Ten years ago, the founders of Guernica Magazine were ahead of the publishing curve when they released their free, digital-only magazine. This week, they opted to add the more traditional route, publishing the first of what staffers hope will be annual print editions.
The physical edition of Guernica was presented Monday at the first of a series of readings to promote it, to a full Brooklyn bookshop and a round of applause. A first attempt at print seven years ago, when online writing still had less cache than stories on paper, didn’t pan out, but according to Editor in Chief Michael Archer, Guernica subsequently helped change perceptions of internet-only content.
Guernica’s venture may seem counterintuitive, but Archer, in his introduction to the print magazine, wrote that the number of individuals who donated to the project’s Kickstarter campaign proves there’s still good reason to print (although he adds, “occasionally”).
The crowdfunding campaign was just one in a range of fundraising tools that Guernica uses with increasing skill, said publisher Lisa Lucas who, as CJR reported this summer, is the magazine’s first paid employee.
“We just got to a point where we could do it. We’re fundamentally a digital magazine but have established ourselves enough now,” Lucas said but noted that Guernica is still a nonprofit and, as she said in a recent Bustle interview, there are no plans to make it a commercial magazine.
Still, the fundraising efforts allowed the writers in the print version to get paid, a novelty in the world of Guernica. The publication, which at 255 pages was both referred to as a magazine and a book, includes fiction, poetry, interviews, and articles picked from the past 16 months of online Guernica writing after a staff vote. Its title reflects its ambitions: “Annual #1.”
How those ambitions will be realized remains to be seen. Or in Lucas’ words: “Next year, roughly the same time, maybe.”
Lene Bech Sillesen is a CJR Delacorte Fellow. Follow her on Twitter at @LeneBechS.