How to Start a Magazine in 6 Steps
Starting a magazine is not as difficult as it is. I started a few myself and have published them successfully over the years. Remember, it's hard work, but if you can meet a few key requirements, you can make your magazine work.
What are these few key requirements?
1) You Need Money To Do It - Every startup needs capital, and magazines aren't created equal. How much do you need? It only costs a few hundred dollars (excluding printing costs) to get your first issue on the street and / or newsstands. A planned high-end book will cost you thousands of dollars, depending on the market you are entering and how big you are to start. The key is to deploy the skills you need and do the chores yourself, instead of hiring an office full of staff and payrolls (I'll cover those skills in minutes and talk more about money in minutes) . .
2) Equipment: At least a good computer that can run the various software you need (at least Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop), a good DSLR like the Nikon D50, which costs about $ 750, a reliable phone and car.
3) The Earning Potential: Magazines major and minor appear in ads, not yours. I cannot stress enough the importance of having a solid sales strategy before starting this project. I'll talk about selling later.
4) Creativity: You can't live without offering your readers something new in an attractive package and that creativity is essential.
Step 1: Develop the framework
You probably have an opinion about the type of magazine you want to publish, but you have to make a basic structure of it. Choose a name for your magazine carefully and be careful not to judge a brand by searching the United States trademark database.
You should also consider the domain name of your website when choosing your name. Look for open domains that match your journal name as closely as possible. It's okay to use some weird sudo movies on magazine domains like savvy life mag . Register your domain and contact a web development company you'd like to launch on your new magazine website. Personally, I like 22 Creative because they specialize in magazine sites. Your website doesn't have to be great at first, just something professional that shows who you are and what your book is about. Expect a few hundred to a thousand dollars here. However, skipping this document is an essential part of this website process.
They have a name and a website. What's next? Find out what your first problem should be by writing an editorial synopsis. Great name, but just write what you want to highlight, how many pages you want to dedicate to each article and how many ad pages you want to save (it depends on how many ads you sell for your first issue). How many pages should your magazine have? Two factors play a role in this. One is the cost of printing the magazine, as printing a larger magazine will obviously cost more, and the other is the number of publishers you can or want to produce. You don't need a 100 page book for your first edition. Depending on what your competitors are doing, view approximately 50 pages of a local or lifestyle magazine and distribute more than 90 of the magazines you want about new skills. National news.
Step 2: It's time to produce content
Contrary to popular belief, it doesn't take an army of "journalists" to get your first issue out. I have provided material for hundreds of magazines myself or with the help of a few people, it's not that difficult.
Start with article number one in your editorial sketch. First, write your copy and write the basic editing guidelines (Google will look for this with a lot of help). Invite your friends to read the copy and ask for their honest opinion. Have you ever lost the attention of your readers? Are your facts correct? Do you have a typo?
A picture literally says more than a thousand words. People like pictures, big colorful pictures and a lot. Decide how many photos you need for the part and whether you can take the photos yourself or buy them from a stock photo service