FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY & HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT US

SICK is an independent print magazine that is largely reader-funded. In 2019, we began with £600 and a priority of paying all contributors, remaining ad-free, and increasing our contributor rates over time. We are not interested in selling things to our readers, but rather paying contributors well, maintaining an affordable retail price, and offering a sliding scale. Contributor rates for each issue are dependant on sales from the previous issue, grants, donations, and any other products we produce.

In May of 2023, we received a $5,000 grant from The Kindling Fund, a grant program administered by SPACE as part of the Andy Warhol Foundation For The Visual Arts Regional Regranting Program. This allowed us to increase contributor rates for issue 5, host a launch party, provide free copies to disabled people on low/no income, begin with a larger print run, pay myself, and more.

In October of 2023, we received a $10,000 project grant from the Ellis Beauregard Foundation to produce Issue 6. This allows us to publish Issue 6 earlier in the year, increase rates for team members who have been working for low or no pay at some point over the last five years (editor, designer, assistant, copy-editor), host another launch party, provide free copies, and ultimately provide a foundation for SICK’s sustainability. We still have many more goals, such as increasing contributor and team member rates further, increasing our print runs, offering an unlimited number of free copies, making a more accessible website, offering SICK as an audiobook/podcast, creating more merchandise, and much more.

In January of 2025, we received a $3,000 grant from The Kindling Fund while we took a year off publishing a new issue. Instead, we were able to focus on a community event called SICK CIRCLE, where chronically ill folks gathered to mend garments and engage in discussion. We had originally proposed three of the events, but were only able to complete one due to being granted partial funding. These funds are also being used to design and print and a zine documenting the workshop, in addition to design research and development for the magazine, and re-printing the out of stock issue 4.

Below you will find my best effort at tracking all incoming and outgoing costs issue-by-issue, however please note that these are not 100% accurate and considered an ongoing work in progress. Issue 01 is missing because I am exhausted!

Please consider supporting us on Patreon! There are three membership tiers available, two of which get you access to an exclusive newsletter from me (Olivia, founder & editor)!

ISSUE BY ISSUE BREAKDOWN 

Our current monthly outgoing costs are approximately $85, which covers our website hosting costs, online shop fees, google suite, and canva subscriptions.

Our current monthly income from Patreon is approximately $96.

ISSUE 2
OUTGOING:
£1,921 on contributor payments (writers, artists, poets, cover artist, illustrator)
£350 on design
£729 on first printing of 275 copies
£3,524 on seven more printings across an 18 month period for a total of 1,265 copies printed

INCOMING:
£5,989 in online store sales*
£1,547 in virtual fair sales
*not counting sales of issue 01, stockist sales, & a handful of sales from fairs in 2021 (to be updated)

ISSUE 3
OUTGOING:
£2,579 on contributor payments
£575 on design
£285 on printing sticker sheets
£1,534 on first printing of 725 copies
£1,689 on three more printings across a 15 month period for a total of 1,190 copies printed

INCOMING:
£4,854 in online store sales, including stickers
*Not counting stockists sales or fair sales (to be updated)

ISSUE 4
OUTGOING:
£2,644 on contributor payments
£660 on team member payments (design & copywriter)
£1,621 on first print run of 625 copies
£1,398 on second print run of 400 copies
*100 copies reprinted summer 2025 thanks to Kindling Fund for a total of 1,125 copies printed*

INCOMING:
$1,000 in crowdfunding
£3,967 in online store sales
£2,766 in stockist sales
$1,080 in fair sales

Issue 5
OUTGOING:
£2,522.70 on contributor payments
£1,489 on team member fees (editor, designer, copywriter)
£2,739 on first print run of 1,000 copies
£1,180 on second print run of 300 copies for a total of 1,300 printed
$600 on launch party (reader honorariums, food and drink, decor, poster design & printing, promotion)
$300 on supplying free issues

INCOMING:
$5,000 grant from the Kindling Fund
£2,587 in online store sales
$1,904 in US & ROW stockist sales
£1,260 in UK stockist sales
$982 in fair sales

ISSUE 6
OUTGOING:
$3,993 on contributor payments
$4,890 on team member fees (editor, designer, copywriter, assistant)
£2,739 on first print run of 1,000 copies
$720 on launch party (reader honorariums, food and drink, decor, poster design & printing, promotion)
$3,621 on one print run totaling 1,300 copies

INCOMING:
$10,000 grant from the Ellis Beauregard Foundation
£1,562 in UK store sales
$2,929 in US store sales
$1,676 in US stockist sales
*not counting fair sales or merch (to be updated)

We use sliding-scale pricing options in an effort to remain as affordable as possible, knowing that many sick & disabled people live in poverty or low/no income. We hope that those who are able to afford to pay more or offer monetary support will do so in an effort to keep SICK an accessible, ongoing project. 

You can make a one-time donation via the form below or via Venmo to @sickmagazine. All donations go towards paying chronically ill & disabled writers, artists, designers, and illustrators, as well as printing costs.