We're Back! Issue 06 and moving forward

First things first–go read Issue 06! It’s great and everyone worked really hard on it.

But I wanted to use this chance to explain our unannounced hiatus, what we learned during it, and what’s next for CCM. (Spoiler: submissions will be opening for everyone!)

Picture this: it’s summer. We’ve finished review, finalized our selections, and drafted emails to submitters. Then, in the span of 24 hours, we lose access to our web hosting services in a messy falling out–there’s barely enough time to back up our files, much less send out an announcement. Bonus: we’re told we can’t even have our domain name back for at least another month.

So, what to do with the new time?

I’ve always wanted CCM to have a web developer–a real one. I was the one who’d developed the first few iterations of our website, but I was painfully aware of my own cluelessness. I’d navigate the jungle of redundant code every issue cycle and get frustrated at how little I knew.

A forced month offline seemed like the perfect time to learn. I’d rebuild the website, we’d publish once we got our domain name back, and the hiccup in our timeline would be so small it’d hardly even be noticeable.

Anyways, it took several months. I had so much to learn it made my head spin. I still have a lot to learn. But I feel more confident in CCM’s longevity and stability than I have since we launched, and this newfound agency has made it easier for us to do some organizational soul searching. It also enabled me to set up a blog that isn’t on Tumblr (big win).

We decided that in the spirit of growth, we will open CCM to everyone everwhere. Issue 07 will be our first ever issue open to students and non-students alike. Staff applications will also be accessible to the public.

There’ve been other ideas floating around too–special mini-zines, a monthly book club, merch, virtual workshops–and we hope you’ll stick around to watch that come to fruition.

Thanks for coming out again! We’re grateful for your support and patience.