Magazine people?

Has anyone here ever worked for a magazine?

Well, I work for a company that publishes trade mags for industry. No tiki possibilitis in the articles...

Yes, why?

I had an idea for the bestest magazine ever and I have absolutely no idea how to go about making it, so I am casting a wide net for brains to pick. }:)

Like, probably, I should start as a small 'zine. I think there are guide books on that. Plus, I have some friends locally that do a tattoo magazine and can probably explain stuff to me.

Still, any suggestion on the how-to is greatly appreciated.

I don't actually work for a magazine, but I have had several articles published in professional publications (PI Magazine, Repossessor and a couple of others).

Depending on what kinda mag you're looking at, I would probably suggest that you accept articles from various "expert" sources on a particular topic.

Oh yeah, use lots of pictures...I like pictures!

My understanding is that there are small magazine print shops that make small magazines for many companies. I would look at some local small magazines in your area and look inside to see who printed it. Also alot of local newspapers offer that service also. Hope that helps...

send an e-mail to Otto, he's the resident expert on start-ups.
In a previous life I wrote for Automotive News and Autoweek, then moved on to public relations.

I do a zine on punk and indie rock in my spare time and I have some info on small publishers that can print your mag in a run with alot of others, to cut costs. Let me know if you want me to dig out the info for you.

About zines, you've probably heard of the RE/Search "Zines" books, that chronicle some of the ones from recent years. Interesting and fun. Probably one of the best ways to get people to know about your zine is to advertise in the other related zines.

There are a bunch of zine-sters here on TC or within a degree of separation of this crowd (Tiki News, Continental, Point Break, Murder Can Be Fun, Cheeseball, etc.), some more active than others. Cool And Strange Music magazine http://www.coolandstrange.com/ is a great model for a zine that's gotten consistently increasing readership, stocked in Tower stores now.

-Randy (who spent a summer working at the NY publisher of GAMES, Creative Ideas For Living, and Needlecraft For Today magazines)

Thanks, everyone!

I will be contacting some of you Individually. }:)

I worked for 4 years collectively for publishers of city magazines (Sarasota Magazine, Tampa Bay Magazine) and one trade magazine (Interactive Teacher) as a Creative Director, Art Director, and plain old bottom of the totem pole designer. I could probably answer production questions and give you some idea about costs, although the production manager typically took care of the numbers side of things.

On 2003-01-31 13:26, aquarj wrote:
About zines, you've probably heard of the RE/Search "Zines" books, that chronicle some of the ones from recent years. Interesting and fun. ...

Speaking of RE/Search publications, "Zines vol. II" has an interview with Otto von Stroheim. It was published 1997 and has a brief history of Tiki News, a couple photos and excerpts from Tiki News as well as the Tiki Manifesto. No modern Tiki bookshelf should be without this book.

Fortunately it's still available.

Directly from RE/Search:
http://www.researchpubs.com/

Amazon:
Zines Vol. II