Creating a Magazine
There are many people who have a gift to write and would just love to start their own magazine. Creating and launching a magazine of one's own can prove to be a very rewarding and fun adventure. However it can also involve a lot of hard work, commitment and money to accomplish the venturous dream. Because of this, it is important for new publishers to count the costs before venturing out. There are many decisions to make when creating a magazine such as what type of magazine will be published, what major topic or topics will be talked about and how the final product will be advertised and distributed.
The Various Forms of Magazine Publications
A magazine publisher has to decide in what form the magazine will be presented. Free publications, for example, are funded by advertising costs and they typically extend to many regions. Zine publications are small publications. They are photocopied and sold to subscription audiences. Newsletters are publications that are similar to magazines; however, they are typically connected to some sort of business entity. Newsletters are often provided to people with memberships. Online magazines have become very popular over the years. They are reasonably lower in price. They also have a greater capacity to reach a much larger audience than print magazines.
Choosing a Magazine Topic
- For magazine creators, one of the first steps, in addition to deciding on the form of the magazine, will be to decide on the topic for the magazine. In deciding on the topic, publishers generally do research to find whether another publisher is already filling the need. However, just because there may be another publisher with the same topic already, it does not necessarily mean that the new, up-and-coming publisher would not be successful with the topic as well. If the publisher is a very large and successful one, however, the new publisher would more than likely consider moving forward with a different topic. The next step will be to discover how many people are interested in the topic of choice. The new publisher must make sure that there is an audience that is interested enough in the topic for the magazine to be successful. However, if the new publisher is more concerned about making a profit and cannot come up with a specific topic, it may be a good idea for the publisher to go with regional magazines. Whatever the publisher decides, it is important to be committed to the task and to understand the risks involved because magazine publishing is considered to be a very risky business.
Designing the Magazine
- In the process of establishing the magazine, the publisher will choose a good style and design for the magazine. He may contract others to assist him with this process. A good style and design will include a good layout, page size, number of pages and a nice type face to fit the magazine style. In addition, whether the magazine will be in black and white, part color or in full color must be decided upon.
Advertising and Promoting the Magazine
- Before the very first issue is made, a new publisher will begin advertising and promoting the magazine. Getting the consumers ready and excited about the magazine is very important. Publishers will generally begin sending mock pages of their magazine to several businesses so that the businesses can get an idea about the new magazine. Often these pages are also included in the publisher's media kits. By doing this, it is a way to recruit and get advertisers to become encouraged and excited about promoting and advertising the new magazine because they can see, first hand, what they are investing in.
Getting Licensed
- All businesses, whether they are operated out of the home or some where else, will need to have a license or permit to operate. This also applies to magazine publishers. The publisher must fill out an application in her county to see if she can use the name she has chosen for the magazine. However, if the publisher is publishing the magazine by using her own name, typically no applications need to be filed.
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