Rendah Mag Issue: 014

Wow, it honestly doesn’t feel like over a year has passed since I picked up the editor role at Rendah Mag. This was right in time for issue 003 of Rendah Mag. Like high-pitched rave vocals, the past twelve months at the virtual office flew by like nothing. Personally, this is still overly exciting and has a steep learning curve.

But what does an editor-in-chief actually do at Rendah Mag?

First and foremost, I get to read nearly every written piece my colleagues provide. That could be for a premiere, interview, review or a general feature. I proofread and grammar-check, plus format it according to our guidelines. I then process everything into our content management system (short CMS) or in the case of the print issue update the affiliated Google online document. Thanks to our management tool Trello, I’m getting automated weekly overviews on what’s coming up. Also, Mondays are reserved for my catch-up with Dan, the founder of the blog and mag. That way, I never miss out on anything. This works if all of our writers add their stuff, and we keep communication levels high. Dan and our art editor Frank are highly involved in the design process of the magazine pages, which makes my job way easier.

Additionally, feedback, encouraging, sharing knowledge and giving tips on writing became a huge part of this job. We want our writers to have fun doing this, so making them feel comfy is of high importance. You can’t get shit done with unhappy co-workers.

With our deadlines, cut-off dates and personal endeavours, it’s not always possible to be on time when it comes to delivering the magazine to you, the subscribers. We’ve encountered several difficulties, some of which are easily manageable. For instance, my computer broke two months ago followed by my smartphone which cut my working capabilities by more than half. Other problems like the weak resolution of printed works by visual artists are also manageable but more time-consuming and could fall back badly on us. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, it’s a steep learning curve, but we’re both highly motivated and eager to push our limits.

To be honest with you, I never went to university for journalism or affiliated stuff. Apart from a brief but in-depth mentoring session with John Cameron of the US-based blog Selector, everything I know is either self-taught or dug up from the internet’s vast resources. I’m not even a native speaker. I never had any extra courses in British or American English.

What I want to say is: If you believe in yourself, you can accomplish nearly everything. It’s not always fun and games, that’s for sure. It’s graft. In the beginning, often times for free. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t change this job for any other in the world. Together with my colleagues, I get to talk to our favourite artists. About the stuff we deeply love. To an audience that shares this deeply, love to the core.

When I first started writing for Rendah at the beginning of 2022, we were right at the start of officially kicking off the print version. Since then, we’ve released a total of 6 issues with the seventh already in line. Up to this point, I still can’t believe we’re getting printed!

In a world where nearly everything is digitalized, it feels good to have some physical confirmation. I think I can speak for the whole team by saying that it‘s an incredible honour to be doing this.

Since my watch has started, we made some serious numbers. These guys are blowing my mind on the regular!

Wow, it honestly doesn’t feel like over a year has passed since I picked up the editor role at Rendah Mag. This was right in time for issue 003 of Rendah Mag.

My first year as editor at Rendah Mag

Rendah Mag

Print Timeline