Internet Brings Letter Writers Together

People say that email has killed letter writing, but the fact is that people still write letters. Not everybody writes letters, but they didn't before either. When television came into our homes they said it would the end of radio, but it wasn't. To survive each medium must find a new way to invent itself.

I think the internet is helping to bring letter writers together. There are many web sites and blogs that promote letter writing and share the appreciation of the hobby. Here are some of the sites that I enjoy and a little bit about each one.

Missive Maven posts pictures of the mail she sends and receives and she explains what it is and how she got it. It makes you want to send her mail (her address is on the site) to see if she will publish and write about the mail you sent. She has mentioned my blog a couple times and has sent many people to take the quick letter writing and journal writing surveys that I'm conducting to gather feedback for the Letters & Journals magazine. If you have not taken it yet. I would greatly appreciate getting more feedback.

Inky Trail News is a bi-monthly newsletter that you can subscribe to if you're looking for penpals or interested in reading light articles about the hobby of writing letters as well as general interest articles written by some of the subscribers. Wendy is the publisher and she also has a blog and a web site.

Carla, at 365 Letters, is writing a letter a day for 2009. She has some interesting insights and articles that she links to on her blog. Carla's most recent blog has this wonderful note:

“Why are you capable of imagining a world without letters? ... A universe in which all is said dryly, in abbreviated fashion … without art and without grace?” (Pedro Salinas, 1948, quoted in Ivask, 1990.)

And there are many groups at Yahoo, MSN, Google that promote letter writing, friendship books, mail art, postcard swaps and so much more. So don't believe that the love and art of letter writing is dead. It is not.

I Love Mail!

I love getting mail! I love reading about how a letter can make a change in the world. I love sending mail. I love postcards. I love the nostalgic idea of sitting at a desk and writing a letter. I love mail art. I love reading about mail. I love touching other lives through thoughtful gestures. I love stamps- not that I collect them, but I enjoy seeing fun and different ones. Did you know that you can order stamps online from the USPS? They have a great selection and it only costs $1 to ship your order.

I am so excited about my magazine, Letters & Journals, that will cover all of these topics and so much more. There will be articles on

Pens & Stationery
Product Reviews

Letters in the Armed Services
Has email replaced letters? Not yet!

Wax & Seals
Letter Embellishments

Letters in the Attic
The role of letters in your family's history

Exotic Postmarks
The allure of faraway lands

Even as I write this, Kathryn Forss at Daisy Mae Design is working her artful magic in creating the branding logo which is one of the first steps necessary for getting the magazine off the ground. Kathy has a strong background in magazine publishing and I have none, so I think that is a good combination. Don't you?

MMPA Conference

I attended the MN Magazines & Publication Association's annual Summit & Expo on May 21. This year's theme was How to Be Up in a Down Economy. The day was filled with four different tracks that include: Editorial, Circulation, Sales and Leadership. Deciding which sessions to attend was a difficult choice with so many valid options. I followed the advice of Hervey Evans, magazine consultant, who suggested I attend the sessions on advertising as I will need to start approaching advertisers at some point in the next year.

The Sales sessions focused on internet/web site sales rather than the print sales. I think it would have been beneficial for me to have more information on the print side, especially as a start-up magazine. But there was some useful information and the presenter, Wendy McHale of the Laredo Group, was an experienced sales professional and an excellent speaker.

The key to online sales is to know who your audience is and to understand your stats (unique views, length of visits, how viewers are getting to your site, what they're doing while they're there, etc). It's important to value the online advertising space and partnership opportunities because historically this space has been seen as less valued than print, when we actually have the potential to know more about our subscribers and viewers than we have with the printed version. Very interesting.

I have begun taking notes on the marketing information I need to gather so that I can put together a sales packet to help prime me for this new role- advertising sales. Definitely going to the National Stationery Show (NSS) this month also helped in that regard as I met stationery store owners and potential advertisers there.

Win Free Office Supplies TODAY

Time is almost out, so I will keep this brief. Click on this link to find out how to win $150 in Carolina Pad office supplies.

Good Luck!

Survey Help

Thanks to all who have taken my survey at http://lettersandjournalssurvey.blogspot.com. I am still looking for more people to offer their input. There are 3 different surveys and each one only takes about 3-5 minutes. The surveys are for

Letter writers
Journal writers
Stationery store owners and/or designers

Thank you to the Missive Maven who promoted this survey in her blog!

Please pass this on! Thank You! I will post the results on the blog sometime in late June or July.

Survey

The photo is from a purchase I made at Pulp Fashion located in Stillwater, MN.

Day 4 at the National Stationery Show

Today's NSS show only went from 9-12 and it seemed much less trafficked than the other 3 days. I think a lot of people got their buying/visiting done in the first 3 days. The buses ran slower today and the waits were longer for them. I would not plan to go on the last day again. Also, I felt that a lot of the exhibitors who I visited were disappointed because I wasn't a buyer looking to put their product in my store.

I met fellow twitterer @JackiPaper at her gorgeously designed booth as shown in the photo. Jacki won the Think Green Award for one of her cool products (recycled fortune teller greeting cards). You can read about all of the awards here. Way to go Jacki! So nice to meet you. Jacki's web site is www.jackipaper.com.

Overall the show was a lot of fun. Met some wonderful new people and made a lot of contacts for potential advertisers for the magazine when that time comes in about a year from now. So much yet to do.

Day 3 at the National Stationery Show

What a busy crazy week it has been! We walk around the show and my feet get tired. We walk around the city and my feet get tired. I am beat! But it has been fun and worth every aching muscle.

On Day 3 I did not spend as much time at the show. My husband, Joe, and I had touristy plans for the city. But I did meet some more exhibitors and got some great pictures. When I get home and I have more time, I will add photos to flickr so that you can see more than the few I am putting on here.

This cute pooch was at the Hooray for the Underdog booth which makes and sells cards (and other products such as notepads) featuring great pictures of rescue animals. These cards were gorgeous and for a cause that is dear to my heart- animals. Every day I visit http://www.animalrescuesite.com/ and click on the link to help the animals. Please check it out if you have not heard of it.