Magazine

Sofa Ink Quarterly showcases original writing and art that avoids sensationalism. There is no swearing, profaning deity, excessive gore, gratuitous violence or gratuitous sex. You will find exceptional storytelling, delightful poetry, and beautiful art.

The magazine is advertiser supported and distributed free to waiting rooms; mostly medical offices but also hair stylists, tire stores, spas, and more. Individuals may subscribe to the magazine for home delivery. The magazine is also found in schools and libraries throughout the United States.

Beginning in Spring 2009, electronic versions of the magazine will also be available online.

Company

Sofa Ink produces Sofa Ink Quarterly. Sofa Ink is a small publishing imprint under Gray Sunshine, a small publisher organized as a sole proprietorship owned by David Cowsert. The company has been in business since April 2005. We are based in American Fork, Utah, United States.

History

In the development of his personal writing skills, owner/publisher David Cowsert found many writing groups and classes featured work full of foul language and intense scenes of violence and sex. While David acknowledged a place for that style of writing, he felt (and feels) that it is far too often a crutch—substituting sensationalism where there should be skillful use of language.

To be honest, David’s experiences as a police officer also made him feel saturated with bad language and violence. In an effort to encourage stronger writing and provide a venue free of strong violence, sex,and swearing, David established Sofa Ink Quarterly magazine and that has evolved into a strong imprint offering exceptional writing, art, gift books, and more—all without religious messages or sensationalism.

Sofa Ink Quarterly's first issue arrived in December 2005 with a second issue soon after in Spring 2006. We missed a summer issue and published again in the fall of 2006. At the time of the publication of this third issue, Sofa Ink Quarterly's parent company, Gray Sunshine, became part of a larger publishing startup called Ink & Paper Group, LLC. The two primary staff for Sofa Ink Quarterly became key staff for the new startup with the predictable result that time and money became short. New staff were hired to help with the magazine but the fourth issue of the magazine kept getting pushed back. The issue was completed twice but external events required staff changes and/or scheduling delays that would then also require adjusting the content.

In April 2007, David Cowsert decided to move from the beautiful Pacific Northwest to Utah in order to be closer to his mother and sisters. This created additional communication challenges because the managing editor for Sofa Ink Quarterly remained in Portland, Oregon. With today's technology it was a minor detail. In fact, like most publishing companies, much of our design work and editorial work is freelanced and we deal with staff around the country and authors from all over the globe.

Unfortunately, David's partners in Ink & Paper Group chose a different funding path than David and this resulted in a decision for the company to split with David retaining the original company he had brought in as the foundation for Ink & Paper Group. The negotiations over the details of the split were not completed and formalized until 23 October 2007.

Sofa Ink Quarterly is once again under a sole proprietorship and is continuing its primary mission to provide writers and readers with an avenue for positive creativity and a relaxing and refreshing reading experience.

Sofa Ink Quarterly has been used in high schools and college classes for supporting creative writing efforts. We have also supported a variety of writing groups and conferences.