“What’s Been Going On At Modern Ferret?”
On September 10, 2001, things were looking very good for Modern Ferret. We were working on or close to schedule; best-selling author Tama Janowitz was excited to plug the magazine everywhere she went; we had sent out piles of publicity letters to all sorts of venues, hyping fashion designer Todd Oldham’s photos of Ms. Janowitz on our cover and centerfold. We had just created an excellent new product (the Security Cube) that ferrets love and that may actually help to reduce stress. We were feeling good. Hopeful.Then came September 11. It was a bad day all around. The events of September 11 made a mess of things for us in several ways:
1. 9-11 was emotionally upsetting and psychologically destabilizing (as it was for so many of us).
2. 9-11 changed the face of the economy, and, more specifically, the magazine industry. Big name magazines like Talk have folded in the wake of 9-11. This has changed the way every aspect of the magazine industry functions. Even little old Modern Ferret. Our printer called our credit line and refused to do any further work for us without being paid all back bills. Their reasoning: “The economy is bad.” We had no contingency plan for such an event, and we were selling virtually nothing as a result of 9-11. We have had to regroup and come up with a new plan.
3. All the publicity we had planned -- and that Tama Janowitz had gladly agreed to do for us -- came to very little. As a news reporter had pointed out a few days after 9-11: “There aren’t going to be any soft interviews for a long time.” Issue #31 came out a little later than scheduled (as a result of delays created by our printer) and, thus, landed out in the world only a very short time (days? a week or so?) before the terrorists attacked. This issue that we had so hoped would help us gain new subscribers (and revenue) was swamped by the terrible events of 9-11.
4. We had to delay sending out our renewal mailing, which would have been mailed on or about September 13. We waited two weeks, but still got a very poor response -- people were sending money to the victims of the WTC attacks. A lot of people had more important things on their minds than magazine subscriptions.
5. Both Eric and I were ill during the last few months. Although the problems predate 9-11, the terrorist attacks certainly made things worse.
Eric had an abscess that resulted from his Crohn’s disease. He spent 10 days in the hospital and had to have a drain in place for a couple of weeks to be sure to remove all the infection. He had spent a couple of months not realizing that he had an abscess, as the symptoms were attributed to the Crohn’s disease. When he reached a point where medications were not helping and he was having terrible fevers, he was admitted to the hospital for tests. He is recovering well, but the infection took a powerful toll on his health and on his morale. He still has a lot of resting up to do before he’s 100% again.
I had been feeling a little low earlier this year (maybe it was my birthday in August). Despite the very promising future of Issue #31 and the excitement of having developed a friendship with Tama Janowitz, I didn’t feel quite as good as I ought to have felt. After 9-11, I began a steep decline that was made worse by the situation with our printer as well as some tragedies suffered by friends and family (a friend’s daughter died and my aunt and uncle were seriously injured in a house fire). In December, after several months of being virtually unable to work, I was diagnosed with major depression. Since then, I have been taking medication, which is helping me to get back to my old self.
What all this adds up to is that Issue #32 of Modern Ferret is very late. We had nearly finished Issue #32 when the world fell apart. Since then, We have located a new printer and will be going ahead with Issue #32 very soon. We are also finally finishing up the Litter Box Training Manual.
Basically, we are re-launching Modern Ferret. It is difficult, but we’ve done it before. Eric and I are totally committed to continuing with the magazine. As we’ve overcome obstacles in the past, so shall we continue to do so. There are some changes that may come about in the coming few months. I’m planning to get a job outside of Modern Ferret to give the magazine the opportunity to regain some financial health. This could mean that issues in the near future are a little late or that they are done completely by Eric by himself. We see these changes as necessary so that we can continue to publish Modern Ferret and bring you, our readers, the best, and most accurate ferret information available.
If you’re wondering if there’s any way you can help, there is. You can be patient with us (as you have already been). You can take a look around on the Ferret Trading Post, the Modern Ferret Store, or the Ferret Designs web sites and make a purchase. We have many great items (including the new Security Cube) that you and/or your ferrets will enjoy. Or you can just send me an e-mail (mary@modernferret.com) and say, “Hi.” I do read all my e-mail, even if I can’t answer every one.
Thanks for reading.
