New Year, New Rules

Happy birthday to Gayly Dreadful. As of today it's one year old!

Ch-ch-ch-changes are in store. And no, this isn’t the moment I announce that I’ll be reviewing cock cakes from now on.

I started Gayly Dreadful as a creative outlet. In the past, I’ve written for a couple sites that have since gone the way of most things on the Internet. Some articles I was really proud of, like an interview I did with The Longest Journey creator Ragnar Tørnquist. It was before The Secret World came out and we talked about that and what was in store for The Longest Journey in the future. Stuff like that? Mostly gone. I just wanted a place where I could control my writing.

But then you wonderful people came along.

When I took my first tentative step into Film and Horror Twitter last July, I was nervous. I didn’t know if anyone would respond or would be interested in what I had to say. Instead, I’ve met some of the most wonderful people. People like Jessica Good whose art has basically given Gayly Dreadful its creative soul. Jerry Smith, who helped me tremendously get my foot in the door and is a constant source of inspiration. Ashlee Blackwell whose site I read before I even knew what Gayly Dreadful would be.

Rob Dean who not only surprised me with the best birthday present but has given me help behind the scenes and is just an awesome person. Michele Eggen and Michelle Swope and Meagan Navarro who have all helped me and are just amazing. People I look up to like Phil Nobile Jr. and Brad Miska and Andrea Subissati and Alexandra West.

People like the PR peeps at IFC Midnight, who emailed me out of the blue and gave me my first screener. The folk at Ghastly Grinning (Ryan, in particular). People like Kill by Kill Podcast who let me ramble on their show about Freddy’s Revenge. Like Joe and Trace, who not only supported me publicly, but also behind the scenes. Bloody-Disgusting and the wonderful people there. My mutant fam from The Last Drive-In. Everyone who helped me during Pride Month. Too many to name and I'm sorry I can't include everyone.

This last month has helped me realize something. I love promoting LGBTQ+ voices and I want to continue to do so. So, as I said in my Tweet:

New Year, New Rules.

From the start, I’ve said that Gayly Dreadful is not-for-profit. No ads. No monetization. I don’t make a cent from it and that’s okay. The negative side is that I have no money to pay contributors. That old adage of “don’t work for exposure” is absolutely true. A lot of my friends here do freelance work to pay the bills. And I would absolutely recommend pitching articles to sites that pay.

That said, I would love to continue to host the work of LGBTQ+ voices. Not everyone has the time or money to create and maintain their own site. And I want the adage in my Twitter bio to be true: Your one stop shop for all things gay and dreadful and sometimes gayly dreadful. I use that to be punny and not to be exclusive. So, if you are a good writer, belong to the LGBTQ+ community and have something you’d like me to host, now’s the time. You’d own your article and be able to use it as you seem fit.

If that interests you, use this form.

Right now I can’t offer any compensation outside of the bad word “exposure.” And I hope you’ll understand.

Today marks the start of the second year of Gayly Dreadful and I’m hoping it will be even better than the first year. I want to thank every single one of you for your help, support, counsel and, most importantly, your friendship. As a gay person, it’s said we get to choose our family. And I’m proud to call you all my family.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.