Something amazing has just happened: we hit our first goal on Patreon! We can finally say: ‘Yes, we pay our contributors.’ This will start with the forthcoming issue, Book Eleven.

This milestone wouldn’t have happened without our newest supporters on Patreon: Roxane Renaud, Mary Ann T. Egdami and Sacha Menses, and the ones who have supported us over the last two years: Will Pearce, Victoria Dowd, Thomas J. Baird, Rhian Elizabeth, Reggie Chamberlain, Philippa Sturt, Philip J. Parkin, Mira Pohjalainen, Llaima Mali Cárdenas, Lesley Christie, Kevin Connell, Katie Rose, Helen Thompson, Efehan, E.F. Olsson, D.B., Christine Pamela Williams, Chip Limeburner, Billy Godfrey, Anouk, Annie and Aaron Spink.

My ambitions are simple: pay our contributors, pay ourselves and make publications like no other (and try and scare people good too!). Two of those ambitions have been achieved. My next priority is to pay ourselves as we don’t make a living from this magazine. This work is achieved with scant resources in both time and money. As an editor I don’t want to perpetuate this culture of ‘work for free’ which abuses the arts so readily. Nothing feeds nothing, but artists and writers are resourceful people who find ways to sustain themselves and still create. I believe people shouldn’t be expected to give their creative work away for free, I’ve never felt comfortable as an editor with this, but the truth is the magazine would never have started if it weren’t for the generosity of these people. Without these creatives the magazine wouldn’t exist. It also wouldn’t exist without us, the people that put it together. If nobody is paying anybody, who benefits? Who exists? As a writer myself, I’ve often found that the pot is mostly empty. So this is my small attempt to change this culture by becoming one more that does pay, in the hope that we will all benefit. Of course I do all this for the love of doing it but the trickle has to start somewhere and love alone doesn’t pay the bills.

Once more, a big thank you to all of those above and all of those who have bought a magazine or subscribed, you are important too. I hope we can reach the second goal soon!

Do check out our Patreon page HERE for ways in which you can help us out and benefit from magazines, behind the scenes, writing prompts, author interviews and more.

Wishing you all a beautiful day,

Rebecca Parfitt,

Editor

The Ghastling

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