The website

As much as we value the printed page, I’ve come to accept that in this day and age, it is necessary to have an internet presence to stay relevant. That, and we simply have too much content for a bi-annual print only, and so have created this website to share work throughout the year, and keep 5.18 alive in between printed issues.

After starting life as a monthly £2 newsprint zine, 5.18 has grown in and around the community that inspires it; holding events, meeting contributors and selling zines online has made me realise that allowing people to produce work with reason, and share their work to boost their portfolios and CVs is vital work. I grew up online, my work taking shape through the places I wrote for and the people who paid attention to my work, and so I want 5.18 to be a breeding-ground for creatives, and help boost those who have work they want to share, or a voice that needs to be heard. The print magazine is moving towards being a business that pays artists to make work - over half of the most recent issue was paid commissions, and we are pushing to make the next one 100% paid work for everyone who features in it’s pages (EDIT: we did it! issue 2 featured 100% paid commissions. It hasn't been easy compensating everyone - for example, I have a flat rate for a photography submission, but I cannot pay everyone involved in the shoot - as there’s no way for me to prepare for or know how big a team the photographer is going to use, or did use. So there is always room for improvement, and things to learn - but every person who directly submitted to issue 2 was paid). However, for this to work we need sales, and for those to happen we need to grow! And that is where the website comes in. As I will not be receiving any money from the site, website contributors will not be paid - however anyone that submits work to the website will have the opportunity to pitch ideas for the print issue, and get paid work through that when the bi-annual print is out. Maybe, if we do well enough from the prints, we will also be able to pay for online content! It’s only a dream at the minute for me, a student, but you never know what the future holds.

So yes! Thats about it really. I hope you feel that I am being transparent in terms of why the website currently doesn’t pay for content - and why the print does. And I hope you might be interested in joining us and sharing your work! To submit, simply email info518magazine@gmail.com with the subject “website submission.”

Thanks for reading!

Eerie

Editor | 5.18 Magazine