Cohousing-L Mailing List: Call for...Feedback, Support, and Hopefully Articles

[Chris Roth - Communities Editor (editor]

Dear contributor or potential contributor to /Communities/ magazine,

Every September 1 for the past 11 years I've sent a Call for Articles 
for the forthcoming year's Spring issue of /Communities/ to our Authors' 
list. This message is different, and possibly the most important one 
I've ever sent out to this list.

Due to a financial crisis within the larger organization (FIC) which 
publishes the magazine, and of which the magazine's finances are a part, 
we are uncertain whether a Spring 2020 issue will appear. In fact, we're 
uncertain whether the Winter 2019 issue, for which we have already been 
gathering articles, will appear. On August 1 we on the magazine staff 
received the news that the FIC Board and Oversight Committee had decided 
to "pause" publication of /Communities/ following the Fall 2019 issue 
(#184), to allow for a re-evaluation of the organization and all of its 
projects (magazine included).

Here's some of what Executive Director Sky Blue wrote in the note that's 
included on page 1 of the just-published issue #184, The Shadow Side of 
Community <https://www.ic.org/the-shadow-side-of-cooperation/>:

   We know this may come as a shock, and we deeply appreciate the
   authors and subscribers who have helped keep a print publication
   going for so long in a rapidly evolving media landscape. But the sad
   truth is that we don’t have enough subscribers or sponsors to make
   the magazine not lose money, and the overall financial picture of
   the FIC means that we’re no longer able to subsidize that loss.
   We’ve made numerous efforts over many years to increase
   subscriptions and sponsors, but we’ve run out of time.

   We’re in the middle of a process to solve the larger financial
   issues facing the FIC. It is certainly our hope that we will find a
   solution that allows us to resume production of the magazine.

You may be wondering if there's anything you can do to help.

There is. You can go to www.ic.org/findingapathforward 
<https://www.ic.org/findingapathforward/>, read the message carefully, 
and then complete this short form 
<https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/cmag-subscribers>. This will allow the 
organization to gauge the level of support for /Communities/ and 
determine if or in what form it may be able to be continued. 
/Communities/ is a vibrant community in itself, directly corresponding 
to the degree to which each of us participates in it. If you're 
receiving this email, you've already participated in some way or likely 
expressed some interest in doing so. Thank you so much if you choose to 
participate further by going to that link 
<https://www.ic.org/findingapathforward/>.

And finally, if you are inspired to write something for future inclusion 
in the magazine (or whatever form a similar publication might take), our 
submissions guidelines 
<https://www.ic.org/submissions-to-communities-magazine/> are still 
posted. Contributions on the *Passing the Torch* theme would still be 
considered for a theoretical future issue, as would contributions on any 
of the following projected topics: *Climate Justice*, *Scaling Up*, 
*2020 Vision*, *Exploring Relationships*--or any article of more general 
interest, especially on the ongoing topics described in the submissions 
guidelines.

Thank you so much for your attention and your ongoing interest in and 
support for /Communities/!

Chris
--
Chris Roth
Editor, /Communities/
81868 Lost Valley Lane
Dexter, OR 97431
editor [at] ic.org
541-937-5221
ic.org/communities-magazine-home <http://ic.org/communities-magazine-home>

for /Communities/ advertising,
please contact Gigi Wahba:
ads [at] ic.org
415-991-0541

for photos and layout,
please contact Yulia Zarubina:
layout [at] ic.org
910-617-6136