Your experiences mag publishing

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Permalink Reply by Little Shiva on August 25, 2008 at 4:08pm

I love working for startup mags as long as they can pay me something for my efforts. The thing that always makes 'em fold is not realizing that PROMOTION AND SALES are as important as content and design. You have to be able to sustain over the long haul.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Michem on August 25, 2008 at 6:53pm

I totally agree> I once worked, (if you called not getting pay for six month work), for a start up. After the first staff meeting, I walked out, thinking these guys are not going to last long, very little about ads were mention. It was all about editorial. It died after two issues.

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Permalink Reply by Joshua Thomas on September 23, 2008 at 8:47pm

I hear ya'. I used to enjoy working with startups (still do on occasion) but I've gotten a bit burnt out on watching the majority of them fizzle out after a short-lived couple of years.

It seems a lot of independent startups put too much emphasis on content and appearance alone and don't realize how multi-faceted a successful launch is.

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Permalink Reply by ms. cookie on June 17, 2009 at 11:35am

so wht is the multi-faceted steps of the magazine that i need to take to make a successful magazine, wht is the firsts step to see my dream

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Permalink Reply by ms. cookie on June 17, 2009 at 11:19am

hey there, i agree with u, but as a first time publisher is that the first thing that i need to do or what?

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Permalink Reply by Eddie Lee Rider, Jr. on September 14, 2008 at 11:35am

I have always worked for publishing companies. I have launched dozens of magazines, but always with that support system of an existing company. My current publication is 100% my own. While in development, a Dallas-based publisher offered to buy our intellectual property and our few assets (website, etc) and keep me and my business partner on to run it. We sold it and everything was roses...until the publisher decided to not fund the company any longer seven months later.

Long story short, we bought the assets and IP back and are publishing today thanks to the support of our advertisers and keeping the operation lean and mean.

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Permalink Reply by Don Tydeman on September 23, 2008 at 5:49pm

I had the good fortune of working for a very successful high tech publishing company during the 80's and 90's. During my nearly 20 years at the company. I saw it grow from a 'mom & pop' startup to a public company that was eventually sold for just under $1Billion. All of that growth created lots of opportunity to grow with it and my niche was to create new B2B and B2C newspapers and magazines. I led the launch teams of 5 publications that were primarily controlled circulation (one was paid). Several years ago I was involved with a new, mass market, general interest magazine. We were ultimately able to get it published (three issues) but the investor/publisher that we partnered with pulled the plug as I would have as given the environment we found ourselves in after 09/11. (Timing is important!). So I've seen some ups and downs. Now I am about to start a new 'thing' on a smaller scale and look forward to the fight. I look forward to this discussion board and thanks to Richard Michem for launching it!

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Permalink Reply by Debra Bates-Schrott on May 8, 2009 at 2:11pm

We have done many prototypes for new launches. The biggest mistake we see is lack of knowledge, planning, strategy and $$ behind it. There are so many facets to publishing a magazine. Make sure you work with someone who understands them all and can help lead the way with strategic thinking.

Will be posting several articles in the upcoming weeks at http://www.batescreativegroup.com/align

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Permalink Reply by John B. Byrne on June 3, 2009 at 8:42pm

Have done many start-ups since 1983. The ones that succeeded used the sales process as a means of establishing feasibility. Getting them into the black before our first press run usually spelled some degree of success; keeping on top of what worked in the beginning, and building on that, ensured long-term returns. In this economy, you can sell and still get burned. I pre-sold enough space last year to launch three more books in Hawaii. As we began to go into production, and the economy began to tank, I could see the writing on the wall: these clients were all facing an economic disaster--one I wasn't about to bank on. So, I had to bail, before I was into them for too much.... Adequate capitalization doesn't always guarantee success--but a lack of it is brutal.

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Permalink Reply by ms. cookie on June 17, 2009 at 11:17am

Well Mr. Richard, my experience in starting my own mag, has been a hard one. I have no clue where i need to start!! My first step has been to try and get grants to help in my business venture, that seems to be difficult but i am going to keep going. As a first time magazine publisher, can u tell me what i need to do to get things roleing

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