Hello the people who make our dreams and lives possible! Two years ago I did this peek behind the curtain thing for the first time and you liked it a lot! So last year I did it again — swung open the door into the dark annals of numbers, charts, graphs and figures about how this little light of ours fared in 2016. You liked that too. Now that most of us have made it through 2017 with teardrops in our palms and possibly-delusional hope in our pockets, we are standing in front of 2018’s gaping maw with a few things to discuss regarding that experience.
We’d like to politely request that you do not share any of these graphics outside of A+ and instead enjoy them only here on this page right now with us as a family! Okay?
Most Popular Content of 2017
Social Media 2017
Who Wrote What
You know I really missed Carmen Rios while making this chart because every year I’m always like, “Damn Carmen Rios, you wrote so many posts!” I thought Heather might beat me this year but NOT QUITE. Look at these guys! Writing up a storm!
MONEY MONEY MONEY
Income & Expenses
Last year in this section I wrote, “We survived anyhow ’cause we still had profit left over from 2015; stay tuned for how we’re gonna make it work this year!” And now we know: Thank You Jeanne Cordova. We would’ve survived without the donation, but it would’ve been really tight and stressful and we would’ve had to say “no” to a lot of things we needed to say “yes” to. Revenue and expenses went up at a miraculously similar rate this year (7-8%). Merch revenue was up 56%, thanks to Sarah Sarwar and mostly to two specific hit concepts, “Gender Traitor” (inspired by The Handmaid’s Tale) and “Lavender Menace” (inspired by lesbian feminism, represented in “When We Rise”), and also ’cause we got our distributor to lower their commission due to how great we are and how much business we drive! Camp revenue was down ’cause we had one camp instead of two, but profits were fine. Advertising income continues sinking into this great deep earth. Affiliate income went way down ’cause Amazon cut their commissions in half, as they are wont to do. A+ revenue went up 19%. Our goal for this year is to add another full-time staff member.
Merchandise
Y’all look real cute in purple, I think.
YOU PEOPLE
Riese I love your infographics. That is all.
Me toooo
thank you! these ones are ugly but they get the job done and will remain the same layout every year until design trends advance to the point where i have to make life changes
I love that “weird posts by Erin” is its own category.
I enjoyed Kayla’s writing so much I was convinced she’d written twice as many. Huh!
My 2018 A+ list is more podcasts. I know those are a pain for y’all though.
Came here to say the same thing about Erin’s weird posts. Fav category.
Another one who came down here to say the same thing about Erin! I think it needs it’s own tag tbh
So…I see that statistically people are interested in hearing what cool comments people have to say about lesbian sex in movies with Sara Ramirez on Autostraddle.
Did I read that right?
( Darlings I do not wish to bi-erase anyone ~ bisexuality! It’s real! I’m just playing with search terms…mwah!)
Thank you for all you do! I love all of your writing so much but the last few months I even enjoyed simply looking at the posts because of all the great illustrations, photoshop magic and such.
Thanks for taking my money so you can do all the cool stuff you do! I am really happy that you do!
As a business person I always find these posts fascinating and they leave me wanting more info/numbers.
The info graphs are gorgeous as usual.
I miss Carmen rios too
I love that Erin’s weird posts are it’s own category.
But what I love the most is that “cool comments” made the top 10!
“The first time we kissed a girl” is in the most clicked a+ post twice thus making it also the second time we kissed a girl
oops
Brb renaming them the Cool Comment Awards ?
Thank You Jeanne Cordova, once again.
Also, petition to name A-Camp camperships the Jeanne Cordova Campership. I think it would be fitting.
Hear hear!
THANK YOUUUU you wonderful scrappy people! As someone who is newly acquainted with the phrase ‘payroll taxes,’ I am in awe.
THIS PLACE. What a haven. What a home.
A hotbed for queer revolution and hijinx.
I’m so glad I can contribute.
I ditched my political contributions in favour of AS. I mean, who does more good in the world ?? No contest !
My heartfelt appreciation to the leaders, who set the tone, and to all the contributors and readers, who enliven the place and take us all further.
Hugs to all !
So much beautiful data! I also really love the “cool comments” being among top searches, when I tell people about AS I often mention it’s the only comment section that is actual human on the internet.
Also as an increasingly broke grad student, I’m having to cut a lot of my subscriptions/memberships out of my budget, but A+ will remain for as long as possible, hopefully forever. My Amazon Prime runs out at the end of the month (thankfully right after Just Add Magic s3 comes out and I’ll have like 2 days to watch it all) and I have to stop supporting my local jazz radio station. But Autostraddle is so important to me that I would cut other budget things like eating out less before I stopped being an A+ member!!!
I have just binge watch the first two seasons of just add magic! I don’t know why I love it so much, My prime is ending soon too so I’ll probabaly have to extend it for season 3!
It is a wonderful show!!! So fun and nice! It comes out next Friday, the 19th, I hope you’ll have time to watch it. It was the only show that was making me debate holding onto Prime, but then I saw the dates and was like okay I definitely watch it all before I would have to renew. Any other shows or new seasons I’ll have to find a friend to lend me their password or something.
Thank you for the work you do and the great articles and community you’ve created :)
Also, tell me if I’m reading this wrong, but articles where someone interviews an ex brings in the big bucks? If that’s the case, I will gladly volunteer to interview my ex-gf who dumped me because she decided she was straight. More revenue for Autostraddle is worth the few minutes of time with her. :)
I so appreciate all the work that goes into making posts like this, and for keeping Autostraddle afloat year after year. You guys are spectacular.
SECONDED
3rded
Who doesn’t love an aesthetically pleasing chart?
I hope 2018 brings more of them, covering such topics as ‘percentage of staff writers who secretly admit that vodka water is a good idea’ or ‘percentage of staff writers who maintain an inconceivable loyalty to Jenny Schecter’.
yessss, i need more support for vodka water
Stay hydrated while you dance! Never mind the naysayers!
y’all are the best. <3
I love the last label, “An Act of Kindness,” and the idea/reminder that comments are an act of kindness. In 2017 we got kids, so my on-line reading and commenting has decreased (and my amount of comments was never high to being with), but I appreciate the reminder that you all appreciate comments!
<3
!!! i didn’t even realize that was on the graphic, usually i erase the axis labels when i make a chart b/c the font is always not what i want but i didn’t remember to do that and now you know that i think it is very kind to leave cool comments
Wow, what cool graphics for a truly impressive year of Autostraddle work.
Also Mey’s climbing the charts for total articles written!
I’m more excited to see my name in tiny letters at #9 out of 10 on a list on one of these infographics than I have probably ever been by anything else in my life.
You deserve it!
CONGRATULATIONS CHANDRA
As a stats nerd I always appreciate these posts! You truly are all remarkable human beings
Every year you all become more and more impressive. I don’t know how you do it but I’m so grateful that you do.
Thank you for putting together these glorious infographics just to sate the nerdy desires of your A+ member-base.
There were many highlights on AS in 2017 for me, but I think you are finally starting to dictate the cultural direction of the planet with the coining of Lesbian Ken and Mommi. I feel like this is what will lead us out of the Western political crisis.
Also, I am looking forward to all future AS surveys having a “Weird Posts by Erin” option for at least one question.
I saw “70 posts by AE” on that chart and my mind immediately went “wait After Ellen has 70 posts at Autostraddle?”
Took me a while to get it.
Eeeeeee!
So I will probably never read the “I was raised for the culture wars…” piece because same, but this is a good reminder to tell you how glad I am that it exists in the world. <3
*rolls around in infographics like a happy dog rolling in something gross*
Also any chance you could reveal what the seven weird posts by Erin were?
I love y’all, partly because you do stuff like this. And like Hollis said, what were the Seven Weird Erin Posts? I want to know too.
2018 is going to be beautiful, by the way. Just sayin’.
for the inquiring minds regarding the 7 weird posts by Erin in the top 100 posts of the year, they are:
1. What You’re Flagging With Your La Croix Flavor
2. Donald Trump Quote or Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap Quote?
3. Are Straight Women Okay?
4. Straight People Watch: Fall 2K17
5. It Appears That Straight Women Are Not Okay
6. Straight People Watch: Summer 2K17
7. I Watched Lesbian Classic “Elena Undone” and I’m Sorry What
Valuable information
Thank you
Thanks. I really liked the La Croix thing just because it explained why the stuff seemed to be everywhere all of a sudden. It was funny, too.
Erin’s concern for straight women really tugged at what was left of our heartstrings in 2017.