I hope to keep this short. There is so much good stuff in this issue, I feel like I’m in the way. So, I will try to keep it brief though I have been known to run on.
The end of 2019 marks the 96th issue of the magazine. I think it’s the 96th, my double issues have skewed my ability to count, or maybe it’s all the issues that have scrambled my brain. I feel like I used to be smarter than I am now. It’s not true, I’m at the same level intellectually but there is so much information that I’ve taken in over the last decade that it’s all scrambled and mushed together. So, it might be the 96th issue, or not, who knows?
So much for not running on.
2020 brings with it a new found enthusiasm from your humble Editor. I’ve come to terms with the fact that my health is suffering. I’ve taken all the necessary steps to make the right appointments to get to the root of what’s going on with my declining health. I’m enthusiastic about the optimism I’ve found. I’m hopeful I’ll get all the right answers and my health is a product of sitting in front of this computer for so long. That will be an easy fix; get up off my backside. I can do that. I hope. The health frustration has absolutely impacted my work. You saw the cover. Unimaginative. Sorry about that. The 95 covers before this one were pretty good though, right? I’m excited to get the health issues out of the way and get back to making more creative choices in the upcoming year.
The content of the magazine hasn’t dipped at all since 2011. I’ve been so fortunate to have made friends with some of the brightest minds in the world of foster care. Those friends have helped create the some of the most impactful articles that foster care has ever read. They told their friends and so on. Soon it was an 80’s shampoo commercial and I had a stable of some of the best foster care has to offer. This Year In Review issue is a testament to that fact.
2019 saw Foster Focus tackle an array of important stories. The opioid crisis, post adoption info, national figures bringing attention to care, loss, celebration, milestones, new federal policies and first hand accounts from care have all graced the pages of the magazine this year.
I’ve compiled the ten best. The best of the columns are also featured. I was astounded at the difficulty in choosing just ten. The Contributors did a tremendous job this year. I’m forever grateful.
I’m happy to close out the decade with renewed enthusiasm and a family of fantastic writers who will help me bring you the best content for the years to come. And I’m happy that you are along for the ride. Thanks so much for being a part of this.
What follows these Editor’s Notes is what I felt was my best column of the year. A column that let me explore what I was feeling about continuing my work. I mention in the piece that my mood could change, I think it has. We might be in the Endgame now, but I’m not ready to stop fighting. Much like Cap, I’m going to tighten the strap on my shield and hunker in for the battles to come. We aren’t done yet.
See you next month.
We Are In the Endgame Now
Dr. Stephen Strange is my favorite of all the Marvel Universe heroes. I know everyone goes with Iron Man, Thor or Captain America, but for me, I’ll take the guy who sees all the angles.
In Infinity War, he goes forward in time in his mind and sees all of the millions of possible outcomes, the Avengers winning in only one.
Much to my delight, they gave my guy Strange the bulk of the good lines in the movie. And the stand out of those lines became the name of the final movie and my mission statement for the next two years: “We’re in the end game now.”.
There’s been no secret of the financial woes that surround running a national magazine, in my case, alone, and all that entails. Entertainment Weekly isn’t going to print weekly anymore…ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY!??? Newsweek stopped printing a few years back. NEWSWEEK!!!! Like Dr. Strange, I like to think I see all the angles. In that vein, last year I saw the writing on the wall and killed year-round print issues. Moving to the all-digital/4 print issue format was smart. Probably saved the magazine. But that doesn’t seem to have alleviated the pressure as much as I’d hope. The first pass went okay. This time around, not so much. The Social Worker and Foster Care month issues are stagnant, waiting for me to find the money that turns them into paper. It’s embarrassing. A smarter person would end the print side all together. Eight years and I still haven’t cracked the code to selling advertising to the foster care industry. Dr. Strange would be able to figure it out, so far, I haven’t.
Still, I walk into Year 9 proud to have made it this far. I also walk in with an end date in mind. The end of Year 10 will likely be my last hurrah. The final issue of Foster Focus Magazine will be published in June of 2021. Ten years feels like a good run of handling a national magazine on my own.
When I started this thing, I didn't think it would last more than a year. When I hit 5 years I felt like a champ. 10 years feels like closure.
It's so much fun running this thing. Growing it. Getting to a place where it was too big for me and then reeling it back in. I love giving people a platform, in front of a broad audience, to express themselves. I like propping up groups, who I feel, deserve national attention for their work. I get a kick out of introducing people who wouldn't otherwise meet and watching them grow partnerships that turn into projects that make a difference. I dig helping kids get adopted and helping new foster parents find answers. I like that former foster kids get first crack at the pages in the mag, ahead of Phd wielding mainstays from foster care. I like watching young advocates turn into seasoned vets in front of my eyes, I love it all.
I don't like what it's done to my health. I had a good shot at winning this fight against my scoliosis before I parked myself in front of this computer for 8 years. Now it's tough to get around and tougher to know that it's tough for me to get around. I think I can still fix that. I don't like struggling to find money for this thing. They said, "If you build it, they will come." I built it. Built it bigger than anyone had before, but the ad money didn't follow. And that's okay. Tough to explain the benefit of advertising to an industry that never felt the need to do it before. I've made enough to get by. Would I be driving a Tesla if I kept may day job? Maybe, but folks seem to like what I've done.
10 years seems like a good round number to have given yourself to a cause. I'd like to watch TV on my couch again. I'd like to not worry about social media or my web presence anymore. I'm sure I'll miss the "good jobs" and "thank yous", but I won't miss my office or deadlines.
Thanks for 8 great years and hopefully, 2 more years that will top those first 8. I'm kind of flighty, so, things could change by 2021. Maybe I cracked the advertising code. Maybe I got a new bionic spine that will help me do this for another 10 years. But most likely, 10 years will be my threshold.
Thank you for believing in my idea. Thanks for supporting it. Thanks to the advertisers I've garnered. Thanks to the subscribers who've treated the magazine like a mainstream media outlet from the beginning. Thanks to all the writers, Columnists and former foster kids who let me amplify their voices over the years. I appreciate you making me a part of your lives.
I am pretty excited to tell you that I’m going to be revamping the look of the magazine. I was so happy when I figured out the look of the magazine you see right now. My hope is I will get that same rush this time around. I need a kick in the tail. I’m as stagnant as the look of the mag. Don’t get me wrong, I still dig it, but I’ve been looking at the same pages for years now. Time to spruce it up. Time to get my blood flowing again.
I’m not bored. I’m living the Groundhog Day kind of life. Unlike Bill Murray, there is no consistent sleep pattern. I look at the same walls. Work the same pages. Call and email the same people. It’s all the same stuff, day in and day out. I have to shake things up. Since my office is EXACTLY how I want it after 8 long years, changing that is out of the question. So, the magazine will serve as the change I need. Going to try to see if I can revamp the whole thing, top to bottom.
That should get the blood flowing again.
I have such love for this thing. The magazine, sure, but all the other stuff that comes with it. After I shine up the product, maybe, just maybe, I will find a way to enjoy every second of what’s left of my time as the Editor of a national magazine about a subject that impacted my life in a way that most Editor’s can’t say the subject they cover has impacted them.
Okay! Enough of the pity party. Enough of the introspection. Enough. Time to get back to what made this thing what it is. Time to get the passion back. Time to get back to what works; head down, hard work.
Enjoy the issue. I’m going to get back to work. I have to. We’re in the end game now.
Owner/Editor - Chris Chmielewski