What does a day in the life as the Publisher of Archer look like?
When I started Archer, I thought I'd spend the majority of my time commissioning stories, chatting to writers about edits, and spearheading the print magazine. I quickly learned that running a business is much more complicated and administrative than that.

I gave up the editorship a few years back, and these days I spend a lot of my time on budgets, sourcing funding, planning events, processing invoices, coming up with marketing strategies, and supporting my team. Occasionally I still get to sub-edit a piece of writing, or draft copy for a social media post, but the majority of my role is much more organisational, just trying to keep the publication going.
 
How did Archer get started and what inspired its launch?
I wanted to work for a publication about sexuality and gender that looked at these topics from an inclusive perspective. Back in 2013, there were some gay mags and a bunch of straight mags, but I didn't see anything that represented me or the voices I wanted to hear from the most. I was a cocky and determined (and naive!) 28-year-old journalist with no experience in running a business - so I thought I'd start it myself. I began a Wordpress blog and launched a crowdfunding campaign, pulling a small team together to produce our first print magazine.

We have published two print editions a year since then, alongside weekly online articles. The magazine is now sold in 11 countries worldwide and the website has been viewed more than 2.3 million times. We've won lots of awards, and the community / readership we've built around the publication is a kind, welcoming and diverse space, which is very heartening in a world that can be pretty harsh at times. 
 
Funding has always been an issue. We got our advertising revenue to a good place right before COVID-19 hit. Unfortunately, when the economy dried up, some of the hardest-hit areas were the ones buying our ad space: media, the arts, queer support services, etc. so I set about selling the publication. I was very lucky to have an existing relationship (through advertising and collaboration on projects) with Drummond Street Services, a health and wellbeing service provider with a very inclusive focus. They agreed to acquire the magazine and provide some funding support for a couple years, while helping us to figure out how to become sustainable. 
 
We are still working out our financial future, but loving our new home at this organisation. I'm learning a lot about leadership, inclusive practice, and the ins and outs of running a business just from being here in the office. It's been a dream.
 
As a publication that covers LGBTQIA+ topics on sexuality, gender and identity that are underrepresented in mainstream media, what stories have you been most proud to be able to provide a platform for?
We're always proud to publish first-time writers on subjects around intersectionality and queer communities. We've published stories from LGBTQIA+ First Nations people, including a First Nations print edition, which was lovingly put together by guest editors Bridget Caldwell-Bright and Maddee Clark. We've published the voices of sex workers, people with refugee backgrounds, and queer elders, to name a few under-represented voices. 
 
We do not publish articles on identities or experiences unless they're written by someone from that particular community, which sets us apart from other media outlets. We also have a highly collaborative editing process, and we aim to represent all our contributors in a way that suits them - this can be tricky in terms of editorial style guides and formatting, but we do our best to strike a balance between the necessities of publishing, and respect for diversity of identity and representation.
 
Who makes up the editorial team?
We have our Editor-in-Chief, Roz Bellamy, who has produced the DISABILITIES and HOME editions; Design and Images Curator, Alexis Desaulniers-Lea, who has been on board since the beginning sourcing incredible imagery and illustrations for the print edition; Image Curator and Digital Design Specialist, Hailey Moroney, who assists in sourcing images and also produces our beautiful Instagram account; Layout Designer, Chris Bosevski, who has brought each print magazine to life for several years now; two online editors, Dani Leever and EK Lewis, who commission stories for the website and look after our Facebook and Twitter platforms; Sub-Editor, Greta Parry; and Events Co-ordinator, Dani Weber, each of which has been an Archer team member for several years now. 
 
The Archer team generally have very long tenures with the publication - our staff turnover is incredibly low, which is a credit to the team, especially given we were almost entirely volunteer-run until last year.
 
You have an upcoming launch event coming up for the new issue centred on the theme of "HOME". Tell us more about what it will cover.
Our upcoming launch will be a cozy, celebratory and fun party to celebrate our HOME issue. It will be held in the HOWM Basement Bar at the lovely Selina accommodation, next to Flinders Street station in a wheelchair-accessible venue, this Saturday 9^th July from 4pm to 7pm.

Our launches bring together people from very diverse and varied communities and backgrounds, all there to hear about experiences of sexuality and gender that aren't represented elsewhere, and to have a drink and a dance in a space where everyone is free to be themselves.

The launch will be hosted by Themme Fatale, and feature home-themed musical performances by Candy Bowers accompanied by Harrisen Hughes, readings from contributors Bo Bickmore and Kay Esse, and a set from DJ Gay Dad.

The HOME issue will feature writing on safety, self-care, queer mob, migrancy, belonging, housing, homelessness, stripping and sex work, along with a Q&A with Writer, Melissa Febos. 

Grab tickets here and join the Facebook event.
 
What are some tips you would give to PRs hoping to pitch to Archer?
We often offer very healthy discounts on sponsored editorials, if the content alignment is there. We sometimes do editorials on topics of interest without payment, but these need to be offering something valuable to our audience or align perfectly with our usual editorial content. There are detailed guidelines on how to pitch to Archer on our website and I'd encourage hopefuls to give these a close read.
 
We publish new stories online every week so plenty of pitches are accepted and published. If you get the tone right, we'll respond!