The Ultimate Guide to Magazine Publishing

By Head start Magazine and author coaching

Ever wanted to start up your own magazine or magazine business? This is the ULTIMATE GUIDE to magazine publishing. Find everything from registering a business, idea storming to using Canva or Adobe for magazine creation and selling it wide and everything in between!
The book comes to an end with contacts in the industry to get you started. This is all you need to start up your magazine. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Winter Publishing
• Release date: Oct 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215327609

Book preview

Chapter 1

Conception

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Starting a magazine is a very empowering and creative venture that can lead you to many exciting places and allow you to meet a lot of amazing people. Congratulations on taking the first step toward your dream of starting a magazine! If you are going to create your magazine as we go, start by first downloading Abobe Indesign - Adobe InDesign - https://www.adobe.com/au/creativecloud/business-plans.html?plan=team&step=2&red=a or creating a Canva account for free - https://tinyurl.com/5yfhsk3y. When it comes to magazines, there are a lot of different avenues you can take in the way of topics. Here are a few that come to mind, but if you have a more unique idea, absolutely use it. You should not confine yourself to conventional ideas or feel the need to put yourself in a box.

●  Beauty/ Fashion

●  Topic

●  Fishing/ Specialty Sports

●  University

●  Men’s Health/ Lifestyle

●  Women’s Health/ Lifestyle

●  Sewing

●  Arts/ Crafts

●  Photography

●  Travel

●  Floristry

●  Business

●  Art’s and Floristry

And the list goes on. So how can you decide which topic to go with? My suggestion is to sit down and come up with a list of your favourite things to read in other magazines, or any interests that you have that other magazines haven’t covered. Having a niche that isn’t that well covered already can raise your chances of finding customers that have the same interests that haven’t been met, hence not putting yourself in a box. Look at it this way, the more competition you have, the less likely you are going to sell magazines.

Chapter 2

Registering your business

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It’s a good idea to start up a registered business to publish under (optional). Here are the reasons why - You look more professional, protection (if you face litigation, they can only take what the company has and not you as a person), to publish on certain hosting sites, you will need a business number (at least in Australia).

Setting up your business legally - Business name & number.

●  Firstly, you need to decide if you are setting this up as a Sole Trader (Individual), partnership, trust or company, (easy to google, to find out which one you are.)

You can find out more information and start the process here - https://register.business.gov.au/, if you are in Australia. If you are in the US, here is a guide for you - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dATSEwuBV84. If you are in the UK, here is a guide for you - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy9nvmOSaKs&t=18s. Though, if you are not in any of these countries, just do a quick google search for how to start a business in your country. I also have a video on how to go through the steps, here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_SZtr0AufM&t=13s (in Australia).

●  The next step is to set up a Business Name.

By this point, I am sure you have toyed with the exciting idea of naming your Magazine, but if you are still stuck, think about names that reflect the style, content and theme of your publication. If this doesn’t help, think about a name that reflects your own or something close to your heart. For example, my Magazine is called, ‘KBS Magazine’, which is an acronym of my own name. In my personal life, I have been nicknamed ‘Kari’ by those close to me, Brooke is my middle name and Spero was my maiden name. So there you have my magazine name. Another thing to note is that your legal business name does not have to be the same as the name of your publication; especially if you are a Sole Trader, in which case, your own name will be linked to your Business Number, and your magazine will just be a ‘product’ of that business. Though, if you do choose to register your magazine name down the road. (this can be a good idea in the case that anyone tries to copy your name, in which case if you don’t have it registered, you have no legal rights over it) You can link it to your existing ABN (Australian Business Number). You can register your business name for a smaller fee at websites such as: https://businessnameregistry.org/?gclid=CjwKCAjw5vz2BRAtEiwAbcVIL1ObGbEkFFUTLt67QxEO4oBWyV5fz0RX6LQU6Fy-KvM4YcRAkCMtOxoCX_EQAvD_BwE if you are in Australia.

If you are in the US, here is an affordable option: https://www.swyftfilings.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwmMX4BRAAEiwA-zM4JpsQ-wrYevzhsM4XCkM13kFbCGRJpX-alhoaTDTKGSYIzArqzAJxIxoCGsoQAvD_BwE

If you are in the UK: https://www.trademarkengine.com/sem/file/trademark-registration?gclid=CjwKCAjwmMX4BRAAEiwA-zM4JnutsI6HIgqPVZnboXCP_lf0E_M6Md7Bt_uCRDdZc2N92XMzfFosxRoCi6QQAvD_BwE.

Check out these videos on how to register a business ABN (Australian Business Number) for your magazine or business in Australia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_SZtr0AufM&t=12s

How to register a business in the US:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udgDndG4urg&t=595s

How to start a publishing company (full playlist )Useful for magazines too -

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQNez0zNO7lZdJK7fUqjCTCcyXKZpY691

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If you still are a bit unsure about whether or not getting a business name is right for you, we will discuss the pro's/benefits of getting yourself a business name.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1IPkfFwLMA&t=9s (As this video was geared toward self-published authors, just ignore the part about creating a publishing company, unless that’s something you want to do for your magazine and other publications. I publish my magazines and my books under my publishing company).

90 Day (customisable) planner - Here is a 90-day planner that I personally change to monthly, but you can set for any period of time, to use when making your magazine or trying to stay on track with your goals. Please make a