A Dribble of Ink

As you’ve no doubt noticed, things look a little different around here today.

For the past several weeks, I’ve been hard at work designing, developing, and building a brand new look and feel for A Dribble of Ink. 2014 promises a big transitional year for me, both personally and here at A Dribble of Ink, and I felt like there was no better way to celebrate that than to apply a fresh coat of paint, introduce some features I’ve been excited about, and, generally, increase the level of the site to bring it a few steps closer to the vision I have for it moving forward.

I think this is the best, cleanest, and most professional iteration of A Dribble of Ink yet, and hope that it encourages you to visit more often, join the conversation, and spread word to your friends, families, co-workers (and anyone else you chat to about science fiction and fantasy.)

In addition to the visual overhaul, there are a couple of things that I’d like to draw attention to.

Julie Dillon’s Header Artwork

I approached Hugo Award-nominated artist Julie Dillon with a hope, a prayer, and an idea. It’s no secret that I’m an enormous fan of her work, so when she agreed to provide artwork for the new design, I was through the roof. When she provided me with the final version, I was floored.

Artwork by Julie Dillon

Julie’s evocative use of colour brings life and magic to the site, and perfectly capture what I first envisioned when I named the site, nearly seven years ago. I’m a lucky editor.

For a little fun, click the small arrow icon in the header to see Julie’s beautiful work in full.

Advertising

Advertising has come to A Dribble of Ink.

When this site first began life as a pet project, I had little inclination to try to make money off of it. In the intervening years, however, the site has grown larger than I’d ever imagined and takes more of my time than is probably healthy. This advertising opportunity is a move to help me transition A Dribble of Ink from a hobby, to a part of my career. In terms of traffic and presence, A Dribble of Ink is comparable to many popular online magazines, such as Clarkesworld and Lightspeed, and this change will allow some freedoms that did not exist before.

It’s important for me to note that I will be curating the advertising that appears on A Dribble of Ink, rather than using ad services that manage advertising without my direct control. I want to advertise products/services that I feel are relevant and desirable to my audience, ads that I think they will actually click on, rather than gloss over.

If you’re interested in advertising on A Dribble of Ink, you can find all the information you need on the new Advertise page.

Feedback

As always with these redesigns, I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below. Creating a well-running, beautiful site is always a moving target, so I’m interested in friendly and thoughtful feedback from all of you readers.

And now, onwards!