To Live. To Inspire. - INSPIRE Magazine

I do have some thoughts to share, but maybe another time. Been working on a lot of things on this end. Earlier this week, NING.. the creator and owner of millions of NING Social Networks, including mine will be shutting its doors of its free ad-supported services. Which means... The COOL Social Network will be shut down in about 2 months. So..what's the plan? Well, we been working overtime working on a solution and we found it --- INSPIRE MAGAZINE.

INSPIRE MAGAZINE - will be available in print AND online. We found a publisher. We found a way a way to keep the costs down to only $6 an issue for 20 full-color pages. The plan is to be ready for launch by July. Which means, everything on our end needs to be ready by the end of May. And by the look of things, we will be on schedule.

REASONS -

1. A new way of presenting our art and photography
2. The reading Black community is REALLLLY lacking. Personally, I'm tired of going to the bookstore, walking to the "African-American" section and seeing nothing but the typical "Black love stories". I wanna read something refreshing.
3. Bring other like-minded writers together, network, come together...
4. To showcase upcoming talent. Up-and-coming artists, published writers, businesses.

SUBMISSIONS -

We are looking for submissions.. poetry, blog entries, short stories...anything interesting. Chosen works will be of course credited to you. You will still have your copyrights. We'll be willing to post your contact info and weblink. If you're interested in submitting material, please email it to me, Christopher Bell at icecoldbell@gmail.com

GAMEPLAN -

The gameplan is to keep the bulk of the magazine's material in the print version only. But add special "bonus" features on the online version. For example, if we're doing an artist spotlight on an upcoming rapper. His article/interview will be printed in the magazine, but online they can hear sample tracks and even video and links to their website if the reader wants to know more about them. It just adds to the experience.

DISTRIBUTION -

We'll be going through a POD (print on demand) publisher, which means the magazine will only be for sale online then shipped to the reader. As we grow, and more opportunities arise, maybe we can order some in bulk and have them sold in person.

FINAL PRODUCT -

The great thing about going independent is full creative control. All the details are done by us, even down to the cover and the layout. We, The COOL, always been known for our "polished, professional" look. The magazine will be no different. It will not look cheesy or low-grade. The magazine will be printed on premium high-quality paper. It costs more per page for us to print. That's why each issue will only be 20 pages. But its 20 pages with hardly any ads in it. So, its more content for the buck.

Any other questions... hit me up!

Christopher Bell
601.668.7852
icecoldbell@gmail.com

INSPIRE MAGAZINE in progress. See a preview here: http://blackinspired.wordpress.com/

Sample Magazine layout here: http://magcloud.com/browse/Issue/75282

Thoughts of a Dreamer

Its been a minute since I made a post... here's some updates..

FIGHTERS: New Orleans
photos here: http://www.teu2008.com/2010_cool/gallery_fighters.html

Well as most of you know, Fighters was a total success!!! The photos came out beautifully. Pretty much exactly how I imagined it. For the most part, the project was executed smoothly. Women came out and supported it, we enjoyed working with each of them. Met some great people. We worked hard and had a great time. But we were soooo drained. So the team stopped for food and a couple of drinks before heading back to Jackson. But we all loved it and look forward to working in other cities this year.

Thoughts of a Dreamer
www.kingdreamer.com

I also been busy compiling my first book release in 4 years!!! It is titled, Thoughts of a Dreamer. Its a small 62-page read about my thoughts, broken down in three chapters. Instead waiting to compile a full-fledge release of The King's Garden. I decided to take a page from Janelle Monae and release the book in "suites". So, next week I'm introducing the first installment. The book itself contain a lot of entries from The King's Garden, but also material I didn't publish in the blog. And everything been rearranged because there's a certain way I wanted the book to be presented. Even though this is my smallest book release, I also believe its one of my best work. I also wanted to keep my work affordable, so the book will retail at only $10.00. I'm really excited to get these thoughts out to the public. Half the book is inspirational, my reflections of my spiritual life...the other half more sensual, with a touch of freaky. ;-) This is not a typical poetry book. Its a reflection of me, half-human and half-Dreamer. So..check it out! IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!! ...maybe not. But its still a good read. :-)

Time for me to get back to work..until next time.