This is our first reflections page where we look back on the previous year at Spellbinder in order to celebrate the achievements of our contributors and staff. Each year we will host an anniversary party where contributors and staff can come together to share their work and meet fellow creatives. This event will include an award ceremony to praise outstanding works within each category.
Spellbinder contributors from 2021 have identified with 17 national identities from 5 continents; some of them have dual nationality. These are British, American, Australian, Canadian, Irish, French, Indian, Belarussian, Chinese, Italian, Yemeni, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Lithuanian, Barbadian, South African, and Danish.
Statistics
ACCURATE FOR THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE 1st OF JANUARY AND MIDNIGHT ON THE 30th OF SEPTEMBER 2021
- Print copies sold: 91
- Website subscriptions paid: 10
- Number of staff members: 11
- Published poems: 38
- Published scripts: 4
- Published nonfiction pieces: 7
- Published fiction pieces: 25
- Published artworks: 23
- Total number of contributors: 93
- Featured contributors: 2 (Paul Lyalls and Tom Bray)
- Other magazines promoted in our promo pages: 11
- Number of website visits: over 3000 sessions from over 70 countries (over 50% coming directly from social media channels)
- Top month for website visits: July 2021 with 622 monthly users
- Most popular pages: submissions guidelines; useful links; home page
- Most popular blog post: Tips from the Editors in collaboration with Exeter Creative Writing Society.
- Most popular blog category: Editor’s Picks.
Timeline
Awards
- Poetry prize: “I See Winter”, Teo Eve. Captures the season of winter in a truly mesmerising and innovative way. Published in our Summer 2021 Issue. Picked by Amber, Editor-in-Chief.
- Drama prize: The Whales, Christopher Woods, stage monologue. Skilful handling of a plot twist with a particularly thoughtful ending. Published in our Summer 2021 Issue. Picked by Amber, Editor-in-Chief.
- Nonfiction prize: Super Powers, Olympe Scherer, creative nonfiction. Published in our Winter 2021 Issue. The author was able to perfectly convey their experience and struggles through this important but fun piece. Picked by Linda, Nonfiction Editor.
- Fiction prize: Dear Mme Lucinda, Joanne Skerrett, short story. Published in our Winter 2021 Issue. Picked by Bruna Gomes and Jessica Belton, Fiction Editors.
- Art prize: ‘Birth in a Pandemic’, Alicia Markey, art. It is a stunning piece of art that also has a deep and emotional meaning behind it. Published in our Winter 2021 Issue. Picked by Catherine Cooper, Art Editor.
What’s next for Spellbinder?
We have been immensely inspired and honoured by the amount of support and enthusiasm we have received in relation to our magazine in the last year. We are only planning to get bigger and better in our second year. As always, diversity and innovation will be at the heart of our approach to expanding the publication. We are keen to be able to publish works from individuals from an even greater range of countries across the globe and also to provide a platform for more emerging writers. Last year saw the creation of our blog, which is an essential part of creating a dialogue with our readers and contributors. To further this, we are planning to launch our new podcast channel before the end of the calendar year. In terms of events, we are hoping to host a workshop for our wonderful artists and also establish an annual Spellbinder writing challenge, as well as collaborate with university groups and other fantastic magazines. Our next social media milestone will be getting 1000 followers on Instagram which we are aiming to achieve very soon. We are so excited to see where the magazine goes next and we cannot wait to share another fun-filled year of events and publications with our committed followers.