To Readers:
Two for the Ice has taken something of an editorial hiatus since the beginning of the year. The lack of new written content has not been accidental.
For five years, I have produced serious, in-depth coverage of figure skating’s most niche disciplines — and, with the exception of a feature in Dance International magazine, for no compensation. To accomplish this work at the level for which I strive, this has most often meant a cost in time. As one whose other field of work is conducted at a freelance and contractual level, where time truly equals money, this can prove an impractical financial balance.
Given my increasingly significant living distance from the heart of the figure skating world, it has also meant a great expense in travel to competitions and other events, even at one a season, in order to maintain a footing in the territory of on-site coverage and connect more directly with said world.
It has meant the cost of hosting a website and domain and the costs of software and supplies used throughout the processes.
I have sought advertisers to no avail, given the site’s naturally small audience base; I have begun to offer merchandise to some solid buzz but little in the way of sales conversion. Patreon is a welcome, though little-utilized, direct support option for readers. Coverage, then, has tapered off in the latter half of this season, and not without reason.
Covering this beat as I have was a choice I made initially for the sake of exposure, experience and the establishment of credibility, and subsequently, with TFTI’s creation, from an interest in building an outlet with a focus distinct from that available in the mainstream skating media. My goal, however, was never to make this a first-line career. But even this practice is not sustainable, nor does it set a precedent with which I’m comfortable. Digital journalists and publications struggle enough for reward. I may have chosen this most niche of fields knowing it would mean carving my own path, but the product generated along that path has been no less credible than the same work carried out for a paying publication — nor of lesser value than work produced by others on the independent beat.
I hope to resume, and continue, providing the deeper look that thoughtful fans and members of the skating world alike merit. But something may have to give in the process. Promotion freely given has been noticed, welcome and appreciated; work freely given, however, is work that must ultimately be short-lived.