happy birthday to us!
by julie savage parker and sandi tomlin-sutker

We are a year old—not entirely dry behind the ears, perhaps, and still lining up our ducks, but otherwise we are fat and sassy and ready for year number two. Care to come along for the ride?

As a means of reflecting on our first year in the publishing business—as "women in media"—we decided to interview ourselves! We have created an FAQ of questions we've been asked about our journey. Answers are from both of us unless otherwise noted.

How on earth did you get started with this?

(Julie) On June 20th of last year, my friend Sandra Huie and I were having lunch at the Sunnyside Cafe in Weaverville, and she said "I think you should do a magazine for women in Western North Carolina." Having no experience in the publishing business (I am a web designer, not a print designer!) of course I said, with only an instant's hesitation..."Okay!"

I did Sandi's website a couple of years ago. We worked together so beautifully—we had the perfect balance of shared perspective and just enough difference to play off of each other's strengths—so we'd decided to do some kind of publishing venture together (probably e-books) and we were biding our time to see what unfolded. I called Sandi right after lunch, and she too, having no experience in this area, immediately said "Okay!" (An impulsive pair, I guess!)

So what happened next? What were your first action steps?

It was amazing—the idea for the magazine was fully-formed almost from its inception. When Sandra gave us a copy of Tampa Bay Woman about a week later, the idea was already in place. Tampa Bay's mission statement expressed EXACTLY what we had in mind:

The creators of Tampa Bay Woman are dedicated to giving voice to the lives of women in the Tampa Bay community by: celebrating our differences and identifying our commonalities; continually exploring the rich, relational lives of women and our connectedness with all living things; sharing the voices of many who are deeply and courageously exploring their own realities and who, in that process, fertilize all of our realities with the seeds of change and expansion; expressing our personal power and learning to use that power for the highest good; and, achieving a greater degree of wholeness and well-being in both our personal and professional lives.

Less than two weeks after lunch with Sandra, we had our first focus group meeting at Julie's house. We gathered friends and friends of friends to put this vision before them to see what they thought. We used Tampa Bay's mission statement, and though we gave them credit, we tried it on for size beginning:

The creators of WNC Woman are dedicated to giving voice to the lives of women in the Western North Carolina by: celebrating our differences, etc.

How did the focus group respond?

They loved it, to a woman. So many women we meet say of the magazine "Yes! We have long needed such a thing." A handful of women said they had wanted to do it themselves, but it had never gelled for them.

Why do you think it gelled for you, and not for others?

For one thing, we had each other. This is definitely a two-woman job. Well really, it is a multi-woman job! We have been blessed with so many women giving their time and energy to this publication: writers, deliverers, brainstormers, ad sales people, etc. We incorporated as Infinite Circles (the idea sparked by the quote: "A sphere is made up of not one, but an infinite number of circles; women have diverse gifts, and to say that women's sphere is the family circle is a mathematical absurdity." (Maria Mitchell, 1818-1889, First woman astronomer in the United States and the first woman member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame).

We were again blessed, this time by investors who bought enough shares to provide seed money to get started. Our investors were women of vision who took action, who took a chance on a totally unknown quantity, and it is to these women we especially owe a tremendous debt of gratitude. Our investors were not afraid to take a leap of faith with us and risk their money to make WNC WOMAN happen. Without them being willing to take a risk, we simply would not be here. And we are grateful to all of our advertisers, especially those in the very first issues when we were still very much an unknown quantity.

And the role of the focus groups—did it continue?

We had a focus group each month for a while to help the vision unfold, always coming back to Tampa Bay's mission statement. A primary goal was that we be inclusive, reflecting the needs and interests of all the women of Western North Carolina. We declared our intent that women of color would be at the table and in the magazine, that women of all socioeconomic backgrounds included. We even had the wild idea of having articles in Spanish too.

And have you met those ideals this first year?

Well yes...and no. We have been privileged to cover women (and men) of color, but no one has stepped forward yet to submit work. That, we are very much looking forward to.

One thing we learned is that with only 40 pages and a tiny staff, we cannot be all things to all women. Eventually, we realized even magazines with large budgets and large staffs are not all things to all women.

So what do you NOT cover?

We do not cover what is already out there in abundance: home decoration, health, parenting, "beauty and fashion", for example. There is simply no need for more of that, and we are finding women are fed up with the assumption that those topics represent the full range of a woman's interests.[ See Sandi's article What do Women Want To See, To Read, To Hear ]

So, you don't do recipes?

(Julie, grinning) Well, I was adamant that we not include recipes. A bit reactionary, I guess? But just to break my own boundaries, I have twice put in a recipe: once in an article on Joan Medilicott's Ladies of Covington series (a recipe for meatballs and prunes appeared in one of her books...who could resist including such an unlikely recipe?) and a banana bread recipe from the article on Martha Abraham's new Bed and Breakfast at Ponder Cove in Mars Hill. Now I am thinking perhaps we could have a few recipes...maybe low carb recipes, because so many people are enjoying improved health when they cut back on the carbs. We'll see what Sandi thinks.

Do you have a staff of writers or can anyone submit an article to WNC WOMAN?

Any woman living in Western North Carolina can submit an article for consideration. All submissions must be emailed to us at submissions@wnc-woman.com. Submissions must include a bio and a phone number so we can contact you if necessary. Once in a blue moon, we might publish something written by a woman outside of WNC if we perceive her work to be unique and especially valuable. [See writer's guidelines on our website (listed on the bottom of every odd-numbered page) for details and themes for the upcoming year.]

How much do you pay?

At the moment, we don't pay. As a fledgling publication, it is simply not in our budget. In fact, we have yet to receive salaries ourselves. We rely entirely on advertising to pay for printing and all of our other expenses. When we do start paying, we will start first with writers we assign to do interviews.

Should I start with a query?

That's really up to you. If you are writing an article from scratch wanting us to publish it, it is probably a good idea to check with us via email (editors@wnc-woman.com) or call Julie Parker at 828-689-2988 to see if your work is likely to be what we are looking for.

Why don't you charge for the magazine?

Many have suggested we start charging, but it is important to us that it remains free and widely distributed. It is our advertisers who are responsible for bringing you this magazine each month. Please thank them! Inquire about their goods and services, and please tell them where you saw their ad. We are looking to quadruple our advertising.

But we love the clean airy look you have now!

So do we. So when we start to get "too many" ads (what a concept!) we will add more pages. We are committed to having less than 50% advertising, whereas most publications average 75%. We want to start paying our writers (and ourselves!!) so do spread the word about us.

Do you allow men to advertise?

Yes! And we even allow them to write for us—once a year, in our annual Y Chromosome Issue. (Actually we also have many male readers...)

So how can Western North Carolina women support the growth of this publication?

Oh, there are so many opportunities for women to support WNC WOMAN—Let us count the ways!

1. advertise!!

2. give copies of the magazine to your friends and colleagues so word about the magazine gets out. Take copies to your doctor and dentist, your lawyer and your hairdresser. Spread the word!

3. consider making a financial investment of some kind (you can call us for details). You might want to take a look at our wish list and see if there is anything you'd like to donate.

4. join our wonderful team of volunteer distributors, and deliver a few stacks of WNC WOMAN to places near where you live or work each month.

5. send us an un-subscription! We have had people send as much as $100 for an un-subscription....The idea is you send us whatever amount you like and we won't mail you the magazine! ;-) It is a method of grassroots support for women (and men have sent un-subscriptions too) to help make us happen.

6. get a subscription (and we will mail you a copy!) and get one for all your friends around the country you know would love this magazine.

7. Contribute some display racks! We need to double the number of racks we have now. In fact, take a look at our wishlist to see if there is anything you'd like to donate! We are for-profit, by the way. We look forward to being gloriously profitable, and taking many women along with us!

How do we get an article on our business? Will it help if we are advertisers?

We have a very strict separation between editorial and commercial content. It is important to us that our readers trust what they read in WNC WOMAN is there because we feel the content is of value and not because we made a deal with an advertiser. If you feel an article on your business, event, or organization would be of value to our readers, please approach our editors to make the suggestion. We have quite a long list already of things we are planning to profile, but we welcome ideas for future issues. (If you are an advertiser, know that our ad sales reps will refer you to the editors if you query them about a story.)

And finally, what is your circulation and where can I find a copy??

We print between 10,000 and 12,000 copies each month depending on special events (Bele Chere, LEAF, women's conferences, etc.) See our website (listed at the bottom of every odd-numbered page!) and click on WHERE TO FIND US for a listing of more than 200 locations in several counties. [ wnc-woman.com ]