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AboutThe pink elephant is an online lesbian magazine. Our original intention was to provide informative and relevant articles and links for lesbians of Southern Vancouver Island. The offices of the pinkelephant are located in Victoria BC on Vancouver Island. Sharon King is the owner and editor and is originally from Ontario where she published a "Pink Pathways Business Directory" and also "The Pink Paper". What’s Up at THE PINK ELEPHANTThere have been many changes for us at the pink elephant online magazine. Some of these changes have been positive and some have been cause for sadness.
When I began the pink elephant in 2008 , my purpose was to inform lesbians on Vancouver Island about issues in the wide world that might interest them. The growth of the magazine has been nothing short of amazing! I remember how excited I was when we got 1000 readers in a month!!! Today our stats are showing a steady increase every month …e.g. as I write this on the 9th we have 4500+ UNIQUE READERS …not pages, but 4500+ new computers have come to our magazine THIS MONTH!! These 4500 will not be counted again this month so we will finish the month with at least 15,000 unique readers. I have spent very little time or money to promote the pink elephant in Canada and USA and nothing at all in Europe and Africa, Asia etc. and yet our stats show a huge following beyond North America. There is a need for this type of magazine! Have a look at the stats showing a sampling of worldwide readers at the moment of writing this post: The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia I admit that I have to look at a map to find where some of these places are! …. But some of the changes have been a different kind of challenge. Gillean Chase had been a contributor , reviewer and "serial" novelist since the beginning of our journey. She was also a huge supporter of our objective to give a voice to lesbians who might not have a place to be heard. Gillean passed away last Christmas after a long struggle with cancer. My partner, Marlene Cust, has left the day- to- day functions of the magazine although she continues to "do the books" and occasionally contributes articles that interest her. So that leaves me, Sharon King, now 71 and the sole researcher, editor, photographer, interviewer and…. As a result ,I may have not been able to follow up on your requests to review your new novel, attend the opening of your art show, conduct an interview about your company and so on. It is still my wish to let the "whole world" know how wonderful and capable lesbians continue to be. Send me your artwork for ads that we will happily post for a time at NO COST. Send me a review of your new book/video production or an article with your photography/artwork and continue to send me your tips on current news. The pink elephant is potentially a money- maker but I have not been able to pursue this angle at all. Queer magazines, especially online ezines, tend to have a short lifespan unless they have a lot of staff and funding. Are there any women out there committed to queer, lesbian or feminist publishing , interested in the queer community in general? I am looking for someone to train to eventually take over the magazine. So thank you readers for making this venture an ongoing success!
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