Anyone here have any experience in it?
Any companies out there that would, say, provide limited production runs and minimal administrative support for such an endeavor?
The other option I was thinking of was just printing it out at home and stapling it all together. But, I’d like to distribute the magazine nationally (eventually).
Thanks all!
It’s not easy.
Have you done your market research?[ul][li]How large is your potential audience?[/li][li]How can you reach them? Are there mailing lists you can use for direct mailing? (DM is the only way to get new subscribers.)[/li][li]Who are your competitors, how many are there, how long have they been publishing, what will you offer that they don’t?[/ul]Do you have a business plan?[ul][]Have you consulted with experts in the subject matter and experts in magazine publishing? Do they agree that there’s a need for your magazine?[/li][li]Have you estimated production costs, marketing costs, revenues, break-even points, etc.?[/li][li]How many potential advertisers are there?[/li][li]How much do they spend annually on magazine advertising, how much do they spend with your competitors, and how will you get them to advertise in your magazine?[/ul]Do you have [ul][]writers[/li][li]editors[/li][li]layout artists[/li][li]photographers[/li][li]marketing/sales people[/li][li]etc. etc. etc.?[/ul]There are several million other questions that need to be answered before you can decide whether you have a really viable concept. Start with books about starting a small business and making a business plan. Work through them carefully and honestly. DO NOT assume that because you think it’s a great idea that it will be successful. [/li]
A couple of basic points. The biggest cost to starting and operating any publication is marketing. If your goal is to get 10,000 subscribers you will have to send out between 200,000 to 1 million (!!!) pieces of direct mail (i.e. a response rate of 1-5%), at a minimum of 60 or 70 cents per piece. Do you have $120,000 (minimum) for your first mailing?
Another thing to remember is that starting out a publication may look attractive because you get the subscribers’ money before you give them anything. But if you don’t get enough subscribers to get started, or if you can’t finish your first year, you have to give all that money back (unless you declare bankruptcy). So you could spend (using round numbers) $100,000 on your first mailing, get 3,000 orders @ $10 = $30,000, but if that’s not a big enough response to justify a launch, you have to refund it, and you’re out the $100,000 and all your other startup costs. So it’s not something you can just jump into.
To answer your question, yes, there are printers who will print and handle fulfillment (accepting orders, maintaining subscription lists, mailling issues, processing renewals, etc.) for you. Shop around. The best deal may be in a state a thousand miles away from you.
Doing your own printing is probably not a viable option, although if your numbers are small enough, handling your own fulfillment probably is. For instance, I publish a 28-page monthly business newsletter that is sent to less than 500 subscribers around the world. I have it printed at a local print shop (I used to use Kinko’s), and then stuff them into envelopes, stick on the mailing labels, meter, and mail them from my dining room table. (FYI: I’m not doing color printing on slick paper.)
It seems that you have little or no magazine or publishing experience. If I’m right, I strongly recommend you look for a job at a magazine (possibly one of your potential competitors) and get some inside experience before you try to strike out on your own. There’s a lot you have to know to make a publishing venture work.
BTW, welcome to the SDMB!
Don’t they call those “zines” when they’re self published? That would be a useful term to search on for more info.
My wife and I publish a monthly magazine in our hometown.
Right now it’s generally around 32 pages in size, with 5,000 copies printed each month on newsprint with one additional color on some pages. We’re entering our third year of the business and we’ve always been in the black, although not a whole lot over the breakeven point for a lot of the first year.
We, of course, started small and want to stay relatively small. I have another full-time job and we have a three-year-old, so this is a part-time endeavor now.
We both had journalistic experience with weekly newspapers before launching our own publication. My wife was a reporter and later editor of the local weekly newspaper. I’ve worked in graphic design, printing production, advertising, copy writing, and illustration for more than twenty years.
We have a couple of free-lance writers, but basically we do the rest ourselves.
It can be done, but read all of commasense’s post again.
It’s tough if you don’t have some background experience and you’re trying to launch something nationally.
Our first run will be 50 issues, 5 issues to 10 stores that we think will support the sales. 
I have marketing and business managment experience. Photography and subsequently graphic design are a hobby. My partner is crime has written articles for review before. Another friend is an artist, another a web guru, another a total tech geek who has also written articles. I’ll recruit free-lancers as neccessary. This basically going to be a home-brew, grass-roots, type thing at first.
We are starting with the 5 of us and then expanding as we see fit. Print the stuff at home, distribute, etc. I found some printers that can do 1000 issues, 8-40 full-color pages, between $1.25 to $3.42 an issue. However, we won’t go there until we have some solid advertising contracts and a mailing list to support such an endeavor.
I was more curious on the small scale side of thigs. Companies that can do small production runs, etc.
Thanks for the input everyone!
eb
If you don’t mind, what’s the theme/focus of your magazine?
I’m the business manager of a magazine and I can tell you that the biggest barrier to national distribution is that the major stores won’t deal with individuals. They use distributors for their magazine purchases. And distributors have little to no interest in dealing with a small magazine. The costs of sending small numbers of copies to large numbers of stores and having to account for returns are much higher than the money they can take in.
If you can somehow become moderately successful first or have a unique product that would be in demand, you might have a better chance. But I can tell you that store distribution is the nightmare of all small magazines these days.
I have to say that I wholeheartedly agree with al;l the points discussed by commasense and VernWinterbottom. I publish an independent monthly music paper here in Madison with a circulation of 8,000, (28 pages, newsprint, tabloid size, mostly black & white with 8 full color pages)and that alone is enough to keep us hopping. (I do the design, layout, photography and some interviews, my partner writes the majority of the features)
Independent publishing is a tough business, but very rewarding. We're putting out our 12th issue this month (wow, one year already...) and I consider myself very fortunate to have met, worked with, interviewed and shot the calibre of people I have in the past year.
As for production, surround yourself with quality people who believe in what they are doing, and you'll have won half the battle. No one person can handle all the task necessary for a high quality regular publication, every month, without fail (insert your periodicity here, YMMV).
I'd be happy to assist with questions you might have regarding layout, design, using print houses etc, just email me through the boards here.
But if your experience is anything like ours has been, your true headaches will be in advertising and distribution.
[minor rant hijack]
One third of your advertisers will NEVER get their ads in on time or in the proper format, resolution or something. Yet you can't take TOO hard a line with your deadlines, especially in the early months, or the advertisers will just blow you off and not spend the money...
[/minor rant hijack]
Sorry… - been a theme in this month’s issue…
Good luck with everything!!
Now I’ve got to go, cause I go to press Monday morning and I’ve got about 10 more pages to layout… *grumble, grumble, grumble *