Kickstarter

So, what do you think?
Most of our Kickstarter supporters have received their first issue of Middlewest already. Those who haven't fall into two camps: A. Those that never gave us your address (it's not too late!) and B. Those who live outside the U.S. (see note below).

For all the rest of you...what do you think? We welcome your feedback via email (middlewesteditions@gmail.com), our website (www.middlewestmag.com), on Facebook (/middlewesteditions), Twitter (@middlewestmag) and Instagram (@middlewestmag). Feedback we especially love: Photos of the recipes you have cooked.

(Of course, we like constructive criticism, too...)

About those international ordersMan, those were a hassle. After getting about 100 different quotes from the United States Postal Service, all international orders finally got sent off today. We apologize profusely for the delay our international supporters are experiencing; we really do appreciate you. If you don't receive your Middlewest in the next 10 days, let us know and we will track it for you.

A note about our website
Did you know we have one? It's www.middlewestmag.com, and we'll be updating it soon with exciting news about stores around the country that are carrying Middlewest. You can also buy extra copies of Middlewest--and the Middlewest Tote--on the site. 

Thanks!
As always, thank you for supporting us.

Hello everybody! It's an exciting week at Middlewest because this is the week we put the issues in the mail.

Of course, in order for us to send you your copy, we need to have your address. Most of you have already filled out the surveys we sent out, but if you haven't, please do that as soon as you can--and thanks!

We also have some other news: We have quietly launched our website. Spoiler alert: The website features photos of the first issue. If you want to be surprised, don't visit it! If you want a little preview, though--or if you want to buy an issue for a friend--visit us at www.middlewestmag.com.

Thank you all for your enormous support and, even more important, your incredible patience. The best part is coming soon!

Hello lovely Kickstarter supporters. Sorry we've been so quiet. We've been busy making strawberry-basil icebox cake (see the photo below).

Well, that's one thing we've been doing. There have been several other items we've had to check off our list in order to get the first issue of Middlewest to the printer. But last week, we did indeed send it off, which was a huge, exciting relief.

Color-proofing happens next week, and then there's no going back: 1000 copies of Middlewest will be shipped to Chicago in 3-4 weeks. And then we'll furiously package them and send them to you.

You may have noticed that we haven't sent out the survey asking for your address yet. That's because we want to send it out as close as possible to the day we put Middlewest in the mail (this way, we get everybody's most up-to-date address). You should get the survey late this month or in very early March.

Okay? Okay. We're very excited to show you what we've done. Thank you for hanging in there with us.

MW

Thank you.
Last week our Kickstarter campaign ended, and even though we saw our numbers grow every day of the campaign, we still couldn't believe where we ended up. We raised roughly 300% of our $9000 goal. But more important, we attracted almost 700 backers. That's a lot of people for a magazine that was initially going to have a print run of 100. (Note to anybody thinking about starting a magazine: No printer will do a run of only 100. Unless that printer is Kinko's.) We are so grateful to all of our backers, and we're excited to get Middlewest into your hands.

What's next.
We are in the final week of cooking, writing and photographing. Next week we go to design, and then it's off to our printers in Hong Kong. The Chinese New Year has created a small glitch for us and pushed us back a couple weeks, which means the first issue won't go out until March. But we've retooled all the content so that every recipe is a spring (not winter) recipe.  

In a week or so you'll get a survey from us. That's when we'll ask what address you want your issues, tote bags, etc, sent to. It will be a quick and easy survey, and we hope you fill it out right away, because we can't send you anything unless we have your address, and we really want to send you stuff.

If you have any questions for us in the meantime, send us a note via Kickstarter, or email us at middlewesteditions@gmail.com. (A message via Kickstarter will get to us faster.)

Thank you again, and here's a photo of a bundle of thyme.

xoxo

MW

Hi everybody.

Many of you have asked about giving Middlewest as a holiday gift, and wondered if we could provide something official that the recipient could "open." The answer is: Yes, we can!

Erica has whipped up a "card" of sorts. (It's actually more like a card insert, but who's counting?) You can see what it looks like below.

If you'd like a PDF of this "card" emailed to you, shoot us a message at MiddlewestEditions@GMail.com, and we'll send it your way. All you have to do then is print it out and slip it into an envelope.

If you want to buy additional copies or subscriptions of Middlewest to give as gifts, there's still time to change your pledge/reward. Our "double pack" options allow you to buy two copies or subscriptions, each of which can be sent to different addresses. Need more than two copies? Shoot us a message and we'll work it out.

We hope the holiday season is being good to you, and we thank you again for being so supportive.

MW