A couple of weeks ago, a new email newsletter arrived unsummoned into my inbox. Proof – lo-fi in design, satirical in tone, anonymous in provenance – promised “insider gossip and comment on the UK publishing industry from two people who work in publishing.” Offering a blend of “parties, trends, gossip and absurdities”, it felt like a fun breath of fresh air fo the industry, and a nice example of the current email newsletter rennaissance.
We feel there’s space for a publishing newsletter that falls somewhere between the trade press and a TinyLetter. We want to make something of value that’s fun and satirical whilst being honest about the problems within the industry. Proof has been in the making since late 2017 but we wanted to wait until we’d got the tone right before sending out issue #1.
We did loads of research i.e. chatted about what we liked and realised we weren’t big blog readers or long form fans, but we would be up for a nice little colourful bulletin in our inbox once a month. We are also zine aficionados [see Mushpit party in issue #1] and love the irreverence and carefreeness of DIY print culture. We wanted to bring a bit of that spirit/look to Proof BUT make it a free & easily accessible publication. Digital was the way to go & PROOF can be read on your phone in a lunch break.
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