Letters from the new Publisher Nicola Burnell & former Publisher Gillian Drake
Letter from the new Publisher, Nicola Burnell
When Gillian Drake asked me to take over the publication of this magazine I was excited by the challenge of growing into my new role. I was also daunted by the sense of responsibility that accompanied my decision to accept her generous gift.
It is my goal to continue the vision that Gillian developed when she published the first issue of Cape Women magazine, in the Fall of 1998, to feature “talented, creative women, some professional writers, some novices, but each with something to say…”
When I teamed up with Gillian to launch Cape Women as an online magazine, in 2008, I committed myself to a project that has now become my passion. CapeWomenOnline reflects the real lives of Cape Women. This magazine is a venue for you to share your stories and to network with one another.
Recognizing that the internet is the way of the future in publication, the format of the magazine has been redesigned so you can now read the articles on your cell phones, iPhones and Blackberries.
You’ll notice some of the pages from previous issues have been combined into new sections: Health & Body/Mind/Spirit is now Holistic Health, and Relationships & Family is now Life Stories. A new Community Action section has also been created to answer your concerns about how you can get involved in your community.
The Resources page now includes links to ongoing Events and Classes, and a Women’s Support Network page. Please visit these pages regularly and email us with events or classes you would like us to add.
We have also created a Feedback page for you to offer your thoughts and suggestions for future issues.
In response to your valuable feedback, we are in the process of creating printer-friendly pages so you can keep your favorite articles at hand, even when you can’t be online. Until we complete this process, select the ‘Shrink To Fit Page Width’ on your Page Setup options before printing.
I am eternally grateful to my new Editor, Katie O’Sullivan, for accepting her new position, and to Jane Schaller, whose technical skills and creative vision make this magazine possible.
I express my deepest thanks to Gillian for trusting me with the future of CapeWomenOnline, and to all the writers and artists who have so generously contributed to this magazine. It is your willingness to lend your voices that enables us to create this forum and to constantly address the issues we face together. Please take a moment to review the content in each section. It is my hope that you will not only be amused, inspired and educated, you may also be surprised.
Nicola Burnell, Publisher
Letter from the former Publisher, Gillian Drake
The idea for CapeWomen magazine started back in 1997 with P’town Girl! magazine. I was living in Provincetown at the time and it seemed like a natural thing to do, to publish a magazine about the women of that extraordinary town at the tip of Cape Cod. The next year, I moved to North Eastham so my daughter could attend Nauset High School, and the idea of starting CapeWomen took on a whole new reality.
The first issue was published in the summer of 1998, but I decided to give both magazines the more decorous “women” title. "Girl" worked for P’town somehow—at that time, phrases such as “You go Girl!” were in vogue—but it didn’t seem quite right for the Cape at large.
I put a classified ad in the Cape Codder looking for contributors to the new Cape Women magazine and was rather shocked to receive over 100 replies. I realized I had hit on something. Women needed a place to express themselves, and a way of being inspired by and to connect with other women.
I met women from all over the Cape, all of them creative women with something to say. Many of them have become my closest friends. They all are passionate about what they do and live their lives with great energy and inspiration. Some of them are now contributing to the online version of CapeWomen, still committed, still expressing themselves with passion. Nicola Burnell is one of these women.
I first came across Nicola when I read an article she had written in Spirit of Change magazine, way before CapeWomen was on the horizon, and I recognized her as a kindred spirit. As a creative soul, a healer, and a single mother, she has committed herself to living an authentic life here on Cape Cod.
It was because of her that CapeWomen was revived as an on-line magazine. I had ceased publishing CapeWomen five years earlier because, frankly, I had to focus on projects that would provide me with more of an income—and less stress. I was thrilled when I realized that Nickey would be the perfect person to partner with to revive CapeWomen.
We spent 2008 planning the new website, and published four issues together. Now, however, I have found that my other plans, including a new web site for artists, www.CapeCodArtistsRegistry.com, as well as a desire to return to studying art, do not leave me enough time to focus my full attention on CapeWomen Online, which it well deserves.
And so, I feel it is time to hand it over to Nicola. I do this knowing that in her very capable hands CapeWomenOnline will flourish and continue to give the women of Cape Cod an opportunity to express themselves and to be inspired by other creative, caring and passionate women.
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