto the magazine document.
The end of August/beginning of September will be when I send the magazine off to the printers...
And then finally, towards the mid/end of September, the magazines will be landing through the letterboxes of those who pre-ordered!
That's it! Dear Curvy Girl has officially been announced and I couldn't be more excited. This magazine is exactly what women need – it's inclusive, it's fresh, it's going to rip up the rule book and I am so excited to be bringing this to life with some AMAZING people... this is just the beginning – watch this space!
1 comment
Congratulations on the magazine! And for finishing uni! Those are both amazing feats that I can only dream of doing! I'm looking forward to purchasing a copy soon! x
ReplyDeleteminae ♡
Thanks for reading this post! Let me know what you thought of it below?