Do great ideas become great magazines?
Dean Cook • 10 April 2021

Those who aspire to start a magazine often contact us to take their idea to the next stage. Many paint a wonderful picture, but Dean Cook finds in some cases that the easel appears to be missing.


As with any business, starting a magazine carries risk, with eight out of ten failing by the fourth issue. However, with over three decades of experience, we have identified the patterns that cause magazines to fail and, therefore, welcome a chat at the beginning of your journey. With the right guidance, you could be among the two out of ten magazines that succeed. Here, we will evaluate the actual time, financial implications, and any perceived difficulties you will likely encounter. 


Quite frequently, the contact we receive is generally a desire to publish a magazine focusing on content and its look. While these are important, it's equally essential to ensure that the content is of high quality and that its viability is assessed. This is what will inspire and engage your readers. 


Advertisers ultimately pay for a service that enables their message to reach an audience via a quality publication. Therefore, the money they invest must be effective.


Before contemplating whether to publish a magazine, it's crucial to establish a route to your readers/market. If there is no route to a quality readership, advertisers will not be interested; without advertisers, there is no money, and without money, a magazine cannot survive. 


Before you contact us, here are our five top tips to help you build the basis of your business model:

  1. Has your route to market been identified? If not, how will you find your readers? 
  2. How is your magazine to be distributed? Multi-point pickup, door-to-door, mailed direct-to-door subscription, retail sales, or distributed at events; what method would work best?
  3. Are the quantities sufficient to satisfy advertisers' spend? What would their cost per reader be?
  4. Will your magazine contain unique and quality written content? If so, how would that be supplied to you? 
  5. How are the first several issues to be funded? Can you find ways to increase the longevity of the initial budget?


It would be straightforward to take on new business without engaging in a viability assessment with our clients. However, we aim to build quality, long-term business relationships. Not only that, we hate saying goodbye before we've reached the fourth issue.


If we think your publication has potential but believe you're not quite ready to launch, we would be more than happy to provide objective advice and guidance. We hope ideas can be developed and brought to fruition later. Why not contact us via our form? Click here.



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