Financing Headwaters Journal

Publishing a fine arts journal in print is expensive, given the fact that the audience for a regional literary journal is so small. Fortunately, publishing on the internet is much more affordable, making a web-based journal an ideal way to give Headwaters Journal: Voices of the Columbia new life.

Headwaters Journal remains a labor of love, however. Publishers, editors, authors and illustrators will, unfortunately, find that their contributions are more a donation to a good cause than a way to make a reasonable living. Our primary goal is to create a place where literary expression is appreciated, both by the contributors and their growing audience of readers. We anticipate that it will take some time to grow Headwaters Journal into the kind of publication that generates revenue, but any we earn we will pass on to our contributors (contributors to "Young Voices" excluded, unfortunately).

Here is our plan:

Banner Ads: Each month we will produce a new issue that will go live at the first of the following month. During production, we will solicit area businesses to purchase banner ads that will appear discretely throughout the on-line journal. Contributors are invited to help sell banner ads as well to help to finance a good cause. All profits from the sale of these banner ads will be split in equal shares between the contributors of each issue.

Chapbooks: Further, we will offer for sale chapbooks of each writer's contributions to readers who would like to own a printed edition of a particular writer's work. Chapbooks are a longstanding tradition in the poetry community. They are small books, often handmade, that offer at reasonable cost selections of a writer's work. Our chapbooks will be laser printed one at a time as orders arrive. We will print on a fine, archival-quality paper and will bind each chapbook with a simple, elegant paper cover. The booklet will be folded, punched and hand-sewn with an attractive cord. Each 4.25 by 7 inch chapbook will include the selections by one author that appear in that month's edition of Headwaters Journal, plus one to two other selections of the writer's choice. Each will be autographed. These custom-made books are both a keepsake item and a way for appreciative readers to support the work of their favorite writers. We expect each chapbook to sell for about $12.

Sponsorships: In addition, we will seek sponsors who can make donations to help with the publication of the print version of Headwaters Journal each year. If you would like to make a contribution, please contact us.

Remunerative? No. But work published in Headwaters Journal adds to a writer's portfolio, makes a fine contribution to the culture of the greater Columbia River community, and finds an appreciative and thoughtful audience.