What's the story with redrosethorns publications?
A brief journey through how I decided to run a publication company by Kirsty Anne Richards
The story below offers a glimpse into the background of redrosethorns, and how this company has grown in ways I never imagined it would. Though let this be a warning to you, dear reader, my stories are hardly linear and this one comes with a learned perspective of who I am and what I truly want in life. Without further adieu, this story is about how I decided to start and run a publishing business.
It all began in 2020. I was working in a hotel and when the pandemic hit, I did not lose my job. Instead, my pay was cut with the attitude that I should be grateful to still have health insurance while I struggled to pay for food. I needed money and no one was hiring. Literally no one. So I thought, what can I do online that will make me money? Well, it so happens that my mother makes jewellery. I had an idea to take her product and sell it on Etsy because that is what artists and creatives do: they sell their work online apparently. And I had long wanted to build on some kind of creative endeavour. Mother thought it a great idea, and so, with some of Mother’s encouragement strapped to my back, I started an Etsy page and an Instagram account to promote the jewellery and….no sales were made. At least not for a while. (I told you this story is not linear.)
What did happen, however, was some spark ignited within me and since I had nothing to lose I decided fuck it, let’s get a business license and find my own product to sell. I’m going to take the dream of being a creative and make it a reality! I searched on our trusty Google for things that were fairly easy and affordable to make and settled on candles. Who doesn’t like a good candle?! I also had an idea to somehow tie self-care into my candle-making business because I did actually get a degree in psychology and thought it would be nice to use the education I paid good money for. The idea was that I could shape my business in a way where I got to make some quick cash while simultaneously doing something I enjoy. It wasn’t a perfect plan, but the purpose of taking action is to learn and gain experience. And I was determined to just do the work rather than wait for an opportunity to land in my lap.
I am happy to report that I did sell a few candles. But I gained more than money through this experiment I was trying out. Through social media, I was connecting with other small business owners, creatives, artists, and a lot of writers. The community I was gaining would turn out to be far more valuable than any amount of money I could make. Another goal I had was to be a published writer, so while I was actively looking for my target audience to sell candles to, I also followed writers. I have a Medium page which garners little attention even from me, and meeting other writers inspired me to think of different projects I was itching to create. By the end of 2020, I had an idea for a book and was writing quotes and some articles for my business. redrosethorns had amalgamated into a stew of selling jewellery and candles, mixed with content on self-care and empowerment. Not a good business model I know, but there was something about this process that kept me engaged and challenged me in ways I had never thought possible. I was not raking in the cash, but one thing I did know was that I was enjoying the learning process along the way, and I was discovering aspects of myself that had long been hidden.
Enter 2021. I joined a writing community, actively started writing a book, and applied for graduate school. I got accepted into the university I had applied to and decided to uproot my life to move abroad…again. I did all of this as I still felt lost at the time. (Who am I kidding, I always feel lost and out of place.) Unsure of what direction to take my life, though I knew I needed to make drastic and bold decisions if I were to build the life of my dreams. Now I needed to decide what to do with this business. I couldn’t take the products with me, and I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to continue to make and sell candles, even though I did enjoy it. I wasn’t making enough money so the sensible thing to do would be to quit and move on. But what I did have was a community and I didn’t want to lose that. I had a deep feeling that instead of giving up on this adventure, I should rather change the business to something more aligned with writing. Someone once gave me sound advice when she said I should look at what is working in my business (or life) and focus on building on that. What was working at the time was connecting with other writers. Similarly, I think that finding something one is good at and enjoys and then honing in on that usually leads to success. I just needed to figure out what to put my focus on and pursue it.
While I was pondering on what projects to focus on, there was a person in my community who had created an annual print publication and when I received my copy, the thought that I could do that seared itself into my neural pathways. At the time I shoved the idea aside, with the intent of doing it sometime in the future. Until, ping! It suddenly occurred to me that I could do that! I could create a literary magazine and target my publication to the writing community I was already part of. And I could centre my publication around the subjects I had spent years studying! As soon as I made this decision I was struck with dread and intense self-doubt. That was when I knew that this was something I must do. Those feelings of questioning one’s ability, and the fear that arises when we need to do something we really want to do but are too nervous or scared, I believe, are guides (or intuition) ensuring us that it is the right path. It feels terrifying because we know intuitively how heartbroken we would be if it didn’t work out. And it scares us because it isn’t something we have tried before. Remember, psychologically humans mostly choose the familiar hell rather than the option that might get us what we want and deserve. Our egos want us to stay stagnant because that is the safer option and our brains are designed to keep us safe. Though, if we keep at it, and move through the discomfort, rewards better than we could ever imagine are on the other side. Something I was about to learn first-hand.
2022 began like this, I entered ‘How to start a magazine’ in my Google search bar and followed the instructions given. (This is way over-simplified but I won’t bore you with the details of my months of research and work behind the scenes to make a publication.) I came up with a theme for the magazine which was inspired by mirroring my own life of making connections and building a community. I posted ads with companies that promote publications (places like ChillSubs, NewPages.com, DuoTrope) and told my friends on social media. Then I waited. One month went by and nothing. The second month of having my submissions open came around and I was beginning to feel pathetic as I spent my days refreshing my Wix page holding my breath for any work to come in. Panic was beginning to set in, but to ease my bruised self-esteem, I made the firm decision that if no one submitted, I would write a few pieces and still create a magazine, even if it was only 10 pages long. I could not give up. I mustn’t give in to doubt. On the first day of May, I opened my Wix app and a number one highlighted in red appeared in my inbox. I received my first submission! The floodgates were now open, as nearly every day for the next two months submissions came trickling in. Finally, 105 submissions later, I selected 31 pieces and created my very first print publication. redrosethorns magazine ed. 1: community/connection was published in July 2022. I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe that I made this happen. I published a literary magazine!
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