Dear the Jist Contributors,
I'm sending this message to previous contributors of the Jist (art and philosophy magazine from last year, here is the [link] if you don't remember) because I wanted to touch base with you guys and let you know the future of the project.

As you may have noticed, there hasn't been any updates to the site or issues released in the past couple of months due to time restrictions (college is very demanding). I regret this deeply because the magazine was really starting to pick up ground - not only online but also within ohio where the printed version was distributed. With the new year approaching, I would like to rekindle the project and bring it back better than ever. I have some goals that I'd like to go over:

Increase Distribution
There was 8 issues of the Jist in the past year, each with about 500 copies printed; for a small zine, I would say that this is a great accomplishment. However, I think that if we increase the size of the magazine to that of a normal magazine and release 4 to 5 issues a year, we could triple the number in circulation without an increase in cost.

Quality and Quantity
The artwork featured in the Jist was really phenomenal. I'm really proud of the people who contributed - I loved to see the look on peoples faces as they flipped through the pages - looking at your art. However, I think that it was really lacking on the writing side. I'm actively working on finding serious writers to tackle this problem. I also think that the overall brand of the Jist could be improved; I have a new website in the works for the site as well as fresh ideas for the print version.

Community
One of the original goals for the jist was to create a community where artists are writers could inspire and be inspired. This is why I would like to create an exclusive site for any contributor to create a portfolio, blog, and even sell products.

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New Issue
For the new issue I would like to take the best of the last year's content as well as some new stuff and put out an awesome issue. I would really like to hear from you guys; just let me know if your interested in me continuing with this project. Any tips or ideas would also be appreciated.



Thanks for you time!
Mason Balisteri
[link] the jist website
Balistreri@gmail.com