First, a Few Announcements

• We’re having a subscriber giveaway this Friday! If you’re a paid subscriber, look for an email this Friday (the reminder invite for our release party on March 27). Be the first to respond, and you’ll get two tickets to EXPOSED Storytelling on March 26. That’s two free shows in one week for being a subscriber!

• Our latest Readers’ Choice Design Awards are now live! Click here to vote for the next winner. Which graphic designer did the best job?

It’s Not Every Day You Get Your Name in the Paper

If Baudelaire was right and boredom is the root of all evil, I can count myself untempted. My brain is tired and webby. Another issue has been sent to the printer for final checks, and by now I’m used to this cycle of doubt, exhaustion, euphoria, and arrogance. Today I’m at stage II, but a couple of weeks ago as the war reared up and the economy took yet another dip, I found myself once again fretting over the mag.

This is the first business I’ve ever run, but I’d imagine this is how it goes for most people. You grind it out, work yourself half to death, endure mishaps, but then you’ll experience some boon, manna from heaven. And it comes in a similar cycle, feast and famine, you’re hot, then you’re not. You can get bitter about it, but if the fun never stopped, things would get, well, boring.

Last Sunday, I woke up to find that we had gotten 25 new subscribers, all over the course of a few hours that morning. After two relatively dry weeks, they were pouring in. Turns out, we got some pretty powerful press, and in good old print no less. That’s right. Denverse was in the Sunday paper!

“The magazine deserves every member of its fast-growing audience, particularly as news media retreats from arts and culture journalism, and working artists and creatives are priced out of every aspect of their practice,” writes Denver Post journalist John Wenzel, a celebrated pen in the scene who has previously published in Esquire, The Atlantic and Rolling Stone. “With its wry cartoons, poetry and art, it comes off like a Colorado version of The New Yorker,” he later notes.

It’s incredibly high praise, of course–scary at the same time because it’s something we’ll have to keep earning. The New Yorker is a pretty high bar, especially for our ragtag team. All of us, including yours truly, still have full-time day jobs, but that’s always been our advantage. This endeavor is entirely self-funded, and none of us are rich, which, as it turns out, is a great asset. If you have no benefactors, funders, etc., you can be independent. And if you’re not rich, the business has to basically work from the get-go. You don’t have much latitude for working in the red, so you have to design something that won’t put you there.

I’m happy to report that we’re still breaking even two years in, which is extremely rare for a bootstrap business, much less independent media these days, and our audience continues to grow rapidly (thank you!). Of course, it’ll be from peak to valley, but I know the ride well enough now, and I enjoy it! It’s a great privilege to do something that will always challenge you. How many of us have worked jobs that turn us into vegetables after just six months? There’s certainly no danger of that in Denverse, let me tell you.

Keep up the good fight, everybody. Do your own thing and love it. And thanks to all of our readers for your support! Read your local paper and the independent press. It’s more important than ever to know who’s writing what you’re reading. Oh, and we’ve got a new issue coming out next Friday, I should say! We hope you enjoy it. Come party with us, subscribers! :)

Till next time,

Paul M. French, Editor

See the brackets below and help us vote for this season’s winner! Voting will end on Dec. 23. From there, we will announce the finalists.

The winner will receive a custom engraved plaque, along with a permanent place on our website!

Bracket #1

RPM Agency

Central Denver Eye Care

UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art

Petals & Pages

NKollectiv

Art From Ashes

Bracket #2

Simple Steps, Better Air

Denver Screen Print & Embroidery

Sie Film Center

Colfax Ave

Bracket #3

The Roots Collective

Family Dentistry at City Park

The Future Lies

Native Roots

Nocturne Jazz

Denver Art Museum

Lighthouse Writers

Exposed Storytelling

We’re giving away a $75 gift card and some cool sticky notes from Boulder Bookstore to the first subscriber who responds with BOOKS to this email.

Thanks for reading! And stay tuned for our next exclusive event!

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Attendees will not only get the chance to make their…

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Just a reminder that our release party is tonight! If you haven’t already RSVP’d, just click here or the picture below. See you there!

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1. Denver Screen Print & Embroidery

2. City Records

3. Hooked on Colfax

4. Lighthouse Writers

5. Native Roots

Every season, we celebrate the art of graphic design. We’re taking your votes on the best concepts from our most recent issue. The winner will receive a custom plaque and a permanent place in our hall of fame.

Vote now! Click here to review the contestants and choose our finalists.

And Check Out This Upcoming Event From Our Sponsor, with Denverse Contributor Sammy Anzer!

Art from Ashes empowers struggling youth by providing creative programs that facilitate health and hope through expression, connection, and transformation. Since 2003, Art from Ashes has partnered with more than 200 youth serving organizations to empower 19,000 young people through poetry, spoken word, and art. On October 15th at 6:30pm, join us at The Flamboyán at The Three Leeches Theater for a stand-up comedy and poetry event, hosted by Art from Ashes board member and nationally-touring comedian Sammy Anzer. Tickets are available at bit.ly/StandUpAfA. All proceeds from the event and silent auction help keep AfA’s life-changing programs free for youth! For more information, visit artfromashes.org.

Just a reminder that you’re invited to our event this Friday, Sept. 26. Prepare for a wonderful free show with comedian C Brennan and the band Bailey Elora! We’ll also be having free drinks courtesy of Ratio Beerworks! Be sure to support the local brand! Tell them you appreciate them!

Click here or the picture below to RSVP for you and an…

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See the brackets below and help us vote for this season’s winner! Voting will end on Sept. 23. From there, we’ll announce the finalists.

The winner will receive a custom engraved plaque, along with a permanent linked spot on our website.

Bracket #1

1. Denver Screen Print & Embroidery

2. Denver Art Museum

3. Nocturne

4. Central Denver Eye Care

5. Art from Ashes

Bracket #2

1. Simple Steps. Better Air.

2. City Records

3. Laws Whiskey

4. Global Arts Press

5. UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art

Bracket #3

1. Petals & Pages

2. Another Gallery

3. Hooked on Colfax

4. EXPOSED Storytelling

5. Preston & James

Bracket #4

1. Lighthouse Writers Workshop

2. The Roots Collective

3. RPM Agency

4. Native Roots

Fantastic local band Bailey Elora will be performing an exclusive set, and comedian C Brennan will put a smile on your face! Enjoy a night that celebrates community, local publishing…

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Just a reminder that we have a subscriber-only event this Thursday at 7pm at Petals & Pages Bookstore with Meca’Ayo and Becca Downs! Many of you have signed up to read as well! In fact, we’re full-up on readers at this time (attendees are still welcome to RSVP). If you still want to read, you can still opt in on the RSVP, but we’ll have t…

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It’s giveaway time! We’re offering two pairs of FREE tickets to the Broadway Halloween Bar Crawl on October 10! Respond to this email with “YES” right now! If you’re one of the first two to respond, you win!

If you don’t win, not to worry. You still get a subscriber perk if you want to go. They were kind enough to give our readers an excl…

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We’d like to extend a hearty invitation to you and a +1 to attend an exclusive reading at Petals & Pages on August 28 at 7pm, just for Denverse subscribers! This reading will feature the wonderful local poets Meca’Ayo and Becca Downs AND the opportunity for you, yes, you, to read your own work!

Spots for additional readers are limited (fi…

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Our summer issue release party is scheduled for this Friday, and we’ve got a bunch of fantastic new announcements for everyone! Make sure to RSVP by clicking the link below for the free show at 7:30pm at Lighthouse Writers.

RSVP

Free T-Shirts!

Thanks to the wonderful folks at Denver Screen Print & Embroidery, we’ll be able to provide FREE …

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1. Denver Art Museum

2. City Records

3. Afterglow Vintage

4. Sie Film Center

5. Denver Fringe Festival

We were trying out a new RSVP widget on our site (which apparently turned into a pumpkin after working fine last night).

We reinstalled our original tool, so you should now be able to RSVP to the summer release party on June 27 by clicking here or the picture below. Thanks for your patience! See you soon!

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It’s time for our summer release party! We’ve got an amazing free show planned at Lighthouse Writers on Friday, June 27, 7:30pm.

Prepare for

• A free show by Flyin’ Hot Saucers

• Comedy by Mary Alice Howser

• Free drinks

• Free stickers

• And more!

Click the picture below to RSVP for you and a +1. Spread the word about our free events and perks! Every…

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See the brackets below and help us vote for this season’s winner! Voting will end on June 20. From there, we will announce the finalists.

The winner will receive a custom engraved plaque, along with a permanent spot on our website. See last year’s winner here.

1. Central Denver Eye Care

2. Denver Art Museum

3. Nocturne

4. Leevers Locavore

5. City Records

1. Afterglow Vintage

2. Little Black Church Tattoos & Drop to Pop Records & Curio

3. RISE Comedy

4. Green Door

5. The Roots Collective

1. Art From Ashes

2. Another Gallery

3. Community College of Aurora

4. RPM Agency

5. That’s Kava

1. The Future Lies by Global Arts Press

2. Sunnyside Accounting

3. Lighthouse Writers

4. Sie Film Center

5. Denver Fringe Festival

It’s time for another free event from Denverse! Tomorrow evening at Ratio Beerworks, Overland, The Tammy Shine will be performing for our subscribers at 6:30pm! The show is completely free. Bring a friend and join us. Click here or the picture below to RSVP.

Also, if you’re part of the workshop (fully booked), be sure to arrive promptly a…

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The Tammy Shine (a solo act by Tammy Ealom, songwriter and singer from Dressy Bessy) will be playing at Ratio Beerworks, Overland, at 6:30pm on Saturday, May 31.

Bring a friend and enjoy some tunes and great company this weekend.

RSVP by clicking the picture…

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