Help Us Launch Jill Magazine for Women!

Jill is the female-friendly magazine you've been waiting for!

Our mission is two-fold:

Did you have a magazine subscription growing up? Do you remember running to the mailbox in excitement, eager to read the engaging stories, view the colourful photos, complete the fun activities and read the jokes inside? We want to recreate this excitement for a niche group of grown ups with Jill, a thoughtfully curated English language print magazine for, by and about Lesbians/Butches/Dykes… and our female allies!

Each issue will strive to include a wide variety of photography, fiction and non-fiction text, and original art from around the world that is beautiful, insightful, authentic, provocative, and/or humorous.

We'll be mailing individual subscriptions out by hand, from Canada (so if you live elsewhere, get ready to enjoy some fun stamps!!)

YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING...

Q. Why women? And why lesbians, specifically?

A. Most "queer" resources these days encompass a broad umbrella of individuals, many of whom are men. There are so many spaces now where women -- especially women who dare to dissent -- seem to be squeezed out of the narrative.

After years of feminist progress, more recently, it feels as though whenever a woman raises a concern, or asks a critical question, she is chastised for daring to share her thinking.

While Jill's intention is not to exclude unfairly, it is most definitely our intent to reclaim at least one literary space exclusively for women, recognizing that many online, in print and real life spaces already exist for "intramural" exploration. Jill, on the other hand, is for, by and about women. Mostly lesbians, butches and dykes, but also their female allies.

Q. How did you arrive at your fundraising goal?

A. To self-publish 500 copies of our first issue, in full colour, with online design and layout, and mail these out around the world from Canada, will cost approximately $6000. This includes the fees from fundraising platforms and/or other forms of electronic money transfer.

Since we have committed for our first issue to not be bound to advertisers or corporate sponsorship, this means we have to cover the entire cost of production ourselves.

Q. What if you don’t raise enough funds?

Our current plan is to print and distribute 500 copies. If we don’t meet our fundraising goal, we will reduce our commitment (but still be sure to honour existing subscriptions). We may also consider more low quality paper and/or fewer pages per issue.

Another option we could explore (but hope not to) is paid advertising and/or corporate sponsorship to make up the shortfall.

Q. Why not go digital? Isn't it cheaper?

A. In an increasingly digital world, we're excited to bring back some old-school fun in a modern context. We want to publish a beautiful product that a woman can hold in her hands, enjoy while sipping her morning coffee, afternoon tea, a glass of wine, or while having a bath, or on the treadmill, or on a train, airplane, bus... without the distraction of immediate online interaction or the buzz of dissenting comments below the content.

We want to provide a varied collection of fun and insightful print "things", bound together in one package, for a woman to digest at her leisure, thinking about it, savouring it... like we frumpy old dykes used to do before the advent of the Internetz!

Q. So, how much should I donate?

A. We're very grateful for as little or as much as you are able and willing to part with! Even $5 helps us get closer to our goal! But if you want to be guaranteed a copy of our very first issue, please note the following suggested donations, in Canadian dollars or your equivalent:

UPDATED JAN 4, TO REFLECT REAL LIFE SHIPPING COSTS; the magazine has now arrived from the printer, and we have a limited number of extra copies for folks who would like one but have not yet made a donation (we'll close this fundraiser once all copies have been spoken for).

$12 is discounted rate for women who really want a copy, but for whom finances are a bit tight right now. (Offset by the generous donations of others.) Please contact us to confirm availability as we only have a few of these set aside.

$30 gets you a hot-off-the-press issue this winter/spring, and includes shipping to Canada, USA, Europe, Australia, New Zealand (and we're willing to try and ship elsewhere if there is interest!) It's slightly more than the "per-issue" cost for us, but that helps ensure this project actually gets off the ground, and allows us to offer a little discount for multiple copy orders.

$50 gets you TWO magazines: One for you, and one to share with your bestie, your daughter, sister, or another lesbian you may know!

$100+ (by weight and location) Three or More Copies and a healthy dose of good lesbian vibes; keep one and give the rest away, drop them off at a little free library, donate them to a local women's shelter, or sell them in your bookstore or other female-friendly shop.

$500 - $999 gets you five magazines AND a bunch of good butch-dyke karma. Plus, we’ll be able to offer some single issue subscriptions at a lower cost or pro bono to female readers.

Feel free also to propose a different amount — we’re open to meeting the needs of our donors as best we can.

Q. What if you exceed your fundraising goal?

If we end up raising more money than needed to break even, we will do some or all of the following three things:

Q. I have more questions before committing... who can I contact?

A. We are excited you've read all the way to the end, and we invite you to reach out by socials. We're on Instagram , and we welcome all questions. Our submission deadline closed mid November 2024, but feel free to check out our website and find out more.

In the meantime, thank you for considering a donation to our launch fundraiser. It really means a lot to us, personally, that you are supporting authentic, female-focused content!