i want to start my own magazine but i don't know how?

Question

do anyone know if their is like a template i could use? and then to print it off myself or if their is like a magazine printer that has a template and print copies? all i know is what i want in the magazine and how i want it to look

Answer 1

To do it yourself - I recommend investing in some publishing software - my favorite is Adobe Pagemaker. This software has better layout flexibility than word processing programs like Word or WordPerfect. It also has templates that you could use.

Your other option is to work with a graphic designer at a professional print house. You'd supply the content and share your vision and they'd put it on paper for you.

You can print your magazine yourself - it just depends on the quality you are looking for in a print job and what kind of technical specifications that you have - for example if you bleed pages (i.e. ink all the way to the edge - you would probably get a better look from a print house than if you were to print the pages yourself and then cut them down.

If this is something you are planning to make money at - I suggest you develop a business plan first. You need to look at what your expenses will be, where your income would come from and develop a marketing plan. Your local chamber of commerce would have resources for organizations that could help you develop a business plan.

Designing and printing a magazine is very expensive.


Good luck.

Answer 2

Starting a magazine is more than the look. There is a concept to consider, how you are going to make money from it, who will want to read it and how to get those people to read it

Here are some steps to starting a magazine:

1. Conceptualize your magazine - what is its editorial voice, what types of information should it have, who should it be for
2. Determine how large (or small) your target audience - this can help you determine the viability of your idea. You don't want to start a magazine where only you and 2 friends would be interested in
3. Decide your revenue model - should it be by subscription or should it be by advertising, or both
4. Write your business plan to help you think through your idea
5. Gather a team to help you create your magazine (ad sales, layout, editorial team, printing, etc.) and decide whether to outsource or do in-house some of the processes involved.
6. Raise financing
7. Start production

I suggest you go through the following resources:

Magazine Publishers of America http://www.magazine.org
MagazineLaunch.com http://www.magazinelaunch.com
10 Tips on How to Launch a Magazine http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/articles/2004/11/16/10tips
The Surviving Small Press http://www.laughingbear.com/magazine.htm

Some books you need to read:

- Launch Your Own Magazine: A Guide For Succeeding in Today's Marketplace by Samir Husni
- The Magazine: Everything You Need to Know to Make It in the Magazine Business, by Leonard Mogel
- The Magazine: From Cover to Cover, by Johnson, Sammye; Prijatel, Patricia
- Career Opportunities in Magazine Publishing by
Monti, Ralph
- Starting and Running a Successful Newsletter or Magazine by Woodard, Cheryl

Answer 3

i think the best way to learn is to work at a magazine place and see how it's done, even as an intern. You're going to need $$ and for paper (i started a student newspaper at my school) go to a printers office. Much cheaper than printing it yourself. When i did layout - i was just creative and made one myself. You don't have to copy others, just create it yourself. You're going to need writers, editors too.

Answer 4

The first thing, and most important thing is, you need the writers...

1. Decide if its going to be a weekly, monthly, periodical, etc....

2. Who will be your focal point of interest...fashion, news, sports, etc.

3. Try getting a job as an intern with some other publication for about six months.

4. Good luck...

Answer 5

The best way to get your mag off the ground without the cost of printing is to start it online, and develop the content and the readership, and perhaps get some money from advertisers-- then go to the print medium.

Answer 6

you dont know much. sorry to point out the obvious facts but you need to know a heck of a lot more than just how you want it to look and what you want in it. but my main advice is find out your basics: everything from your target market, to your circulation, your paper quality, your spec size, advertising??? etc etc etc.

Answer 7

Well, first of all, you need content. For content, you need writers.

Answer 8

your not going to have much luck if your not famous you got to now the connections no effence or anything