In April I had a revelation. As I sat in my chair at my day-job desk, bits
of crumbled ceiling debris plopped into my coffee mug- splashing my face
and my white shirt. My only white shirt. I growled to myself and pounded
my fist on my desk, when another hunk of plaster smacked me upside the head.
The place was out to kill me. I just knew it. And because of my resistance
to their commercial conformities, the job had really decided to kill me
dead. Physically.
My revelation? Not to take it anymore. Luckily, I'd saved up some idealism
from my early 20's. So I knew there was hope. The possibility of a career
outside of corporate America could indeed be fulfilling, and even profitable
(hopefully, less physically dangerous too).
I closed my eyes and dreamt of a boss (myself) who was completely receptive
to all of my ideas. I dreamt of an office (my house) where I didn't have
to jump through hoops in order to accomplish my goals. A company of my own-
where I didn't have to check protocol before deciding to take time off for
my family. And maybe- no HOPEFULLY I could help others like myself kick
off their independent careers.
So, I didn't even wait for my scheduled 10 minute break time. I immediately
made a run for the vending machine area and called my husband from my cell
phone. "We're starting our own magazine," I told him. And that was it. We
did.
Doug, my husband, is the funniest person I know, and he has a great business
sense. And I knew that combining his talents with my writing experience
and sheer enthusiasm for all that is entrepreneurial, meant we were destined
for success. We owned a business together in the past, but began that one
with much less passion.
We put out a call "Looking for Great Writers," before we could even name
our publication. Our goals are a little lofty, I know. But I wouldn't have
it any other way. We sought out writers who think their work is better than
what they see out there. We sought unpublished and especially under published
voices who need a more suitable outlet for their creativity. And our magazine,
yellow (as we finally decided to call it – after all things shiny,
and after the first color my son learned how to say) would be that dignified
publication that finally gave them the satisfaction of being published the
right way. We promised them that we'd be better than common editors. We
promised to let their work shine by allowing them to speak in the way that
came naturally to their story. As writers, Doug and I understand how some
publications can chop words apart in order to fit their collective voice.
yellow aims to keep things fresh and interesting by letting the writers
do the writing.
The 75 responses we received the following morning sealed the deal in my
mind. Here we had some very talented folks who wanted to work with us, who
believed in our mission, and who trusted their art in our hands. I was surprised
at the overflow of writers who answered our call. We had a hard time turning
some people away. We continued to get 20 or so responses a day, for about
a month.
So we trekked on. We met the writers and began to work closely with them
to create a cohesive first issue. It's been fun- to say the least. I've
absolutely loved reading their stories, and feel lucky that we've found
such a cooperative group. Of course, cracking up in hysterical laughter
each time we opened a new submission, also helped to wean me from the day-job
blues. We've chosen humor as our primary medium, and the storytellers have
done an outstanding job of letting humor and satire lead their tellings.
Our call for "great writers" has expanded overseas, and we've had the fortune
of welcoming writers from England, Australia and France. You'll start to
see even more evidence of this multicultural influence in upcoming issues.
We hope that you find our first issue funny, informative and unique. There's
plenty of ways to get the news these days, and unfortunately much of the
news has a negative undertone. yellow wants you to look at the brighter
side of things, laugh at the not-so-bright side, and learn how to create
change in positive ways. Most of all, we want you to keep reading us, so
that we can keep writing.
This journey to create yellow has really taught me that good people and
pure art still exist. I've enjoyed every minute of making this work, and
hope reading it brightens your day.
