A lot of cool things have been happening since we launched three weeks ago. Also, a lot of very cool things are coming up!

 

After spending weeks building the website without sleep, both John & I have found it a bit difficult to get back into the sleeping rhythm. It’s not like either of us slept before we took on this project anyway, but at least now we have something to blame it on. I’m mentioning being tired upfront in case my blog today gets all rambling and goofy or sounds serious like a…serious thing. Ugh! See what I mean?

 

After much work and pounding on a piece of open source software until it resembled chicken fried steak, John Turi, our beloved publisher and web designer, managed to finish the community profile and pages application because he totally rocks like argyle socks. Please check it out! Now you can make friends, post comments on their guest board, load pictures and the like. Think of it as social networking without the “What Kind of Pigmy Goat are You?” stuff.

 

Our Book Store section is finished and works quite well. If you see a writer you like you can now go to the “Book Store” and click to purchase their book. It’s all wonderfully easy and benefits both the artist and our website, which we lovingly provide for you because we’re all totally super-cool like that. And when I say super-cool I don’t mean angel dust laced cigarettes circa 1982 barrio So Cal. I mean super-cool like when your mom finds out you’re broke and sends you a check to help get you over or when three out of four places you submitted to not only wants your work but the fourth is dedicating their new issue just to you! Yes, we are that super-cool. Sleep…Sleep…Sleeeeeeeeep.

 

On the coming up front, October’s issue will feature the rest of the Charles Evered interview (with a very nice show of professionalism on the part of the ConPress staff…wait for it, wait for it…), Nickole Brown will be editing the Feature Guest Editor: Poetry column, and in addition to the outstanding contributions we’ve received from artists all around the country, we’ve got a bunch of new announcements about all the killer staff who’ve joined us. Additionally, we’ve got new categories springing up. In the October issue we’ll have book reviews, a craft column that will contain compelling essays on the craft of writing, music, and all the various arts, and a music column showcasing local talent from around the country.

 

We’ve had a few hiccups from the host site we use and this caused us to be a bit slow for a couple of days, but big John T screamed at them until they realized they messed up and fixed it. However, we’re currently implementing changes that will ensure we never have host related issues of this type again.

John, myself, and the whole staff hope you’ve enjoyed the first issue and we hope you’ll come back frequently to see what’s up. We will launch each new issue on the first of the month, but we’ll be posting great art throughout the month so come back often and check it out. THANK YOU ALL for the support and kindness, for all the great comments, and for checking out the talented artists we’re so fortunate to publish.

 

Connotation Press: The Bear Went Over the Mountain. The Bear Went Over…