Millennial focused feminist newsletter ‘To Her Door’ launched by former Mamamia senior editor
A former Mamamia senior editor Grace Jennings-Edquist has co-launched her own feminist online newsletter ‘To Her Door‘, targeting Australian millennial women.
Jennings-Edquist described the online newsletter as “a new publication form-like [Lena Dunham’s] Lenny but for Australia”.
Previously working for Mamamia from 2014 to August last year, Jennings-Edquist now writes for Financial Times publication Ignites in New York, and started To Her Door last month as a “passion project”.
Speaking to Mumbrella, she said: “Money’s not our main motivation, but we have found that it’s been resonating with our readers and if brands want to work with us in future, we’re open to a chat.”
Co-founder and editor Mia Abrahams, who currently works at THINX as a content editor, said the newsletter “focuses on content that is, first and foremost, from a feminist point of view”.
Mia Abrahams and Grace Jennings-Edquis
To Her Door will contain content including a ‘doorly doctor’ sealed section, interviews, essays, spotlights on illustrators, extracts from books, Q&As and health articles, said Abrahams.
“I know of so many talented Australian women writing about feminism and politics, making art, or being activists for diverse causes and I wanted to create an inclusive space where Australian women could tell stories, discuss issues, ask questions, and pass the microphone around all the wonderful people who care about each other and the world around them,” she said.
“I also loved the idea of it being a newsletter only. It’s a more intimate connection with readers because it lands right where our readers are: in their inboxes.”
Jennings-Edquist agreed, adding that the publication is dedicated to telling women stories that matter and providing high quality content.
“That means content that engages with the political landscape, but also celebrates creativity, is visually interesting, is presented in a user-friendly format, and is bite-sized enough that the email isn’t an overwhelming hour-long read. We know our readers are busy.
“Given that we’re all facing a rough few years ahead politically, we also believe it’s crucial to keep listening to other people’s stories, recognising our own privilege and having frank conversations about power, current affairs and politics.
“There’s never been a more important time to have discussions about equality, or to highlight the achievements of powerful women who aren’t afraid to speak their minds. So we hope in a year from now, we’ll have continued tackling those topics in a way that’s genuinely engaging,” Jennings-Edquist said.
Image: Anna Snowsill – the newsletter is “totally free to all subscribers”
To Her Door is set out as an online newsletter formatted so users can easily view it on their mobile phones, updating its content fortnightly – Abrahams said this is what makes the publication stand out.
“As opposed to content sites that send out daily or weekly wrap ups, our fortnightly newsletter will live in people’s inboxes and not primarily on our website. So, to get it, you have to sign up, for free, to the mailing list.
“Not many Aussie sites are publishing newsletter only content. Also, we aren’t primarily a ‘wrap-up’ email, so we are different from other content sites in that regard,” she said.
Jennings-Edquist agreed saying because it is published fortnightly it isn’t dependant on the tradition news cycle “as some publications that have to compete to get something published within minutes of a story breaking”.
“We don’t see ourselves as competing with Mamamia – it’s a huge force in the Australian media landscape spanning a website, podcasts, etc, while we publish in newsletter form. We also publish fortnightly, not daily, so our content has a different focus and feel” she said.
Looking ahead both co-owners aim to focus on creating quality content which will assist each issue in being different and fun to read, as well as including submissions from writers on a broad range of topics.
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