Hello again,
Welcome to the only thing more overdue than the launch of this magazine, an official update about the progress of Hello Mr.
I think it’s fair to say that I’ve been a pretty busy boy since the Kickstarter campaign ended. More time than I had anticipated was spent establishing this business and navigating key conversations to help it grow. Media opportunities presented themselves along the way, as well as other avenues for increasing the visibility of the brand. The most exciting, perhaps, is the pop-up shop on Sydney’s busy Oxford Street that Hello Mr. has been operating from. A prime opportunity to gain exposure at the center of the famous Sydney Mardi Gras festival, which attracts hundreds of thousands of people around the world to Australia each year to celebrate LGBTQI pride. I’m proud to announce an open house this Thursday evening, February 28, and invite all who will be in Sydney to stop by to have a look at issue 01 in the making.
And oh, what a process it’s been. The launch of the campaign in October was simultaneous with the open call for submissions, and after reviewing over 100,000 words received, I am just weeks away from completing the final edit and design of issue 01, which focuses on themes of growth, challenging tradition, love (and loss), and belonging. 160 pages of stories, essays, interviews, and reflections from a diverse group of contributors, including: Adam Goldman, writer, director, and actor of the web seriesThe Outs, Brisbane-based writer and author Benjamin Law, Brooklyn-based photographer Greg Reynolds, Australian ex-hockey player Gus Johnston, photographer Kevin Truong of The Gay Men Project, NYC blogger Ryan O’Connell, and many others.
I’m telling you, the content in this inaugural issue is seriously brilliant. Whether you’re a man who dates men or not, I hope Hello Mr. will make you laugh out loud, scratch your chin, shed a tear, or maybe even share it with your mom.
For those of you that missed the Kickstarter deadline, the Hello Mr. shop is now live for you to pre-order your copy today! With an expected delivery date of April, it won’t be long until you’ll be thumbing through it yourself. And for the digital enthusiasts out there, an equally engaging iPad version will be available on the iTunes newsstand as early as the end of March.
A long time coming, perhaps, but I promise it will be well worth the wait.
Ryan Fitzgibbon
Well hello there. We are very excited to officially launch the online home of Hello Mr., the long awaited magazine about men who date men.
The goal our website is simply to inform you of the objectives and personality of this new brand. We have decided to refrain from publishing editorial content online to allow for more time to deliver the depth we want to achieve in our bi-annual magazine, and builds a stronger case for its print format. The impermanence of online content means many magazines rely on reporting current news, memes, and celebrity gossip on their homepages in order to maintain an active voice on a daily basis. Hello Mr., however, strives to bring its readers more relevant material by being more reflective than timely. Don’t get us wrong, we absolutely believe that there is a need for that type of consumption in media. In fact, many are the sources that fuel our thinking and give us inspiration to expand on certain themes. We’re just curious about what might be revealed with a little time to process all that’s thrown at us.
We believe that this need for contemplative journalism, in the world of gay media specifically, is an opportunity to engage with a new generation with new interests and new aspirations. What you won’t find here are articles tagged with recycled stock imagery of multicolored flags waving in pride, hand-painted demands for equal rights, or idolized midsections of seemingly flawless men. If that’s your thing, there is a sea of glossy mags filled with those images readily available at your local newsstand. We believe that Hello Mr. can address the need, felt by the modern majority, to rebrand ‘gay’ and move beyond any unrepresentative depictions defined by our past.
We are still in the curation stage of the first issue, a critical process in both senses of the word. In order to achieve the ambitious goals we’ve set for ourselves, it takes a great deal of honesty and a highly selective approach to produce something truly new by today’s editorial standards. The encouraging news is that so many of you are already in full support of this effort—you really get what we’re trying to do. You’ve validated the idea that started over a year ago, and you’ve helped develop it into what it is today. With an anticipated launch of February 2013, only four months remain to get the content just right, to design the page spreads, and to raise the funds to print this handsome product and deliver it to you, our equally attractive readers. And on that note, it won’t be long before the launch of our Kickstarter campaign, so you can anticipate a lot more flattery where that came from in the coming months! So stay tuned gorgeous, you won’t want to miss what’s ahead for Hello Mr.
One last thing before we go: If you found yourself nodding along, or throwing your hands in the air proclaiming ‘finally’ to the heavens above as you read this, chances are you know someone who might also see the possibility in our modest attempts with this magazine. Your support in spreading the word about Hello Mr. would be immensely appreciated.
If you have more questions, please check out our frequently asked questions at the bottom of our website, or email us at info@hellomrmag.com.
Want to propose a written or visual contribution? Fantastic! Send your thoughts and proposals to submissions@hellomrmag.com and we’ll review them and get back with you as soon as we can.
