mermaids magazine by Gwynn Oak Studios

[Mermaid Momo]

hi,2 or 3 weeks ago, i purchased Mermaids magazine which was supposed to have been already off the press and shipped off towards its pre-order owners. But little did i know that they didnt even start the printing. I learned this from and email that was sent to me AFTER i ordered the magazine and they said the magazine wouldn't be shipped until may. But they also mentioned that if i wanted a refund, they would be more than happy to oblige. So i sent in an email requesting a refund like the email said to do... 2 days later still no reply or refund so i call. It goes to voice mail. I've been calling every day ever since and still every time it goes to voice mail. I've left a few voice mails and i never recieved a return call. So 3 weeks later, i don't have my magazine and i don't have to $20 i paid for it either. You're probably wondering why i'm freaking out over $20 right? You see, all last year, i was preparing for a small anime convention (drawing my butt off in front of a computer screen for hours on end) and i usually don't recieve money from my family so i have to make it on my own. That day I made $88 and i decided to spend $20 on that magazine instead of buying materials for a tail or tickets to comicon. So yeah, i'm pretty mad that i've lost that money. This is just a warning to all of you who're thinking about buying this magazine. I thought it was legit and look at what happened.

[Bellasea]

Oh. That's horrible!

[AniaR]

well, it is legit, they've just been having issues getting the printing. I can vouch, because I have an article being published in it, and Carolyn Turgeon the author of "Mermaids" and the owner of the I am a mermaid blog is one of the editors so we've been keeping in touch about it. They're very upset about the delays too, it's actually been delayed several times but obviously with the pre-ordering being approved they didnt expect to have to delay again.

I dont know why no one's not getting back to you, I can only expect they're swamped with trying to make sure it comes out on time.

I know from my own experience trying to put out Tail Flip that despite deadlines, things never seem to run on time. No excuse, but just some insight.

[Mermaid Momo]

yeah, i thought that maybe they were busy with getting the funds for the magazine. But they could have at least changed the date or posted something about it on the website so that future buyers don't find it out after they buy the magazine.

[carolynturgeon]

yeah, i thought that maybe they were busy with getting the funds for the magazine. But they could have at least changed the date or posted something about it on the website so that future buyers don't find it out after they buy the magazine.

There have been plenty of issues with getting the magazine out -- mainly on the publisher's part, having had some huge money issues this past year -- but it will be out in May, finally! And yes, the publisher is CRAZY right now getting all those files laid out and proofed and preparing for the Spoutwood Faerie Festival next weekend and so I'm sure that's why you haven't heard. I will alert her to your issue and make sure you get a refund right away, and also make sure the website gets updated. The magazine will be extremely beautiful, tho. There is not only an article by Raina but one by Nate and Iona who run mernetwork, and a spread of mermaids including Raina, Iara, Linden, Bambi the Mermaid, and several others. Plus a big feature on Hannah Fraser. And interviews with Tim Gunn, artist Michael Kaluta, Mami Wata expert Henry Drewal... and original fiction by Alice Hoffman, Aimee Bender, Francesca Lia Block, Keith Donohue... If you look at Faerie Magazine, published by the same person, it's really a gorgeous thing.

And thank you, Raina, for your comments!

I am editor in chief of this magazine and had no idea how many issues would come up in the process. But I've assembled a stunning array of content, art, and photos celebrating mermaids in as wide and varied away as possible. Please do not dismiss it before it's even gone out into the world, after all the hard work we've put into it!

Love
Carolyn

[Sea Pearl]

I cannot wait to get a copy! I think copies are supposed to be shipped out on the 12th of May, though I’m not sure.

[Mermaid Momo]

yeah, a lot of people are mentioning that it's supposed to be shipped out the 12th. i hope so..i'm getting tired of my dad saying i'm an iresponsible online shopper. :/

[Sea Pearl]

Just wondered if anyone had received their confirmation email yet about when copies could be shipped?

[AniaR]

I havent heard anything yet.

[Mermaid Hamant]

I was told on their Facebook page that it takes 4 weeks after the UK release date to get to the US. Hope that helps... Sorry I don't know more about it.

[AniaR]

I just wanted people to know as a contributing writer to this magazine I got a big email today, as well as all the other contributors. It explained the whole story. I've asked the owner if I can post it here, or if she can come post something (since most of it was directed to contributor stuff) but I just wanted people to know things are being sorted, there will be a very large update to their website on the matter, and hopefully with a little help it'll all get printed and out there for everyone. :)

[AniaR]

Okay! I got permission to post the email, so here's what it said, make of it what you will!


A message from Kim Cross and Gwynn Oak Studios to all Mermaids contributors…

As many of you know, I own and publish Faerie Magazine and Pirates Magazine. And then last year I began working on a special-edition annual magazine called Mermaids, which was originally going to be published in late summer 2011. I asked novelist Carolyn Turgeon to come on board as editor-in-chief, and, with your help and hard work, we proceeded to collect a dazzling array of content: original fiction and poetry and art (including a beautiful Alice Hoffman piece illustrated by Charles Vess), a stunning spread of “celebrity” mermaids (including the glamorous ladies of Weeki Wachee), articles on everything from African water spirits to 60’s-era mermaid attraction Aquarama to mermaid destinations around the world, interviews with fascinating personalities like Hannah Fraser, Michael Kaluta, Garo Sparo, and Tim Gunn. And much, much more. (A full list of content is attached to this email!) Thanks to your contributions, it’s over 200 dizzy pages of mermaids in all their incarnations, and there’s never been anything like it.
As many of you also know, the magazine has still not been published. We currently have over 350 pre-orders for Mermaids. Our distributors want three times the amount of magazines that we can currently afford to print. I’ve had to delay the publication of Mermaids several times over the past months as I’ve struggled to come up with funding. And now we’re almost to June, more than a year after the idea of Mermaids was conceived, and I still have not been able to publish. The economy has crippled small publishers, and unfortunately my company Gwynn Oak Studios has been no exception.

I am sending this email to you to explain what’s been happening, and to tell you what I’ve decided to do about it. I also want to thank you for your contributions and your patience.
In just over a week, I’m going to start a Mermaids fundraiser to cover the cost of printing and shipping Mermaids, and payment for graphic design as we finish putting the magazine together.

The total goal of the fundraiser is $45,000.
The fundraiser will begin on June 10, be hosted on the Faerie Magazine website and run for 7 days. It will be marketed through Faerie Magazine, Pirates Magazine, Carolyn’s mermaid blog I Am a Mermaid, and Facebook (and perhaps your own websites/blogs/Twitters/Facebook pages). We will send you a reminder email on June 9, 2012. This will be a mermaid campaign for the mermaid community!
People who pledge money during the fundraiser may receive, depending on the amount of their contribution, advertising space in Mermaids (and perhaps Faerie and Pirates), copies of Mermaids itself, and an array of other alluring items determined, in part, by you.

As a contributor, many of you have received advertising space in the magazine, this has not changed. We will gladly be printing your ad! If there are any updates on ads, new information, please email Kim@faeriemagazine.com
I would be very grateful if you, as one of the valued contributors to this project, would consider participating in this fundraiser by donating or offering to us at a discount any items we might include. This might be a “purchased participation” in an event, or it could be a book, a mermaid tail, a calendar, a signed print, anything of value that people might want to purchase… and anything that relates to Mermaids. Perhaps you could donate your own services—a phone call, a lunch, a photo shoot…. Twig the Fairy, for example, who moonlights as a mermaid (we’ve included a stunning pictorial in the magazine), is offering an underwater photo shoot with her and her photographer, with the donor paying his/her own expenses to travel. Really, anything you can think of that would lure a mermaid lover would be welcome and appreciated! If you can give us something for $100 that we can offer for $200, for example, we can do that (with moneys paid to you at the end of the fundraiser or your item returned to you). Please, be as creative as possible! If you have any such item of interest, please contact me at Kim@faeriemagazine.com.

I appreciate your continuing help with bringing Mermaids to life, and can’t wait to get your contributor copies to you! Thank you so much for your patience.
Yours,
Kim Cross

I'm entirely biased here, and I acknowledge that, because I have an article in it that Id really like to see. I also know it's got amazing content and I'd really just like to see more mermaid stuff out there.

If I can speak from my own experience, Sirena and I have only done two magazines and it's been a rewarding experience but incredibly time consuming. There's a reason it took us 4 months to get a second issue out. and it's only over 20 pages. This mermaid magazine is over 200!!!! So much mermaid content. We're lucky, because doing the e-magazine way we do not have to publish, and we have a mutual understanding with contributors that this is all free and donated (regarding tail flip) so no one gets paid. In the real world of publishing a magazine you have to pay a LOT of people, especially with 200 pages of content. When things fall through for Sirena and I, or someone doesn't come through with something, it doesn't cost us a cent. That's not the case with this!

Anyway, I emailed Kim back some fundraising ideas and also pledged some things she could give away, if anyone else in the community is interested in doing something similar I suggest contacting her, she'll give you free add space like she said so that's a great incentive.

I know Carolyn has been busting her butt with this, and she does SO much for the mercommunity with her blog and she's been trying to help this get underway. So hopefully, the community can lend some support so this awesome magazine can be published and those who ordered can get their copies!

[Mermaid Lorelei]

I might look into donating jewelry or something for the ad space...

[Vyrel]

i had ordered from the UK store a few weeks ago.... I was promptly called back to alert me that I had ordered from the UK office, we discussed my buying a mertail, the colors, how excited she was for me to have my dream come true...then last week I got a package from England! It was like getting a letter from Hogwarts! Inside was not only a copy of the magazine...but a signed copy of the magazine as well! I wasn't expecting anything like this at all! I can vouch that these are great people that are just having a rough time escaping the kelp beds!

we are discussing MERMAIDS & Mythology magazine right?

[Mermaid Sirena]

Nope, it's another mermaid magazine that has yet to be published.

[Vyrel]

oh just kidding~ lol anyways it is a very cool magazine and I recommend it to everyone!

[Mermaid Sirena]

M&M is really awesome publication! :D

[carolynturgeon]

Hey everyone, here's a blog post I just put up about the magazine: http://iamamermaid.com/2012/06/15/whats-going-on-with-mermaids-magazine/. I'm going to start a separate thread, too, but if anyone's been trying to get a refund, please let me know and I'll make sure it happens! But Mermaids should be out in August now, and really should be worth the wait, and there will be a special compensation for anyone who pre-ordered. I'm going to post a list of content, too, so you get a sense of what to expect. Oh, and check out the Charles Vess art on my blog!

And yes, it's totally different from Karen Kay's awesome Mermaids & Mythology, which I interviewed her about here: http://iamamermaid.com/2012/02/02/karen-kays-mermaids-mythology/.

=)

Love
Carolyn

[Sea Pearl]

Thank you for the update carolyn! I think its defiantly going to be worth the wait :)