I plan on starting my own quarterly magazine, I need tips on how to go about it?!


Question:

I plan on starting my own quarterly magazine, I need tips on how to go about it?

Budget, team members, columnists, investors, adverts etc


Answers:

It's a bit difficult to say as you don't say what kind of magazine you're talking about? Is it a lifestyle magazine or is it about a particular subject? Are you aiming for a particular age-group or people with a particular interest or hobby?

Either way, I think the other answer-er is right, better to start online and build up an audience before going to the expense of paying writers, designers, repro people, printers and distributors to produce a magazine that there might not be a readership for.

It's an expensive business and all the major publishing companies have actually been selling off underperforming titles and making people redundant. While this shows that the sector's in a bit of trouble at the moment, it also means that there will probably be quite a few more people freelancing who might be willing to help. It also means that there will be a lot more people who are just starting out who won't have so many publications to approach so you could look at getting recent graduates to write for you for free so they can get some practise and something to put in their pile of cuttings.

Another thing to think about is how you're going to make money. Are you hoping to get your magazine on the newsstands? That's a pretty tall order even for established magazines as it costs a lot not just in terms of money but in terms of the time and expertise it takes to negotiate something like that.

Depending on what kind of magazine you're planning, it might be worth going a different way and focusing on advertising. Many magazines give magazines to people for free, as long as they qualify for it. For example, you could send the magazine to every senior executive in the country and then certain advertisers would be more likely to advertise in your magazine because of the quality of people reading it and because these readers are their target audience. Without knowing more about your magazine I can't really give any more detail.

In terms of budget, again it's difficult to say. Ways to save money are to do as much of the writing as you can yourself.

Sign up to a decent picture library and use generic photographs where possible or photographs supplied by people invovled in the articles you write. People are very clued up about electronic photography these days and supplied photographs, as long as they're good enough, mean not having to commission a professional photographer unless you want something pretty special.

In terms of investors, it's impossible to say without knowing more about the magazine you plan to start.

Good luck with the mag!


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