Here’s a secret: When we relaunched Dismantle Magazine in September 2018, we didn’t know the full scope of what we were getting in to. Luckily, that turned out to be a good thing. If we’d been fully aware of the countless hours of emotional and intellectual labor we’d be putting into this project, we might not have made it here today—celebrating our fifth birthday!
A few years before the relaunch, we started our own fashion blog, in order to write the kinds of essays about clothes, culture and power that we wanted to read. The purpose of the relaunch was to build a full-fledged magazine from that foundation. We wanted to expand our pool of writers, publish on a regular schedule, and update our social media presence to reach new audiences.
Slowly but surely, we achieved these goals—and ended up doing so much more! Over the last five years, we have carved a path into new internet publishing territory, figuring out how to raise money, help new readers discover what we were doing, and most importantly, compensate writers for their extraordinary work.
We certainly hit a few bumps along the way, but we stuck with it. From COVID to website crashes to bots trying to invade our social media, we’ve seen it all.
Today, we’re excited to say that we’ve been running this full-fledged, grassroots, reader-supported web journal for five years. Along the way, Dismantle has become a community. It’s given us a space to work with more than 75 writers on over 200 articles. We’ve connected with readers who share our belief that writing and art can be forces for positive social change. And there’s so much more to come!
Over the next month we’ll be looking back to celebrate where we’ve been, and looking forward to a new era. Stay tuned. We’re dying to tell you what we’ve got brewing for the coming year. For now you’ll have to trust us. It’s big. It’s exciting. You won’t want to miss it!
Thanks so much for being with us on this five-year journey, and especially to our Patreon supporters for helping us thrive along the way.
Sara and Elise
P.S. Want to spend a week writing, doing yoga, and eating amazing food with the Dismantle co-founders and some brilliant collaborators? We’re finalizing the details on a writing and yoga retreat to take place in Merida, Mexico February 11-17. Save the date and don’t hesitate to reach out for more info at sara or elise @dismantlewriting.com!
