How to Publish a Magazine

The publishing business has a reputation as being a wonderful, glamorous, lucrative business. Nothing can be further from the truth. In reality it's a difficult, competitive business, which is quite risky. If you want to publish your own magazine, be prepared to work very, very hard and know that the possibility of failure is very real. You'll need very deep pockets to get your magazine off the ground [source: Magazine Launch]. If you're still interested, read on and find out how to publish a magazine.

Try to project your expected revenues by listing your sources of revenue. These might include:

Advertisers
Subscriptions
Newsstand sales

Analyze whether the market is big enough to support your magazine. Will the public pay for such a magazine? Will advertisers pay for ads in your type of magazine?

Analyze your start-up costs. These might include:

Office staff
Advertising to attract subscribers
Targeting potential advertisers
Newsstand development
Researching the market

Once you have all the hard facts, you'll be ready to launch your magazine. This will entail:

Design and Layout It's a good idea to hire a professional production company to do your magazine layout. Remember, it's extremely important that the layout is done correctly and includes an eye-catching cover.
Content Write, or have others write, all the articles, comments and editorials in your magazine. Make sure all the articles are written in the style you want. Make sure the editorials convey your views. Decide what article to feature on the cover.
Printing Select a printing company to print your magazine. Decide your specifications, including the type of paper to use. Printing is the largest ongoing expense for a magazine. Be careful not to print more copies than you think you can sell.
Sales and distribution Arrange to have your magazine sold in stores and at newsstands, in addition to selling subscriptions. Remember, you can only make money if the magazine is out there. Find a distributor who will deliver the magazine to stores and newsstands. Make sure the distributor will also handle mailing the magazine to direct subscribers [source: Magazine Publisher].