Why Start an Online Magazine?
A Letter From The Editor
Growing up in rural Missouri, my family was, as they say, dirt poor. There was never much money, so we didn't take family vacations or have many nice things. From a very early age, I was always looking for ways to get a peek at worlds other than my own.
R & K–a local grocery and video store of my youth–stocked the comic book and nerd culture magazine Wizard. I could not afford the regular six-dollar cover price, but if I practiced patience, the store owner would remove the old magazines that hadn't sold from the rack after a month or two. He'd slice the upper portion of the cover off–presumably to ensure resale was not possible– and then he'd mark down the vandalized magazine for twenty-five cents. For me, a quarter every month or two was more than doable.
These magazines were a window to worlds I wasn't a part of, and for a small amount of time while I read, I could try those worlds on for size.
There wasn't a comic book store within a 100-mile radius of my hometown. Still, with Wizard, I could read about the latest doings of Reed and Sue Richards, I could read about Marvel's exciting new reboot of the X-Men comics--now their iconic blue and yellow spandex ditched for black leather, just like the movie! I could read up on the latest fan castings for comic book films that, still to this day, shockingly, have not been made–but it was always fun to imagine. Wizard Magazine was my first preview of pop culture and became a childhood staple. It was also where I learned the joy of celebrating the things you love.
Month after month, I would tag along with my mother as she did her grocery shopping, with a quarter clenched in my sweaty little hand in search of the latest issue. Before I knew it, I had amassed boxes of defaced Wizard magazines–which I have lugged along on countless moves over the past twenty years. This is because–anyone raised poor knows–throwing things away is not an option. You never know when you might need a heaping box of valueless nerd culture content magazines. All good hoarders are forged in the fires of poverty!
So, why start a magazine? I imagine any editor worth their salt has contemplated their why? It's a question I considered before throwing down my credit card for a Squarespace account and doodling the Pyre Magazine logo in my Procreate app.
Pyre Magazine began its life as a class project. While finishing up my undergraduate degree, I took a publication class. In this class, the professor tasked us students to write up a proposal for a community project benefitting local writers or design a mockup of a journal or magazine. I immediately gravitated to the magazine, but like most things I do, I figured if I were going to do this, I would do it right. Why make a mockup magazine when I can put a little more effort into making a real full-fledged magazine? And so, that is what I sat out to do.
I didn't pay my authors for the first year of Pyre's life, not because I didn't want to, but because I didn’t think I could afford to. I also never foresaw people wanting to submit to my magazine. After all, who the hell am I, and what the hell is Pyre? But, before I knew it, submissions started to trickle in. It was slow at first, but it wasn't long before submissions came in at a rate I was having a hard time keeping up with.
I decided to start paying writers an honorarium payment for the second year of Pyre's life. My financial situation hadn't changed since the first year, but I realized if I expected writers to trust me with their hard work, I should be willing to invest in them. To show them I mean to take their work seriously. Also, to a new writer who has never been paid for their work, as small as ten dollars is, it can show them someone values their creative efforts.
Ten dollars honorarium is a commitment and a promise. I hope it shows my writers that my heart is in this publication and that Pyre will always be a magazine that strives to grow and always be better. That's why I am promising that in the third year of Pyre, rates will be going up. We may have to accept fewer stories, but I want to be able to work my way up to paying all writers published in Pyre a pro-rate.
Pyre is a magazine that strives to celebrate the love of dark literature, and, more importantly, celebrate the writers who share their stories with us. Pyre is a magazine that, I hope, makes writers feel heard and appreciated. Like Wizard was for me in my youth, I want Pyre to be a place to celebrate the things we love—for all lovers and writers of the dark and macabre.
I appreciate all writers who submitted that first year of Pyre, all the writers who submitted the second year, and all who will send their work to us in the future.
Thank you for joining us on this journey and trusting us with your work. I hope you will stick with us as we grow. Now, let us celebrate some wonderfully dark stories.
- Ryan Thomas LaBee, Editor-in-Chief
AUTHOR BIO:
Ryan (He/Him) is an English/Creative writing Graduate from Missouri State University. He is a photographer, filmmaker, writer, and disabled veteran. His work is available or forthcoming in Writing Lifeworlds: An Anthology of Creative Nonfiction, Flash Fiction Magazine, Night Picnic Journal, and Microfiction Monday Magazine. Ryan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Pyre Magazine.
Twitter: @ohthatryan www.ohthatryan.com
