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Yesterday we made a plea for help. Some folks wanted to know more details about what's going on with us, why we're in danger of shutting down, and why we need help. I apologize for not making that information available in our initial appeal. Here's why Arthur needs help right now:
One year ago I ran up my credit cards and borrowed money from friends and family in order to buy out my ex-partner in Arthur. Since then I have maxed out my personal and business credit cards to service that debt and to start up publication of Arthur again. We have worked very hard with very little resources: some of us could afford to work pro bono, others could afford to work at well below market, still others couldn’t afford to work for Arthur but did it anyway.
Still, we have bills to pay, and debt to service. Starting up again costs money. And my credit cards are now maxed out.
On the heels of lower than expected ad sales (although they are trending up), increased production and distribution costs (higher quality printing and paper, higher fuel costs, increased printrun), and an “under-performing non-magazine product” (the Living Theatre dvd, for which we’ve sold less than 25% of the printrun since launch, received zero reviews or notices, etc), spiraling debt service payments (now $2k a month) on startup costs, and most importantly, zero new financial backers... we’ve finally reached the point where
WE HAVE NO MORE MONEY.
If we don’t obtain at least $20k by July 1, ARTHUR is done. Our long-term prospects are good if we are fortunate enough to make it through this rough patch.
Since our initial appeal yesterday afternoon, we've received over $12,000 in donations and pledges. We will keep the arthurmag.com website updated as regularly as we can with our progress. All of us involved with Arthur are extremely grateful for the generosity we've been showered with so far, and very moved by the many notes (sometimes letters!) of support we've already received. Thank you so much.
All best, Jay Babcock
Arthur Magazine
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