New Magazine
Startup Guide
Many people have a "Great Idea" for a magazine but
before you begin a magazine launch there is a lot you
need to know and plenty of financial support will be
required. Unfortunately, there is no guide book, startup
course, or specialized business consultants to help new
magazine developers learn the terminology of the industry
or the perils that could lie ahead. Unless you have been
involved in the magazine business in some form -
everything will be new and unfamiliar.
Approximately only one out of ten new magazine
ventures will ever be successful. If a individual or
business entity cannot absorb the loss of investment in
starting and growing a magazine venture, then such a
venture should never be undertaken. Magazine publishing
is both speculative and risky.
Successful magazines seem to find a special niche or
have an identifiable difference from magazine titles that
are currently on the market. Also - the successful titles
seem to serve a relevance or a need for the consumer
market they cover. Many magazine titles serve consumers
passions as more and more are focusing on very specific
niches. Give your magazine the difference and relevance
test.
Magazine Publisher's Startup Guide is just an
overview. It was written to help individuals and
businesses looking to develop a magazine get a better
understanding to what is involved and needed in a
magazine startup. It is intended to give you a better
overview of the new challenges ahead and a better
understanding of magazine requirements and terms. After
which you can find more detailed and useful magazine
information within our web site
www.MagazinePublisher.com
With the technological advancements in magazine
printing presses along with the ability to design
magazines in digital computer programs has made for the
ability of magazines to become more profitable in smaller
circulation numbers.
Still every magazine success comes down to this simple
fact:
What are the costs associated with
publishing?
vs.
What are the total revenues earned?
The two tests that you need to prepare are:
#1 Evaluate your projected revenue
#2 Analyze your magazine operational
costs
Magazines are still driven by three main sources of revenue:#1 Advertisers - (who buy ads)
#2 Subscriptions - (people who pay to receive
the magazine)
#3 Newsstand Sales
There are a wide range of different kinds of magazines
incorporating various combinations of revenue sources-
local, free pick up magazines that rely totally on ad
revenue to the niche subscriber magazines that carry no
advertising and rely totally on subscriber and ancillary
sources* of revenue.
* ancillary income is any additional source of revenue
gained by marketing or selling products or services
associated with a magazine title. An example would be
t-shirts with the magazine's logo.
To be successful publisher's need to address the
following:
A. Is there a market big enough to support
the magazine?
B. Are there subscribers willing to pay for such
a magazine? and how much are they willing to pay
?
C. Are advertisers interested in reaching this
market and willing to pay for ads to do so?
Determine the costs associated with publishing your
magazine title and then you will have a good barometer of
how much revenue you will need to cover those costs...the
average magazine can take years to become profitable - so
you need to be prepared to have plenty of financial
resources to cover the costs during the start up period
of building your magazine brand to profitability.
There are costs associated with beginning many
new magazine titles that will be incurred before
even the first issue is printed.
General Costs:
- Office Selection- Or work out of the home.
- Staff Selection - Or do all the work yourself
- Targeting Potential Advertisers - Do you need
presentation materials and rates/samples/etc.?
- Direct mail lists - For targeting subscribers
- Design and layout of Mailing Piece/Advertising Rate
Card
- Mailing Postage for soliciting subscriptions
- Address or P.O. Box to accept solicitations and
subscriptions
- Newsstand Development/distribution contract
These are a few of the start-up costs that need to be
factored into your business development plan. Once all of
the beginning and fixed costs are established and you can
see the overhead associated with your title - it is then
time to begin budgeting your individual magazine issues
and see what numbers have to be achieved not only to
cover the costs of producing, printing, and distributing
each issue but to cover the other associated costs as
well.
Many factors contribute to the riskiness and failure
of magazine publishing including, but not limited to the
following:
- Poor Magazine Focus
- Under Capitalization
- Over-Estimation of circulation
- Over-Estimation of advertising revenue
- Lack of focused editorial concept
- Lack of "mission"
- Overstaffing
- Lack of Significant Advertising Base
- Poor Management
With the proper planning and execution these risks may
be minimized, neutralized, and even avoided.
Once you have done the research, planned your
costs, put your finances in place and are still
determined to proceed with your new magazine title - it
is time to execute production of your 1st issue.
Per Issue Costs:
- Design and Layout of Magazine:- first issue &
subsequent issues
- Content: Stories, Photographs, Features, Ads (this
you will need to provide or have access to)
- Magazine Printing:
Printing costs will vary vastly for magazines from
base upward (see Printing Info
page)
1. The Style of magazine that is produced
2. The number of pages in the magazine
3. The number of magazines printed
4. The distribution (mailed to subscribers or trucked
to one or multiple locations, or a combination of the
two)
Remember that Per Issue Costs will repeat every
time you do an issue: month, Bimonthly, Quarter or
annually.
From an outside perspective it seems like an
unimaginable amount of effort and planning to get a first
magazine issue to market. It does require organization.
It can be long term rewarding experience if you properly
plan and have the market to support your title. There can
be some comfort in knowing that a professional magazine
production and printing resource does exist (Magazine
Publisher) and is willing to accept work from serious
start ups.
Design & Layout
You can hire a professional production company to design
and layout your magazine pages...or do the work yourself.
Keep in mind there are technical specs in which magazines
must be submitted in order to print. Only a few layout
programs are acceptable. For complete details see
Magazine Publisher's "Custom
Magazine Design" or "Submitting
Print Ready files".
Content
Organizing content for your issues can be a detailed
application. It is your responsibility to pull together
all editorial and advertising content to be used in each
issue. If you have multiple writers it is important to
convey to them how you want their stories submitted. It
is important that advertisers supply their ads in proper
formats. Clearly communicating on the front end what you
expect will help eliminate headaches.
It is best to first organize all advertisers that will
be included in the upcoming issue of your magazine.
Identify placement (if the advertiser has requested a
specific location like inside the cover) and verify that
all the digital art for each advertisement is complete.
Any ads needing creation by the digital department will
need to be done first so the advertiser has time to
approve the layout. The next step is to categorize your
articles and pull together the text files and
accompanying photos to be used. Having the text keyed-in
and thoroughly proofed before it goes to production can
help reduce errors and costs associated with revising
proofs. Once competed and organized it is time to turn
over the files for issue production to your production
staff. Remember a clear identification of stories text,
photos, captions and ad placements can help direct
production artist as they begin to digitally create each
page for the magazine. A small hand-made "mock-up"
magazine can even be put together with notations on what
goes where to help direct the production artist.
Printing
Select a company that is a publication printer or a
magazine specialist. These printers run web presses that
are designed for the optimal costs and quality in
magazine printing. A publication printer will have
standard magazine sizes, page counts, and paper stock
that can help simplify your print process and reduce your
costs - yet deliver a high quality magazine. Use their
professionals to get the information and options that can
save you money.
Minimum press runs will generally start at 5,000 or
more and the plants will employ state-of-the-art
technology. There are many so called 'printers' who claim
they can print magazines. Beware: Many are small sheet
fed print plants that try to print everything from
business cards to paperback books still use film process
to plate. Understand the magazine print industry and
educate youself to the print process - the more you will
appreciate the need to use a publication printing plant.
To meet the specialized needs of magazine publishers,
many printing plants have even been designed to
specifically service the short and medium run magazine
market. Magazine Publisher invites publishers to tour the
impressive press facilities.
A publication printer will have distribution and
mailing methods in house to support the destination
requirements for each magazine title.
Distribution
Producing a quality magazine title is only part of the
process. Timely distribution is equally important.
Depending on your titles distribution requirements there
are various means of 'distribution'. Mailing to
subscribers both domestically and Internationally is best
done from the print facility for speed, cost, and
accuracy. Magazine plants that specialize in magazines
have in house mail facilities that handle distribution
tasks so your title will not have time lags or double
shipping bills. It also means you deal directly with one
facility. Bulk permit and labeling applications directly
from your supplied database information should also be
offered. Distribution can also mean truck Shipping to
Newsstand distributors or to your facilities. Often
newsstand companies require multiple warehouses to be
serviced or shipped to in accordance with your
distribution plans. Again, direct and accurate labeling
and transportation assures newsstand dates will not get
missed by transportation or shipping errors.
Q. How do I begin to reach subscribers?
There are various ways to reach the end use audience.
Many publishers buy databases of the demographic groups
their magazine targets and solicit there subscriptions
via postal solicitations such as postcards, letters,
advertising materials or even sample magazines.
Advertisements in targeted media publications such as
newspapers or magazines or electronic means such as
putting up an internet site or running targeted TV ads is
ways of getting your title exposure to it's intended
market. Newsstand distribution is an added way of getting
your magazine title noticed and purchased with
subscriptions coming from people who like the magazine.
Newsstands approve and accept new magazines on an
individual basis and do not commonly accept unproven
titles.
Q. Who sells the ads?
There are very few publishers reps around that will
sell ads for sart up magazine titles. Unless you have a
million dollar budget you are probably going to have to
do the calling and ad sales on your own from the
beginning.
Q. How do you reach advertisers?
Get out the phone book and call on them. Compile a
list of targeted advertisers and send them a media kit.
Follow-up with contact or phone call. The hardest part of
a startup is to get advertisers who are willing to
advertise in a new unproved media outlet. As time and
magazine recognition increase - so will advertisers
acceptance.
Q. How much will it cost me to start up my
title?
Many factors are involved with Magazine Start up
costs. Some are outlined in the text above. A lot of
costs depend on what kind of magazine you wish to start,
how large a circulation you are going to have (another
words how many magazines you print), how many pages your
are going to have in each issue, as well as your
marketing and overhead. A small niche subscription base
magazine can probably be launched for under $50,000 - a
full featured newsstand consumer magazine would require
into the millions to successfully launch. You need to run
the numbers and do the financial planning involved in
your magazine start up specs.
Q. How long will it take before I make
money?
The hard facts are most magazines never make money.
Magazine success rate is 10-20% of new titles will ever
be successful. While successfully magazines can make
money quickly generally magazines take 3-5 years to
become profitable.
Q. How do I get my magazines on the
newsstand?
The newsstands are controlled by very few companies
both in America and abroad. The companies that control
the newsstands are always interested in new products that
have a large audience and high sell rates, but more
importantly they like established titles with proven
track records of publishing. These firms will generally
charge a fee to evaluate your magazine title and decide
if they will accept for their newsstands. There are also
Circulation Service companies that are a bit more
responsive to start ups as they do much of the ground
work and have the contacts and systems in place to get
magazines on newsstands. A circulation specialist can get
your new title some limited newsstand exposure to see the
sell ability and potential growth for the new magazine.
It may take a couple of issues and 4-6 months of build up
before your magazine title ever gets to a
newssatnds.
Q. Where can I get content?
The content and quality of the editorial are what
drive the success of subscriptions and advertising
support within a magazine! Many make the mistake of not
making the editorial and content focussed enough or
abundant enough to appeal to the targeted end user.
Most magazine publishers focus on niches they have
knowledge, interest, and contacts in.
Over the years and with modern developments in
technolgy the traditional magazine editorial model is now
not always the same.
We now see magazine content generated in many
different ways:
- Traditional staff of editors and copy writers,
photographers
- Outsourcing and hiring of freelance writers
- Friends and associates with professional expertise
in the field
- Web site submissions
- Public submissions
- Stock photos
- Partnerships with other content providers
- Publishers developing all content themselves
This is what defines and makes each magazine unique.
The content plays an important role in the success or
failure of magazine titles.
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Tips
for Future Publishers
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We frequently meet and talk to people who are
thinking of starting a new magazine. Often such people
spend most of their time worrying about how their
publication will LOOK, not how it will SELL. Sadly, more
than two-thirds of new publications started by first-time
publishers flop within a few months. Luckily, there are
some simple steps you can take to increase the odds that
your own publishing ideas will succeed.
1. Concentrate on markets that you know very
well.
For a small publisher with limited resources, the best
strategy is to stick to a market you already understand
very well. If you really know what you're talking about,
then your magazine is probably going to be useful to it's
readers. In addition, you'll find it easier to manage
your magazine business if you have a deep connection to
your field.
2. Listen to your readers and advertisers and
develop products responsive to their needs.
The worst mistake people make is this: They concentrate
on what they want to WRITE, not on what the audience
wants to READ. Of course, great communicators listen as
well as they speak. So give your customers plenty of
opportunities to tell you what they think. For example,
use polls or e-mail to solicit their comments and
suggestions. Study the information habits of your
audience before you design your magazine.
3. Aim for readers who have continuing information
needs.
It takes money to find new readers and earn their trust,
so look for people who will need you years from now as
much as they need you today. For example, you can
concentrate on divorce lawyers not individuals going
through a divorce.
4. Get help from experienced people.
The quicker you learn the magazine trade, the sooner you
can expect to succeed. Experienced people can help you
learn quickly. Sometimes you can get excellent advice for
free from people right in front of you like your magazine
printer or your banker. If you come across someone you
respect, don't be shy about asking them for business
suggestions. As soon as you can afford to do it, hire
people with magazine experience to advise you.
5. Adopt good ideas whenever you find them.
In other words, don't reinvent the printing press. Study
other magazines and get to know other publishers. One
fast way to master the business is to study what's
already working from other publishers and what is not.
For example, collect media kits from other magazines or
renewal promotion letters from other magazine and see if
you can borrow some good tactics from them.
6. Befriend influential people in the market you
are targeting and ask them to support your
magazine.
Key people in your field can support you in many ways:
sharing their thoughts in a column or interview,
introducing you to their colleagues, or simply helping
you understand trends and new developments. Reach out to
them!
7. Study the results of your actions.
Especially if you are new to magazine publishing you'll
learn much more quickly if you keep track of what you're
doing. Concentrate your efforts where you are most
effective. Code your subscription order forms, for
example, so that you can see which direct mail letter or
advertisement produces the most orders. Then concentrate
your money on the top producers.
8. Be prepared for change
Save some of your resources for the proverbial rainy day
and always consider alternative strategies ahead of time
because the one thing you can count on is change. New
competitors will come along, readers will change their
reading habits, and your organization will need to
continually evolve. Many inexperienced publishers lock
themselves into a single strategy and they fall apart
when their circumstances change. Can you keep publishing
even if a key editorial contributor decides to quit for
example? What ever happened to all those "Dot Com"
magazines?
9. Look for ancillary profit opportunities.
Once you've got a trusting relationship with advertisers
and subscribers, look for add-on or spin-off products you
can sell to the same customers. Many magazines make
profits from special reports, seminars, books, videos,
and other ancillary products.
10. Plan well before you leap into print.
Magazines are relatively easy to launch but hard to
maintain. Make sure you've chosen a subject that you care
about and that you're suited to a publisher's lifestyle.
The best insurance is to do a lot of homework before you
launch: learn as much as you can about publishing, study
your audience and your competitors, and carefully define
your own goals and aspirations. Don't go forward until
you've got a long-term plan you can live with.
Questions?
If this page sparks additional questions or comments,
please feel free to direct them to:
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