the online magazine for the creative writer in us all

How It All Began		Our Purpose
It all began with a conversation with an old friend of mine... I've been involved in some form of writing (songs, poetry, copywriting, as examples) for over 20 years now. However, some of the things I've written have mostly stayed in my writing file here at home due to, well, the insecurities that come with putting your life, feelings, etc. on paper. Not as easy to hide, see? Unless you never pull out the file to show anyone, which is how I've pretty much handled my songs and poetry. In 2000, however, during a particularly difficult time, I wrote a poem about where I was at during that time. (In fact, that poem, "Where I'm At", is my own contribution to our first issue.) I felt like I wanted to do something more with it, but didn't know what. I shared it with a coworker/friend, who said a lot of nice things about it and encouraged me to submit it to someone. So, my search began for magazines—print and electronic—where my poem would be a natural fit. Finally, I found one that I felt embodied what I was wanting to do with my poem. After sharing my findings with my friend, she strongly encouraged me to submit it to them. I did, breath held. Luckily, I started breathing soon after that, because it was three weeks before I received an acknowledgment of its receipt. Unfortunately, with that notice was the news that this particular magazine was folding without hope of another issue being printed. I was obviously discouraged. I really felt like this magazine was the one to be the first to publish one of my poems, this piece of my life's history that I was crazy enough to try to share with the world. (Not that I think I'm a terrific writer, but I was choosy about where it was to be published.) The next morning, I went to work and shared my discouragement with my friend. She looked at me with her trademark "matter-of-fact" look and said, "Well, I guess we'll need to start our own, then, won't we?" That day seems like it's been a forever ago.		The name "The Coffee Press Journal" came from the idea that our magazine (in print form) would be the type of reading material you would expect to find in your local coffee shop. (Then the play on words with "Coffee" and "Press"...get it?) As far as where we're coming from, read this as a foundation: We believe that human life is itself the ultimate of "created art". We believe that we, as created beings, also possess a natural process for creation within ourselves, with art being one of those processes. We also believe that there are certain common themes that are forever present: truth, faith, art, and the human existence. There is a convergence point where the four of these meet (albeit to varying degrees). True, pure art comes from the place where that uncontrolled yet inevitable meeting (or collision) occurs. That being said... First and foremost, we want to be a magazine that publishes writings that embody who we truly are, where we're truly at, good times or bad, in a way that will encourage and inspire others and ourselves. Second, we want to be a mature yet "grounded" magazine. What that means to us is, we don't want it to be cumbersome to submit material. We are not so high above all others as to look down the Rule Of True Artistic Value and measure in that fashion. We don't want "first-timers" to feel intimidated when they submit a work for publication! Conversely, we should all strive to put quality and thought into our work, and want what we publish to exude that. To that end, published authors would also feel as comfortable submitting their work to us as they would anywhere else...maybe even more comfortable!