I founded EUROHISTORY in August 1997, while a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs. It was an attempt to remind myself that in spite of working in an industry that was hugely profitable, my heart was in the study of history in general, royalty in particular.
This has been a highly fulfilling and satisfying endeavor. EUROHISTORY became my life; it made me friends worldwide; it built a community; it created bonds between people all across the planet...
This business started, as John Kelleher said, "as a one man show."
Today, EUROHISTORY is far from being a "one man show." It is a community of of people who are passionate about the study of royalty, particularly European royals. Our contributors include most of today's most renowned and respected authors. We do our work because we love to study royalty. Many times, we do our work without seeking compensation. Ilana Miller, Katrina Warne, Mary Houck, Seth B. Leonard, Justin Vovk, Lisa Davidson, Charles B. Stewart Jr., Katie Tice, Darren Shelton, David McIntosh, Ricardo Mateos Sainz de Medrano, Ian Shapiro, the late Bill Lalor and the late Theo Aronson...and so many, many more have contributed, over the last 22 years, their talent and efforts to making the magazine and our books the serious publications that they are!
I am deeply indebted to every single one of you, as well as I am toward everyone who has subscribed to our magazine since its birth in August 1997. I am also deeply indebted to our loyal readership and book buyers. Without your continue support, in spite of my many shortcomings and frequent missed deadlines, we would not be where we are today.
Last year was a particularly difficult one for us on a personal level...
Our son Nicholas was in and out of mental health clinics after attempting suicide nine times. Each stay in a psychiatric institution lasted at the very least 2 weeks. At one point he was hospitalized for 5 months. For us, his parents and family, it was devastating. Weekends were spent visiting him where he was hospitalized, attending therapy sessions, dealing with his continued anger. Then, last summer Nicky ran away from a therapeutic facility where he had been living since January. For several days we had no idea of his whereabouts. It was a nightmare. Eventually he reached out to us through his birth mother, who had helped him leave the facility where he was hospitalized. We were deeply disturbed as she is a drug addict. Not a good living setup for him. We have not seen much of him since then. I hope and pray that he is safe, but there isn't anything else that Dave and I can do...
Our son Zac was also institutionalized from August 2017 to December 2018. He got in trouble for various reasons and the court mandated that he undergo a period away from us, a time when he needed to focus on getting better. He lived in a facility near Palm Springs, where we visited him at least once a month. Finally, last December we were able to fly down there and bring him home. He is now attending college and doing great!
During his absence, his fiancée and their son moved in with us. Dave and I found ourselves "hand-on" grandparents, as we were absolutely delighted to be in a position to help her as much as she wished with our grandson Ezra, who is simply the sunshine of our lives.
On top of it all, as if life wasn't complicated enough, last year MAJESTY stopped selling books. This was a huge loss of business for us, as was the closing of Hoogstraten English Bookstore (we are delighted that they at least continued selling our books through their excellent website). Visit their website at http:www.hoogstraten.nl
Our magazine has never made a notable profit. The business model wasn't;t designed for that to be the case. We don't sell advertisement because I want full independence. Hence, our entire budget comes from subscriptions and sales of past issues. For years this was enough. Our readership has remained constant and loyal.
In order to raise the magazine's aesthetic level, I decided to give the printing contract to the same company that prints our books. They are highly respected and their work is fantastic. I hoped that by having book-binding on the magazine, we would increase readership. At the beginning of the change we witnessed a spike in subscribers. And then it leveled off. We gained readers, but not enough the huge increase in printing and shipping costs. The end result was that the new printing format for EUROHISTORY left me with an approximate yearly loss of over $8000.00 – the first years I could reset to my own funds to make up the loss. However, with personal expenses increasing (medical, college, baby), and the loss of MAJESTY as a selling venue. On top of it all, posts rates have continued to increase. The financial storm turned into a deadly hurricane!
The end result was that EUROHISTORY stopped publication...
I had an option...stop the magazine altogether. Several contributors suggested that I stop. Others suggested that I skip a year. Still, the larger number recommended that I persevere. I'm not a quitter; never have been, never will be. Stubborn as a mule I suppose!
Hence, after a lot of thought and discussions with my husband Dave, we decided that EUROHISTORY would continue. We would print all the issues for 2018. We would return to our local printer in Berkeley and produce the magazine in the old format, which always left us a small profit.
The first issue is in our hands now, ISSUE CXVII – Volume 21.1, Spring 2018. We are getting envelopes readied and will begin dispatching the magazine to subscribers this weekend. I am delighted with the finished product!
Meanwhile, we have sent to the printer ISSUE CXVII – Volume 21.2, Summer 2018. The printer will have it ready this next week. I am now working on ISSUE CXIX – Volume 21.3, Fall 2018, which we are sending to the printer this coming week. Issues CXVIII and CXIX will mail together the first week of April, soon followed by ISSUE CXX – Volume 21.4, Winter 2018. Inside this last issue, which will mail before mid-April, subscribers will receive their renewal notices!
I sincerely hope that most of our subscribers will renew. We are currently read in over 40 countries. We want to retain you, but we also need new ones...encourage your royalty-loving friends to join us, stay along with us...we may have a bumpy road some times, but oh has it been a wonderful journey to study and learn about royals!
As always, deepest thanks!
Arturo Beéche, Publisher
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