How Do I Start a Magazine? A magazine is a business, so you need to treat it as such.

Q: I don'treally want to start a business, but I want to start a magazine.Have any advice, like any books I should check out or Websites?

A: The first thingI need to address is your statement "I don't really wantto start a business, but I want to start a magazine." Ifyou're serious about this and you want your magazine to be morethan, say, a community newsletter that you hand out for free, amagazine is a business just like any other, with revenue to be madeand customers to find and retain.

Magazines, whether online or offline, make their money fromadvertisers who pay to reach readers, not from the readersthemselves, even with paid subscriptions. Soliciting advertising isno easy task, especially in today's tough ad market. Therefore,it's imperative that you (or an employee, if you can afford tohave one) be a good salesperson capable of demonstrating topotential advertisers why they should care about the marketyou're targeting with your magazine. If, say, you'restarting a beauty magazine, you would go after hair-care andcosmetics companies, fashion retailers and the like. Not only that,but you need to show these companies how your particular magazineis an effective means of communicating the advertisers'message--you need to show that you have a strong readership or thepotential for a strong readership.

Your best bet is to start a niche magazine that will target avery specific market. You'll have a better chance of standingapart in a crowded marketplace and getting the advertising dollarsyou need. Try to think of something that no one else is doing, orthink of how you can do things differently even if a magazinealready exists in your subject area--it's not enough to have apersonal interest in a particular subject. Assess the potentialmarket--determine whether you will have enough readers. Askyourself where your readers will come from and how you will reachthem. This is the only way to get any advertiser to give you thetime of day.

You also need to think about how you will generate content. Willyou have paid employees? Paid or unpaid freelancers? Will you writeany content yourself? Who will edit the content? If this will be aprinted (not online) publication, who will do the printing for you,and how much will it cost--factoring in the rising costs of paper,printing and postage? Who will distribute your magazine tobookstores, supermarkets, etc.--and how much of a cut will theytake off your cover price?

There is help available to new magazine publishers--Folio magazineis devoted entirely to the magazine industry and holds annual tradeshows. And the Magazine Publishers of America, which offers seminars,books, newsletters and other information, is an invaluableresource.

With persistence, you can make a new magazine work. Just be sureto prepare yourself for the struggles that lie ahead.