Carole Edrich Weblog

Payment or Penalty

Tonight I learned that reading a magazine you've just edited is as bad an idea as doing a post mortem on an exam as soon as it's done.

I've just edited my first issue of Flamenco News. Commissioning and chasing contributions has been an interesting experience which has, on occassion, felt more like the Chinese curse than a fun challenge. It all looked very wobbly when the designer/production editor resigned (she had been working on the magazine for years), but Tim; a good friend, actor and professional magazine designer, stepped into the breach.

Unluckily, since the magazine had to be ready before the next Peña and he's a busy guy, we had just three days to get everything designed and reviewed before it went to print. We're both new to Flamenco News, so it took far longer than it should and while I didn’t mind working into the wee small hours, when time pressures also stopped me dancing I was not very happy.

Tim collected the finished products from the printer and dropped them off this evening after tango (he’s one of the most obsessive social dancers I know) and I had a few little surprises when I started to read. Four typos in the first five pages took me right back to those awful days at the end of the school year when my peer group's collective post-mortems of tests and exams left me with a helpless feeling of irredeemable wrongness that I' m happy to say I've not felt again - until now.

Nevertheless we achieved a lot. Flamenco News is now a well designed and sensibly pocket-sized magazine. It has more pages, more colour, varied and interesting content and our first proper advert. My friend Yo Marukuni is editing the new Japanese language section, I’ve had contributions from a well known rock journalist, flamenco enthusiasts in England, Japan and Mexico, the ex editor has agreed to a column and one lovely gentleman has even contributed flamenco cartoons!

What’s even better is that Tim the Dancing Designer says he’ll do Flamenco News with me next quarter. It’s a great relief and excellent news, but I wonder whether he’ll consider partnering me for the occasional tango to be payment or penalty.

(c) Carole Edrich, 2006

Posted by carole at December 9, 2005 02:42 AM