A Belated Spring Beginning

Happy Spring, everyone! I hope you’re experiencing less hail than I am.

I wanted to provide visitors and readers the same quick update on the progress of Into the Ruins‘ first issue that I recently sent subscribers. As you likely know, I have been targeting the Spring Equinox (also known as March 20th–except for my southern hemisphere visitors and subscribers, to whom I apologize for my northern hemisphere-centrism) as the approximate publication date of the first issue of Into the Ruins. Turns out, that’s now three days in the rear view mirror. Or should I say behind the oxen? Is that more appropriate for this project?

Oxen, car, whatever. The point is this: Where did the time go?

The first issue will not be coming out quite that quickly. The rest of my life has kept me very busy. I have also had some recent computer and internet issues that eliminated hope of a last minute flurry of deadline-meeting. Finally, everything has just taken a bit longer than I expected it to, from putting together my subscriber database to sorting through stories, working on edits with authors, and designing and putting together the template for the publication file.

All that said, I’m not that far away. I have edited stories in hand and am in the process of finalizing the last one, I have a file template in place in which to plug in the magazine’s content, I have cover art, letters to the editor, book reviews, and so on.

Therefore, this blog post is simply to let you know that, while I’m not going to hit my target date for publication of the first issue, I expect to get it out during the back half of April. At that point I’m hoping to get back on track, with the second issue published right around the Summer Solstice. With a file template in hand and much of the upfront work of establishing operations out of the way, the second issue should require much less heavy lifting and be a simpler affair.

I hope those who are following this project understand and aren’t too disappointed. One thing I will say is that I’m excited for the launch issue. I think I have a lot of great content lined up for it, and I’m hoping you’ll find you agree once it’s in your hands.

And when it is? Well, the cover should look something like what you see below, just to whet your appetite. The cover art is courtesy of the estimable W. Jack Savage. To learn more about Jack’s work, visit his website.

Thank you for reading, and please feel free to ask questions in the comments.

Joel Caris
Editor & Publisher