Taking the Lane grows up: From zine to journal

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Update: Now funding this project (it’s been renamed the Journal of Bicycle Feminism) on Kickstarter! Check it out!

Well, it had to happen one day: Taking the Lane is growing up.

After nearly four years of putting out a more-or-less quarterly zine, we’re graduating to something bigger. It’s called: Taking the Lane: A journal of bicycle feminism.

The zine was a pocket-sized, lo-fi little book featuring cool art and heartfelt essays on a narrow topic that you could consume in a single sitting. A small number were printed and when they were gone they were gone. The journal will attempt to capture the same spirit of the zine (especially its early issues!) in a bigger, broader-ranging book with a larger print run, more contributors, wider circulation, and, hopefully, a significantly less overextended publisher. The journal will be funded on Kickstarter, by subscribers, direct sales, ads, and any way we can manage (existing subscribers and advertisers will be well taken care of). It will come out either annually or twice a year.

You’re all invited to contribute. The first TTL journal will contain the content slated for issue #14 of the zine, with the theme of Grief and Healing (contributors, we’ll be in touch soon). Beyond that, there is no particular theme except for bicycle feminism, whatever that means to you. I would love to see interesting perspectives on equity in cycling, observations from people who have just learned to ride or who have been watching the movement grow for years, a story about the women’s pro racing movement, cargo bike reviews, book and literature reviews, cultural criticism, personal narratives — whatever you’ve got. We are committed to publishing diverse perspectives by diverse contributors.

Text submissions can be any length from a few sentences to 2,500 words. Art should be in black and white or convertible to a single color and available in high resolution. Send your submissions to elly at takingthelane dot com.

Content deadline: September 15, 2014. Let’s get this done.

Payment: For this first issue I will probably only pay in copies, but I will try to raise the money to do it better.

Got questions? Got ideas? Want to advertise? Get in touch!