Most recently, Quail Bell Magazine has had two books published by Belle Isle Books, an imprint of Brandylane Publishers. These books are The Nest: An Anthology of The Unreal and Airborne: An Anthology of The Real, and both are available on BarnesAndNoble.com, Amazon.com, and in brick and mortar retailers.
A few of Quail Bell’s current clients include Z Idea Factory in Arlington, Virginia, environmental activist Brock Evans in Washington, D.C., and Foxhall Design Company in Port Republic, Maryland. Quail Bell Magazine also boasts several partners, such as Luna Luna Magazine, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, and VIDA, a national organization for women in the literary arts.
The Quail Bell story continues everyday on QuailBellMagazine.com and QuailBell.com.
What are some of the logistics involved in running Quail Bell Press & Productions?
Quail Bell Press & Productions is now my full-time gig. It has not always been, however. Since graduating, I have juggled Quail Bell with full-time jobs as an associate producer at a major television station and, more recently, as an assistant editor at a respected regional magazine. In between working at the TV station and the regional magazine, I worked on Quail Bell full-time, but I found that I was still lacking in some key skills—skills the regional magazine especially helped me develop. These jobs mainly helped me build up my business know-how and become more detail-oriented (in regards to marketing and data management in particular), which I needed to better attract Quail Bell clients and manage dealings with them. As my partner Kristen is just graduating from college this May, we have discussed how important it is for her to have a full-time job for at least a year or two, as well. So she will be juggling her job and Quail Bell for some time, too.
Quail Bell does not have a brick and mortar presence. Kristen and I operate out of our home offices and usually meet clients at coffee shops or their own offices. Of course, much of our business can be conduced online and over the phone. That being said, we do host or participate in regular events to promote Quail Bell's original products, such as the magazine and the anthologies. In March, for instance, we tabled at the Virginia Festival of the Book and the Virginia Production Alliance State of the Industry Expo. This month, I screened a Quail Bell original film, A Train Runs Through It, at the New York Transit Museum. (You can now find our anthologies in their gift shop.) At the end of the month, we're tabling at the Brooklyn 'Zine Festival. We enjoy introducing our work to new audiences in person.
We manage each Quail Bell project differently, meaning there's a unique process and budget. A project may be backed by Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, a grant, and/or a percentage of funds we set aside after completing a client project. Kristen and I entered a cooperative publishing agreement with Brandylane Publishing for our anthologies, for instance. Meanwhile, we sell advertising on QuailBellMagazine.com for individual artists, small businesses, non-profits, etc. The magazine website also has a shop. Then, of course, there are client projects, which vary according to what the client wants, their timeline, their budget, etc.
In a typical day, I might update QuailBellMagazine.com, answer client emails, write and send press releases, plan a Quail Bell event, work on a client project, and work on an original Quail Bell project.
Searching for your first full-time job can feel like a futile endeavor. Unemployment makes you vulnerable and it’s easy to jump at anything that bites. When you finally do receive an offer, negotiating for more money can feel out of the question, or may not even cross your mind. But you should absolutely try to negotiate for more money! We decided to break the ice on this taboo topic by reaching out to our readers for some real-world advice. Read on to find out how they approached their salary negotiations, and what the results were!