I phoned the nice folks at Mary Engelbreit Home Companion today to ask about their advertising rates for my store. The sweet lady at the other end of the line sadly told me that the magazine has just decided to cease publication and a majority of the staff was laid off last Friday with no previous notice. The publisher decided that the economy was too bad and they should shut it down. The lady in the advertising department was perplexed because she has had unprecedented inquiries from people wanting to advertise.
I don't know if I can express just how sad this makes me. Mary's magazine is the best publication for showcasing creativity and ingenuity that I've ever read. I would pinch pennies and skip many meals before I would stop buying it. This also means that there are many disappointed artists who have put an amazing amount of work into preparing something for the magazine only to find out they will not have the opportunity to be published (they shoot the article a year in advance).
I know the economy is not great right now but I think that's all the more reason to have beautiful, inexpensive (cheaper than a book and just as rich) magazines to show us how to create things on our own. We've had to tighten our already tight belts here at our place but I still want to be inspired, encouraged, and impressed by the creativity of others (maybe even more so now!) who are willing to show us how it's done. I'm going to be calling Mr. Pagliaro (and emailing and anything else I can do to get his attention) to ask him to re-think this decision. What a sad thing this is for the creative community.
Thank you Mary for the endless hours I have spent enthralled, inspired and delighted by your beautiful magazine.
I just received a comment from a reader (thank you Sherri!) with a link to this press release. Apparently they are (as of today) looking for a new publisher. All hope is not lost!
