Restless Violets

Hello friends and lovers,

I thought it might be helpful to do an FAQ for things that you might be curious about, and things I have been asked in emails and messages.

If your question isn’t answered here, then please reach out and we can have a chat, but I hope this will help!

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WHO FUNDS YOU?

Good question. Fair question.

I inherited some money from an estranged relative. It still doesn’t feel super real, but it has happened. It kind of feels like something from a movie, where the girl who has struggled forever suddenly has her ship come in. My mum says I’m not to tell people how much it is, but I can confirm that it is definitely enough to cover the start up costs for the magazine, and keep it going for a while.

If you’re really, really curious and genuinely cannot live without knowing more, then I can answer more questions about this privately, but I’d prefer not to discuss more publicly, because there is a lot of family stuff associated with this and I don’t really want to get into it too much in public.

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I’m an ally to lesbians, but I’m not a lesbian, will you publish me?

Glad to have your support, but no!

It is really important to me that Restless Violets remains a platform for lesbian voices and lesbian stories. I encourage allies to listen and learn, but this is not a platform for your voice.

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Are you actually a lesbian?/Why have you talked before about men?

Yes. I have written quite a bit about my personal journey, but if you want the short version, I spent a long time trying to pretend that I wasn’t a lesbian, because of social pressures, cultural reasons and some family issues.

I was doing quite well, and giving the performance of a lifetime, but then I had a bit of a mental breakdown (as you do), styled it out, went back to trying to pretend…

BUT, plot twist, some guy I went on a date with was like “You don’t actually like men at all, do you?” and I was GAGGED. Like I couldn’t speak, it was a shock that it was apparently so obvious, because I really thought nobody could tell.

Anyway, that was when I knew the jig was up, and I finally came out (after having a mini meltdown in a pub toilet).

Luckily for me, the awful consequences of doing so were about 75% in my head. My mum still loved me, my career didn’t suffer too drastically, and most of my friends stayed my friends.

There have been some negative things, but I feel better in myself, so it’s worth the losses.

It was about three years ago now. Time flies, I suppose.

I still have a lot of love and respect for my older work, but it was fiction.

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Is this a grift?

No. I get why you’d ask though, it does seem that people dangle things in front of minority groups to grift.

People will be able to enjoy the online version of the magazine for free, if they want, and there is no expectation of money being given.

Submitting work for publishing is free, and advertisement and coverage for lesbian owned businesses and events is also free.

There will be an option for people to donate if they’d like, which will help with costs, but it isn’t mandatory at all and everyone will still be allowed to read the content without doing so.

There is no need for a major crowdfunding campaign for this project, so there won’t be one.

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How much will the magazine cost to read?

The online version will be £1 to read, but will be free for subscribers.

The print version will have a fee, for printing and shipping costs. I am still looking into this, as I would like to get the best deal so that it is not prohibitively expensive for readers, so I will confirm this as soon as I can.

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Will the online and print versions be the same?

Not quite. They will share content, but the print version will be more of an annual of the online content, because it will be published less often. We will be collecting the best of the online content, and also adding new and exclusive content for the printed version, so there will be some shared content, but also some new content in the print versions.

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Is there an option to subscribe?

There will be this newsletter available for subscription, so that you can get the best of the online content sent to you by email on a regular basis. This will be free.

In terms of a subscription for issues of the magazine, this is an option for the future, but won’t be available on launch, as the issues will not be released on enough of a regular basis to justify charging a subscription fee.

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Are you looking for investors?

Not at the moment, no. We are interested to hear from advertisers, especially those who are relevant to the needs of lesbians, but in terms of investing, that’s not something we are looking at right now.

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How can I submit work to the magazine?

You can submit work here. Please make sure that you read all the submission terms before you do, because they are very important.

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Do I have to be a lesbian to read the magazine?

No, but if you are not a lesbian, then you may be surprised by what you find. The public perception of lesbians seems to fit into three categories.

We are either hypersexual girls with very long acrylic nails and Cilla Blackesque foghorn vocals in the bedroom, dangerous and devious clones of Joan Ferguson from Prisoner Cell Block H or we are chaste woodnymphs who spend all day crocheting and watching Adventure Time.

You probably won’t see any of this here (well, there MIGHT be some rambles about Prisoner Cell Block H from me, because it’s my comfort show, but that’s it), and you will have the opportunity to learn more about our community, our culture and our perspective.

By all means, read on, but please leave your preconceived perceptions at the door.

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I have a lesbian project or event that I’d like you to cover, can you do that?

Absolutely. Send me an email here, and we can discuss your ideas for a piece about it. There is no charge for this.

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I hope that this answers some of your questions. If you have any more, please get in touch.

Sincerely,

Jennifer x