By HILLEL ITALIE
AP National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — McSweeney’s has raised just over $300,000 — exceeding its goal by $25,000 — in the two months since announcing it was buying back The Believer, the acclaimed literary publication that nearly went out of business last year.
Around 1,500 people gave money for the Kickstarter campaign, averaging roughly $200 per contribution.
“Work like ours requires an engaged group of supporters and readers who believe in what we’re doing and stand behind it,” McSweeney’s’ publisher and executive director, Amanda Uhle, said in a statement Wednesday.
The money will help McSweeney’s, an independent publisher based in San Francisco, pay for staffing, operations and contributing writers, according to Uhle.
The Believer, launched by McSweeney’s in 2003, has published works by Anne Carson, Nick Hornby, Leslie Jamison and many others. After McSweeney’s sold the magazine in 2017 to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), The Believer endured financial struggles, an editor-in-chief’s departure amid allegations that he exposed himself, its near closure in 2021 and the sale to a digital marketing company, that at one point included an article — the subject of much internet anger — titled “25 Best Hookup Sites for Flings, New Trysts, and Casual Dating” on The Believer’s website.
In May, McSweeney’s repurchased the magazine from Paradise Media and its CEO Ian Moe.
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