Has it been a year already since the inaugural edition of Stogie Press was released? Looking at my calendar as I finish penning the articles for July and preparing for IPCPR 2015 I realize it is. Well I have to say first and foremost, Thank You, to all our readers whether you have subscribed to Stogie Press or occasionally visit us, or follow us through our social media connections through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. This past year has been simply amazing. It was a dream come true for me as I think back to 1999 when I wanted to start a cigar magazine for central Florida and now all these years later we have published 12 issues of our first year, and what a year it was.
We launched Stogie Press at the 2014 IPCPR in Las Vegas, we were relatively unknown but we seem to have caught the attention of many. Over the past 12 months we have reviewed plenty of cigars and taken our readers on adventures into shops and lounges throughout America and around the world. Like Johnny Cash says “We’ve been everywhere man”. You have spent many a nights with us in the Stogie Press lounge and seen our videos on the Stogie Press You Tube Channel. We hope to have plenty more of these Videos in future starting with interviews at this years IPCPR.
We published our first top 25 list and it got quite a number of views. And speaking of viewership, it just keeps growing here at Stogie Press. We now average over 100 hits a day, and though that may not seem like a lot, they are from around the world in all the places I have visited and met fellow Brothers and Sisters of the Leaf. Stogie Press is active on social media every day interacting and exchanging information and experiences with fellow BOTLs abd SOTLs. We can only hope that this trend will continue into our 2nd year of publication with your support. Based on the viewership growth there is no signs that it is going to diminish.
In retrospect we thought it would be interesting to see what the top 10 article by viewership were this past year. So if you have not read them or want to read them again here they are in order. I would like to pint out that the # 1 article and it was only up for a few of the last 12 months was the one on the Ladies of the Leaf. This just go to show how important it is to be inclusive of all the ladies out there in the cigar world.
To say it was fun would be an understatement. To say it was easy would be a gross understatement. We put a sincere dedication and passion behind the Stogie Press brand and have received plenty of comments both online and off about what we do. We hope you will pass the word and help grow Stogie Press as a go to source of Cigar Knowledge now and in the future. This is just the start, we have more to go and plenty to grow so hop on board and continue the journey with us.
We will be at this years IPCPR, shaking hands, meeting the movers and shaker of the industry and bringing to you the reports both during and after the show.
Thank You Once Again,
Boston Jimmie
Publisher – Stogie Press