Day Four

There will be highs and lows. This day was a low. I was all set to make my phone calls and get under way but doubt got hold of me.

One graphic designer contacted me thus far. And he had very good advice. The points he raised are not new ones to me, and because I have no concrete answers yet, the reminder of them is good.

Talking to others about these very same points, brings more issues to light and clearly this goal is going to be challenging. Today was a day of second thoughts, many of which were negative. I like to think the negative side was given time and space in my mind and discussion so that they can be accounted for. Sorta like keeping your enemies closer. I need to know what I have to overcome. But in the process I can't get pulled down on how negative these areas might seem.

For example the true quilting market--how many quilters? how many would buy the mag? The numbers are unknown, and I hope to get the numbers through IPS and other resources. Since I am in a foreign culture, walls go up rather quickly. So I need to slowly acquire the trust and respect of these Irish groups. It can be a slow process.

One point directly related to the quilting numbers is whether the magazine should have a broader topic. Instead of Irish Quilting, should it be Irish Crafts? I am a firm believer that broadening your topic, jeopardizes the readership market. If it becomes too large, readers will have difficultly deciding if the mag is for them. My heart is in the Irish Quilting clearly, but I must be realistic and see what comes of the statistics. I need to get those in for analysis.

So I welcome all the doubting thomases and will give plenty of consideration to each challenge. But if I spend every occasion fetching out the negative, I will get nowhere. Now, off to somewhere!