How Could You Possibly Go Wrong?

In January 2016, when I launched The Syncopated Times as Publisher and Editor, I had not gauged the full import of assuming responsibility for every aspect of publication. I’d acquired a panoply of associated occupations, including layout specialist, graphic designer, advertising manager, columnist, feature writer, reader liaison, business manager, and subscription manager. I have so many job titles that occasionally I get letters with the salutation “Gentlemen.” I suppose it’s hard to fathom that one person could answer to all of the above, but one does: I contain multitudes. Some of these duties I took to with enthusiasm. I discovered I had a hitherto unexploited talent for making things look good on a page. I became a whiz at finding and processing photos. I shine as a fact-checker and prose-doctor. I was (and remain) less sanguine about any aspect of this venture involving numbers (such as determining quarterly figures to give my tax accountant) or time-consuming and repetitive (read “non-creative”) tasks. At the end of April, I spent two nights labeling postcards to nudge lapsed (and lapsing) subscribers into sending in their renewals. This is my least favorite job, and by putting it off for months I found I had hundreds to get through. There is no way to speed up this process. I printed off all the labels and then personally trimmed and stuck them on my cards.