WELCOME TO THE END of 2017, it is too early to take stock. I am a person who obsessively tracks progress—what’s been finished, what’s left, who’s doing what, what’s our timeline like, how are we doing, what’s next—I like knowing if something is worth pursuing, or is a drag, and I like knowing early. Thing is, this isn’t the best way of assessing large-scale changes. Changes like transitioning from print to an e-publication.
This is definitely a large-scale change. And we’ve seen lots of extremely positive shifts—our first significant international sales, increased accessibility of the magazine, more sales post-launch than pre-sales, real actual subscribers, largest number of sales EVER, we even managed to fund #9 almost entirely from sales of #8—and I feel excited and proud about these things. And I’m grateful for your continued support. But, we’re still ironing out a few creases, too.
I think The Suburban Review has taught me the value of planning and schedules, but also of patience, and I’ve learned that transition is not immediate. Working with art and writing is fantastic, and this transitional phase is not terrifying—it’s a period of potential.
We’ve got a lot of fantastic writing and comics from Australia (and abroad!) to share with you in #9, along with art from our artists on staff. I hope you like this issue as much as I do.
—ANUPAMA PILBROW
CO-EDITOR