Good afternoon. My name is Sazhnev Alexy from the city of Vladimir. For many years I had a dream to create my own online business magazine. And now it came true. Today I am the owner of the electronic publication “Finance”. The publication has accounts in in social networks, a huge reader base (about 10 thousand people) and even a printed version.

The project has been in existence for 3.5 years, but during this period we managed to create a truly high-quality product.

The magazine has a full-time staff of six people (including me). The remaining employees are remote workers (freelancers).

Initial business costs – from 100,000 rubles.
Monthly income – from 500,000 rubles.
The main staff is 6 people.
Labor costs – from 150 thousand rubles.

Where to start a magazine business?

First, figure out what type of activity this is. In essence, a magazine is a printed publication that raises a variety of issues - nature, business, science, sex, relationships, and so on.

Such literature is a source of propaganda, that is, it is capable of influencing and shaping public opinion.

Today, magazines have begun to appear in online versions. This direction is much more profitable. Firstly, you can get by with a small office. Secondly, the number of readers increases significantly. The result is growing income (primarily from advertising).

It is very important to decide on the goal. What are you trying to achieve?

There are several options:

  • increase the level of education among readers;
  • provide consulting assistance in various fields (legal, economic, technical, etc.);
  • discuss life problems or fashion trends;
  • provide readers with a qualitative assessment of certain areas (industries);
  • provide advertising-type information (for example, an advertisement magazine).

In addition to everything, you can create a glossy magazine, but in this case the costs will be incomparably higher - long registration, purchase of printing equipment, a large staff, and so on.

What about the theme and format of the magazine?

Thematic online magazines are becoming increasingly popular - for parents, accountants, railway workers, energy workers, and so on. You can create a business class magazine for business people (as my experience has shown, this direction is very profitable).

Businessmen consider it a matter of honor to be aware of all economic events, so such periodicals are a real salvation for them. Magazines for women and young mothers are very popular. On Russian market more than 15% of such publications.

If it’s difficult to decide on a topic, then choose a direction that is still poorly covered in your city and on the Internet as a whole. Of course, this is a risky option, but it can be covered new market and get away from a lot of competition in this area.

Decide on the format of your magazine - will it be printed or online version(mixed version possible).

In addition, modern editions differ:

– according to the frequency of release – they can be weekly, monthly or quarterly.

By the way, you can publish a magazine at least every day:

  • by format (online, printed publication);
  • on a chosen topic (health, beauty, business, children, and so on);
  • by presentation style (official business, journalistic, conversational).

How to create a magazine? Features of the printed version

Publishing your own magazine is an interesting direction that requires large expenses and the selection of qualified personnel.

So, when releasing a printed publication, you will need a founder, publisher, editor-in-chief and other specialists (designer, accountant, literary editor, advertising agents, photographers).

The magazine can be distributed through outlets, through subscription.

You can make money on such a product in several ways - by posting custom articles (with hidden advertising), placing advertisements on the pages of a printed publication, and selling in retail chains. Advertising revenue typically generates the most revenue.

It is important to correctly assess the competition in the market so as not to “run into” an obviously losing project.

To begin with, you can focus on a narrow readership (we have already discussed this above).

Over time, you can expand the topic.

For release you will need printing equipment.

You can buy it or use an existing one (rent it as needed). The second option will cost you much less in terms of costs. Over time, you can purchase your own equipment and expand the range of magazines.

This will definitely be of interest to you:

How to prepare for the release of a printed publication?

To begin, prepare two test numbers (they are called signal numbers). They will contain offers for advertisers. This newsletter is usually free for readers. The cost of issue is from 300 thousand rubles.

The pilot issue must be printed in 1000 copies at a cost of 120-150 rubles each. The second signal number will be prepared taking into account the proposals of advertising agents and managers.

Can you give an example of a magazine business plan?

Before starting a project, you must clearly understand . There will be more in the printed version:

  • employee salaries – from 40 thousand rubles;
  • typing and layout – from 20 thousand rubles;
  • office rent – ​​from 40 thousand rubles;
  • a set of articles (including adjustments) – from 6,000 rubles;
  • professional layout – on average 200-300 rubles per page;
  • additional expenses (telephone, internet, other) – from 30 thousand rubles;
  • photo printing – from 20 thousand rubles;
  • transportation costs – from 5 thousand rubles;
  • equipment (materials) for office equipment – ​​from 5 thousand rubles;
  • purchase of the equipment itself - from 300 thousand rubles.

Total total costs - from 500 thousand rubles.

How to create an online magazine?

If you make a magazine only online, then you can get away with less costs - from 30 thousand rubles. Let's look at the main points:

1. Decide where you will get articles for your magazine. There are several options - write articles yourself, buy them on a content exchange, give readers the opportunity to write on their own, hire a staff of copywriters or find professional freelancers, finished works work remotely.

The optimal option is 1-2 people on staff and several remote employees. As for buying articles on the stock exchange, it will take a lot of time to edit the text (or you will have to hire a person).

After promotion, the site will definitely attract the attention of bloggers. Over time, you can interview them and order articles. Today there are many good authors on the Internet; all that remains is to recruit staff and work with them regularly.

3. Find a good hosting that will work smoothly and can withstand big number site visitors. At the same time, subscribers should be able to access the site and receive all the information they are interested in.

4. Decide on a domain name. It is advisable that it matches the name of your magazine. Remember that this is the image and style of the new product. The domain must be recognizable and memorable.

5. It is better to entrust the design of the website to professional layout designers - they know better how to properly layout a website. There must also be programmers to protect the resource from possible attacks.

Opening of a glossy magazine

Please note that the site will require ongoing support. Therefore, 1-2 qualified layout designers and programmers should be on hand.

6. To attract the maximum number of readers, focus primarily on the quality of the product. At the same time, the topic is not important - create your own fashion, business or nature magazine.

The main thing is maximum benefit. If the reader is interested, this will ensure an influx of subscribers. The higher the magazine's traffic and the more readers, the higher the advertising income.

7. Costs for registration of one issue – from 1000 rubles.

8. Many people do not know how to register a magazine. Everything is simple here. The online publication does not require any special registration. The only thing worth doing is to obtain legal status. An option with individual entrepreneur. In the future, you can expand to an LLC.

How many people will it take to create your own fashion magazine?

We have already said that when organizing online magazine no need for a large staff. It is advisable to have a qualified layout designer, programmer, 1-2 copywriters and a designer on hand. Again, these could all be remote workers. In this case, you can save on labor costs.

Table No. 1. Potential of magazine consumers in Russia

How to open a daily magazine and make money from advertising?

The magazine can be published daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly. It all depends on the volume of content and the staff of copywriters.

With daily publishing, you will have to constantly work to find new topics and regularly order articles. To do this, you need to have an extensive staff of copywriters.

As for advertising, after promoting the site the problems will go away on their own. Today there are many affiliate problems, services for making money, and so on. Over time, advertisers themselves will begin to find you and ask you to appear on the pages of magazines.

Table No. 2. Growth of participants in the magazine products market in Russia

What are the costs of creating an online magazine?

The result can be summed up as follows:

  • domain and hosting – from 2000 rubles per month;
  • website creation – from 10-15 thousand rubles;
  • maintaining the resource, its development – ​​from 10 thousand rubles per month;
  • advertising costs – from 5 thousand rubles per month.

The idea of ​​publishing an electronic magazine comes to the minds of many people who write. This form of presenting content is different from running a regular blog or website. The very essence of the magazine implies a certain “squeeze” from standard materials, a layout that is not typical for website design.

Publishing an electronic magazine is no easier or more difficult than a regular one, although it is not so expensive. However, the monetization scheme for such a publication will differ significantly from the monetization of the printed version.

How to create your own electronic magazine? Find out in this article!

An electronic journal must have the same elements and the same format as any printed journal:

  • Availability home page with announcements;
  • imprint and editorial information;
  • the presence of permanent sections;
  • “magazine” page design - text should be mixed with illustrations, graphs, quotes, etc.;
  • a single graphic style – from footers and headings to the author’s signature.

At the same time, the electronic version of the publication has significant advantages over the printed one:

  • publishing a paper magazine involves a large number of production costs, while at the same time practically there are no costs for the production and distribution of an electronic magazine(with the exception of );
  • for publishing an electronic magazine much fewer people required– the team has enough of an editor, proofreader, designer (layout designer) and two or three full-time journalists, the rest can be involved from time to time as outsourcers - for example, or copywriters;
  • unlimited number of readers– regular subscribers;
  • wide geographical spread of readers– the electronic magazine can be read wherever there is Internet access;
  • efficiency– the electronic magazine will be sent to the subscriber at the time of publication, while printed versions are delivered by mail and couriers not as quickly as we would like, especially to remote parts of the country;
  • possibility of using non-standard content: in the printed version there is a minimum of interactivity - only pictures and text; in the electronic version you can add videos, slide shows, interactive tests, etc.;
  • possibility of using hyperlinks– from the text electronic version you can “go” to any website or page of the same publication;
  • high quality images;
  • possibility of posting an unlimited number of pages, including uneven (in a regular publication, the number of pages is always a multiple of 4, which makes it necessary to “adjust” the material if there is a shortage or excess).

The most important advantage of an electronic journal is that its distribution can and should be free. Then he will have a large number of subscribers who will be willing to sign up free shipping on your own email new number.

This reduces advertising and subscription costs. There is simply no subscription in the usual sense of the word, but To advertise a publication, it is enough to use SEO and SMM which are traditionally cheaper compared to other advertising channels and provide good results in the long term.

Choosing a topic for an electronic magazine

Before you plan to publish an electronic magazine, you should decide on the topic and study the competitors. The most profitable topics that traditionally attract attention:

  • finance and investment (Forbes, Russian reporter, Money, Business magazine and others);
  • (Auto-center, Auto-world, Auto-review, 4x4 and others);
  • women's magazines (Oops, Glamor, Caravan of Stories, Lisa, ELLE and others);
  • computers, gadgets, high technologies (Upgrade, ComputerWorld, Hacker and others).

This is, so to speak, general niche magazines that cover issues on a fairly broad topic. Advertising revenues are significant here, but competition is also high.

If an electronic magazine is published by a small team or even one person, then it is unlikely to be able to compete with huge corporations. Therefore, it is more appropriate to highlight a narrower topic, for example, gardening, blogging, car care for a certain brand, a volleyball sports magazine, etc.

Current creation regional news or entertainment magazine of small volume.


How to create your own electronic magazine from scratch: start-up costs

To start the publication you will need:

  1. License to conduct publishing activities. It is issued by Roskomnadzor; the cost of the state duty depends on many factors: periodicity of publication, subject matter, volume of advertising, etc. The exact calculation will be made by the inspector when filling out the questionnaire. You can't operate without a license commercial activities, so it’s better to arrange it!
  2. Your address on the Internet– domain name plus paid hosting for at least a year. You can find good options within 1,500 rubles per year.
  3. Acquisition You can, of course, use free options like WordPress or Joomla. In essence, you don’t need much from the engine: to be able to subscribe and present an archive of issues.
  4. Design development. But you will have to spend money on design if there is no web designer on the team. The average price is 10,000 per project.
  5. Purchasing the necessary software. In particular, you will need a program to layout the magazine and convert it into PDF format for further distribution. InDesing is ideal for this. At worst, you can layout magazines in Publisher or Photoshop, but it is better to use a specialized program. A license for InDesing costs about $100 and is perpetual.
  6. . Please note that if the publisher is , he will have to pay his salary officially, and this is associated with additional costs in the form of taxes and
  7. Purchasing content for distribution. Of course, staff journalists can write articles on their own - that's what they do. However, if the magazine is made by one or two people, outsourcers are indispensable. Intelligent articles can be ordered from copywriters or purchased directly from the exchange of finished works. A 16-page magazine will require about 10 articles of 5,000 characters. At average price for copywriting 30 rubles per 1000 characters the cost will be approximately 1500 rubles.
  8. Purchasing a license to download photos from photo stocks. Nobody forbids taking pictures from Yandex - it's fast and free. however, many photos are copyrighted and may cause problems with their owners. It’s safer to buy a license on any photo stock and post photos from it without fear. The cost of licenses varies - from 25 to 100 dollars per month of subscription.

Thus, the initial cost of starting an electronic journal are unlikely to exceed 15,000 rubles. can be paid after receiving the first profit.

Site structure

How to create your own electronic magazine? The initial placement of material on the site is important. You should definitely think about the rubrics. The following will be required:

  • "Archive"– PDF versions of already published issues will be posted here. Old number should be posted when a new one comes out. Potential readers will be able to download those magazines that interest them, and then subscribe to the latest issues. It is better to close the archive from indexing: in case the texts from the published issue are “stolen” across websites, the magazine may simply be banned for non-unique content.
  • "Subscription"– in fact, the main section. Ideally, a modest form with two columns: the name and address of the subscriber. After filling out the form, the user is “transferred” to any subscription service, for example, Smartpesponder. When a new issue comes out, you need to increase your subscriber base and simply create a newsletter using the capabilities of the service.
  • "Blog"– a category is necessary to attract readers from search engines. You should not publish on your blog articles that were published in the journal and have already been published publicly, otherwise you will be banned for non-unique texts. The best option is to write new articles. As a last resort, give announcements of future publications or publish only the beginning of the article. At the end of each such page you need to insert a subscription form.
  • "Contacts"– in the section, indicate the editorial office’s output; you can tell a little about the magazine’s staff.
  • "Advertisers"– here you should place your commercial offer. Advertising prices will depend on the number of subscribers, so this information should be open. You can also attach any metric and make it public. This way advertisers will be able to assess the “portrait” of the reader audience.


Electronic magazine business plan

As mentioned earlier, the magazine should be distributed free of charge. As practice shows, a paid subscription is not so effective. A any paid magazine will sooner or later get published, and it can be downloaded for free - for example, from a torrent.

Therefore, the basis for generating income needs to be done with advertising. Readers generally react normally to advertising in print or electronic publications; it is not as annoying as television or banner ads on websites.

The owner of the magazine sets the prices himself. The average cost of an A4 page for a publication with more than 10,000 subscribers is about 5 thousand rubles for internal pages and 15-20 thousand rubles for the front and back pages.

A second source of income can be placement of advertising articles both on the pages of the magazine and on the website.

These were the prices for accommodation. Additionally, the magazine may charge a fee for developing an advertising design, writing an article, photographing the advertised product, etc.

There is an opportunity to earn money from contextual advertising. To do this, it is better to add to the Yandex or Google advertising network and earn money on clicks. If you use teasers or banners, this will scare off readers who think that the publication is “yellow”.

Generally, publication of an electronic magazine must be calculated based on the possible costs of publication and distribution (i.e. advertising), as well as potential profits.

Further promotion of the electronic magazine

In order to increase the readership, it is necessary to:

  • create groups on social networks and publish announcements of published articles;
  • take advantage of opportunities contextual advertising, but you need to find a way to convert incoming users into subscribers;
  • work to attract advertisers: publish reports, send commercial offers and press releases;
  • organize competitions, possibly with the participation of a sponsor;
  • publish materials about famous people and ask them to tell their fans about this interview.

According to statistics, the magazine begins to generate income when the number of regular subscribers is more than 5,000 people.

  • Choose a magazine you would like to talk about. For example, the children's magazine "Murzilka".
  • Find information about the creation of the magazine and its name.
  • What sources of information will you use? Write it down.

Magazine "Murzilka", Internet.

  • Take notes (write down briefly what you learned).
  • The magazine was created in 1924 Published since May 16, 1924
    Called by name fairy-tale creature yellow and fluffy Murzilka.
    The image has changed in 1937, thanks to the artist Aminadav Kanevsky.
    Murzilka fluffy magical hero, yellow as a dandelion, in a red beret and scarf, with a camera over his shoulder.
  • Which section of the magazine did you find interesting? Why?

I like the section “Murzilka Art Gallery” because it talks about modern masters of book illustration, and also presents the artists’ illustrations themselves. This is very interesting to me because I myself draw illustrations for the books that I read and love.

  • Which piece in the section did you like? Who is its author? What is it called?

I really liked I. Antonova’s story “Experiment” (Murzilka magazine, No. 2, 1999)

  • Write down the names of works that made you smile or laugh.

I. Antonova "Experiment", Y. Akim. “There is a student in our class”, L. Panteleev “The letter “you”.

I love reading the magazine "Murzilka" because “Murzilka” is a mirror of our children's literature. He is the link between readers and writers. For many children living in the periphery, the magazine still serves as a supplement to literature textbooks. The magazine's regular columns are full of interesting, educational materials, including games, puzzles, puzzles, crosswords, coloring books and homemade items.

So, MY MESSAGE TO THE CLASS:

"Murzilka" is a popular children's literary and art magazine.
Published since May 16, 1924 and addressed to children younger school age. Over the 90 years of existence of the beloved children's magazine, its publication has never been interrupted. In 2012, the magazine was included in the Guinness Book of Records: “Murzilka” is the children’s magazine with the longest period of publication.
It is named after the fairy-tale creature, the yellow and fluffy Murzilka.
The main difference between the children's magazine "Murzilka" is its high-quality children's literature. IN different years Agnia Barto, Korney Chukovsky, S. Marshak, Mikhail Prishvin, Konstantin Paustovsky, Valentin Berestov, Yuri Korinets, Sergei Mikhalkov, Irina Tokmakova, Eduard Uspensky, A. Mityaev, Andrey Usachev, Marina Moskvina, Victor Lunin, Leonid Yakhnin, worked in the magazine, Mikhail Yasnov. Currently, the magazine also publishes works by contemporary children's writers. Murzilka publishes children's fairy tales, fairy tales, children's stories, plays, and children's poems.
Such artists as Evgeny Charushin, Yuri Vasnetsov, Aminadav Kanevsky, Tatyana Mavrina, Viktor Chizhikov, Nikolai Ustinov, Galina Makaveeva, Georgy Yudin, Maxim Mitrofanov have worked and are working in the magazine.
“Murzilka” is a mirror of our children's literature. He is the link between readers and writers. For many children living in the periphery, the magazine still serves as a supplement to literature textbooks. The magazine's regular columns are full of interesting, educational materials, including games, puzzles, puzzles, crosswords, coloring books and homemade items.

In contact with

Classmates

From this article you will learn

  • How to create your own magazine
  • Why do you need to create your own magazine?
  • What circulation to choose when creating a magazine
  • Where to order a magazine print

For a long time, reading was one of the most common ways to spend time. However, with the advent of new technologies, “live” newspapers and magazines have largely faded into the background. Now the main source current news, knowledge on various topics, entertainment and educational materials has become the Internet. But still print mass-media continue to exist. Some people turn to their publications when there is no access to the network, for example, when traveling on planes and trains. Others simply prefer to sometimes take a break from the computer and leaf through paper pages. One way or another, the life of printed newspapers and magazines is not over yet, and you can develop your business in this area. You will learn in this article how to create a magazine that will be interesting to the audience and bring profit to the owner.

How to Create Your Own Magazine from Scratch: 13 Steps

Step 1: Decide what kind of magazine to create.

To create your own magazine, you first need to decide on a topic. Any printed publication strives to occupy its niche and find its audience. To do this, it must meet the interests of the selected group of readers and satisfy its information needs. Another option is the yellow press format. There is no specific topic here, and the audience of such publications is quite wide. To create one issue of such a magazine, you need several sensational materials about the personal lives of stars with unique photographs.

A distinctive feature of the yellow press is, first of all, the absence of a criterion for the reliability of information. The question is, does the publisher plan to create a magazine about stars and publish in it only real facts and photographs, or he wants to deal with “hot” materials and provocations.

  • Decide whether you are planning a separate magazine or a whole series. If this is a serial publication, all issues should have a common theme.
  • The name of the magazine should, one way or another, correspond to its semantic content, as well as suggest design ideas. As a rule, the name consists of one or two words (TIME, Guardian, Cosmopolitan, National Geographic).
  • What is the main message of each publication? How can you connect it with the others?
  • Each issue of the magazine can have its own theme, corresponding to its focus. For example, fashion week for a fashion magazine or organizing a wedding for women.
  • It is important to clearly formulate the theme of each issue or series of issues.
  • Well-known publications had the following examples of issue titles: “Swimsuits” for Sports Illustrated, “Hollywood” for Vanity Fair, “September” for Vogue.

How to create a magazine so that it makes a profit? The publication has only two sources of income: proceeds from the sale of issues and from advertising that is placed in them. Finding advertisers for a magazine begins with determining their field of activity. Your audience should be interested in what you will advertise - then all parties will be successful. For example, fashion magazines rarely offer furniture or household appliances, but cosmetics, clothes and jewelry will do.

To create an effective system of interaction with advertisers, publishers hire special employees. A price list is being developed with prices for posting various messages. Of course, at first you will receive much less for publishing advertisements than your well-promoted competitors. But if you manage to create a magazine that attracts attention, your income will increase over time.

Step 3. Decide how you will organize your journal.

To create a scientific journal, entertainment or any other publication, it is important to decide on the method of collecting and combining information. Here are some important aspects:

  • The most familiar to people are publications created using computer programs. However, you can design a magazine without using them - this is one of the fashionable printing trends. Of course, this will require much more effort and time, and only a fairly experienced person can turn this idea into reality.
  • You can create a journal in several programs. The most popular, although quite expensive, is InDesign. In addition to it, InCopy, Quark and some other technical tools are used.
  • The most cost-effective way to create a magazine is with Office Publisher.

Step 4. Find an office and the right employees.

To create a glossy magazine, you need a working space for a team of 5 to 10 people. The favorable location of the office is not the most important criterion, since at first it will be mainly you who travel, and not to you. Design working space equipment will help. For a media office, the standard set includes: desks and chairs, telephones, computers, printer and fax, various office supplies.

It doesn’t matter whether we create a magazine about literature or fashion, the basis of any publication is professional workers. The editor-in-chief is in charge of everything that happens in the office. The selection of a person for this position must be treated with special attention. He must have extensive experience in the media and good references.

Chief Editor creates and adjusts the entire journal structure. He decides what articles and in what quantity to publish in each issue, in what order to arrange them, what sections to introduce or close, what advertisers to cooperate with, etc. He is also responsible for regularly ascertaining the level of demand for the publication, surveying readers about its advantages and disadvantages, and changing strategy in accordance with the results obtained. The editor-in-chief must have a good sense of modern trends, be aware of new trends and ensure that the magazine keeps up with the times.

No less important employees are the authors of articles. They can be your friends or acquaintances, or you can find them through advertisements or among students of humanities universities. The author must be able to create a unique text that is literate and coherent, objectively covering the facts, but at the same time conveying the author’s individuality.

It is impossible to prepare a magazine without such an employee as a designer. It depends on him appearance edition, and therefore the first impression of it. The designer must:

  • come up with a cover that can attract the attention of readers;
  • design a branded magazine design;
  • develop symbolism, various parts registration, etc.

As practice shows, the ability to create a successful magazine half depends on how well the cover design is modeled.

Also, the office definitely needs a secretary, a proofreader, an advertising specialist and some other workers.

Step 5. Calculate the future circulation.

If you want to create a magazine with a circulation of less than 1000 copies, then by law you do not have to register it. If the circulation is higher, the publication must have a media registration certificate. To receive it, you must send an application to Roskomnadzor containing information about the magazine: name, type, circulation, distribution method and much more. You also need the passport of the person who creates the publication, or a copy of the charter legal entity, acting as the founder. In addition, the applicant pays the established fee. The period for consideration of such an application is one month.

Step 6: Set deadlines.

It is important not only to know how to create a magazine, but also when it needs to be released. Time frames are especially important for those publications whose topics are related to news or current issues. You need to think through the stages of media preparation and understand whether your magazine will be ready on time.

Step 7. Let's start writing articles.

  • Address topics that concern you and other editorial staff. Maybe these will be current problems of your city or the whole country? Or will the basis be interviews with interesting personalities?
  • You can create a magazine that includes a literary element in the form short stories. It doesn't matter if they are based on real events or not, the main thing is an interesting plot and relevance to this concept.
  • Another genre is poetry. The authors can be either famous poets or the publisher himself and his friends.
  • To create a magazine that is interesting to the audience, it is wise to involve as many surrounding people as possible in discussing the topic.

Step 8. Making illustrations.

No matter how important the textual component is, it is simply impossible to create a successful publication without illustrations. Nowadays, people increasingly perceive information visually, and this is of great importance.

  • You can’t do without thematic photographs that complement the content. Photos with neutral space can also be helpful to create an interesting backdrop for text.
  • If you have a good photographer on your staff, he can lead an entire photojournalism project. You need to choose a topic that is well illustrated through visual images, and publish several pictures in each issue.
  • You can also use other people's photos with a Creative Commons license. You won’t have to pay for them, but the terms of use sometimes require a prohibition on changes, a required signature, etc.
  • How to create a magazine if you don't have the necessary pictures? They can be purchased at so-called stocks. These sites contain a huge number of images, among which you will surely find something suitable.
  • You can also create a colorful publication using original illustrations, if you or your employees have the necessary skills.

Step 9. Prepare the magazine cover.

The cover should create intrigue and interest the reader so that he wants to open the publication and study the materials. There are several techniques for this.

  • Please pay Special attention to the name of the magazine. As a rule, it is done in the same style from room to room. The title should be clear, original and memorable and, of course, reflect the thematic direction of the publication.
  • Traditionally, the title is placed at the top of the cover, in the most visible place. However, you can create your own concept of location, as, for example, the publishers of Harper's Bazaar magazine did.
  • Think about what image will be on the cover of the new issue. It should also be attractive and relevant to the proposed theme. Very often a photograph is placed on the cover famous person, the material about which appears in the magazine. The format can be different - from hidden shooting to a professional portrait.
  • You can also put brief explanations about the contents of the issue on the cover. You can outline only the main topic, as TIME does, for example, or talk in more detail about several materials, like Cosmopolitan. It is important not to overdo the amount of text so that the cover you create is not overloaded.

Step 10. Select the final look for your magazine.

How to create a magazine that has an attractive and finished look? You need to pay attention to:

  • Font. It should provide comfortable reading and not strain the eyes, and should also be consistent with the overall style. It is important that all fonts used match each other.
  • Paper. First of all, you need to make a choice between a glossy and matte base.
  • Colors. There are many options here. To save money, some magazines are published in black and white or combine color and black and white printing. However, the most successful publications are published exclusively in color. The choice depends on your financial capabilities and the focus of the magazine you want to create.

Step 11. Decide how to arrange the content.

When thinking about how to create a magazine, you can't forget about composition. Different relative positions of materials create different final products.

  • A table of contents is often placed at the beginning of the publication. You can also place several pages with advertising information in front of it.
  • The next element is the colophon. This is information about the journal: name, volume, number, place of publication, list of employees who worked on the issue, etc.
  • It is also necessary to correctly arrange the articles one after another. Usually the most interesting things are placed in the second part of the issue, so that readers watch it to the end.
  • You can also play with the design of the back cover. As a rule, it serves as a kind of decoration for the publication: something interesting or funny is placed there, making readers smile. This way you can create a memorable

Step 12. Create a magazine layout.

Now you know what kind of magazine you want to create in terms of content and design. Layout software will help you arrange your content on your layout. When preparing a layout, you should remember a few rules:

  • Formatting should be consistent on all pages. Use a small number of coordinating fonts, and place borders and numbering in the same places. It is necessary to create a publication with a coherent style.
  • Don't forget about page numbering.
  • Check that the final layout contains even number pages. This is important because an odd number will result in a blank sheet.
  • If you want to create a log without using special programs, you need to decide on a method. Will you type it or write it by hand, how will you attach photos, etc.

Step 13. Publish the magazine.

For beginning publishers, the best way to print media is to contact a printing house. You need to take a responsible approach to choosing a company, because the quality of your magazine depends on the quality of its work. However, there are a few tips regarding the characteristics of the publication that everyone should know:

  • A medium-sized magazine is most convenient to use. On the one hand, you can place a sufficient amount of text and illustrative materials in it. On the other hand, it will always be convenient to carry even in a small handbag.
  • Do not make the pages too bright and “glassy”. The reflection of light from them makes it difficult to read the magazine and perceive the images.
  • the building should not be too thick. A large number of it will be difficult for you to fill the pages interesting material, and readers will not have time to study them until the next issue.
  1. Correlate the appearance and principle of creating your media with its moral image. Thus, many readers are sure that the production of glossy magazines is harmful environment. Accordingly, such a magazine on environmental topics will raise a lot of questions. Despite the ability to perform this task without harming the environment, it is still better to prefer matte paper.
  2. Use promotional methods such as donating free copies to libraries. This way more people will know about you.
  3. How to create a magazine that brings a stable profit? A flexible subscription strategy will help. Thanks to it, you will have a constant group of readers and will be able to communicate with them.
  4. Quark is considered one of the most difficult programs to use, but the wide range of features it provides makes you think about learning it.
  5. To bring your magazine to a wider audience, try self-publishing it.
  6. An introductory page can be placed before the editorial column. Use it to talk about your publication and create the right impression of how and for whom it works. Try to establish contact with the audience, pay attention interesting facts etc.
  7. There are several programs you can use to create a journal. For example, Text-Edit makes it quick and easy to prepare and edit articles. You can arrange text and illustrations on your layout using InDesign.
  8. How to create a magazine that is interesting to a large audience? It can be very difficult to achieve this goal right away. It makes more sense to start with a small group of readers whose interests are easier to calculate. This will also save you from spending on a large print run, which may not pay off.
  9. To create a successful magazine, you need to establish good relationships with advertisers. To do this, they are provided with a layout of the publication and a price list for advertising. Determining prices depends on many factors, including circulation, cost of copy, etc.
  10. Advertising is very important element in the activities of the magazine. It is impossible to create a profitable media outlet without advertising materials. Having decided on your target audience, you need to start looking for companies that are interested in reaching out to them. The advertised product should be of interest to those people who will buy your magazine. It is also important to understand how many pages you can allocate for advertising. The publisher must know what percentage of all materials it must make up in order for the sale of the circulation to make a profit.
  11. The belief that print media is on the decline of its existence should not be believed. Despite the development of technology, many magazines are still popular among the audience. It is only important to understand what topic will be of interest to readers, what niche you can occupy. To do this, before creating a magazine, you should thoroughly study the print market. It is also important to correctly correlate the topic with the format, for example, whether digital printing or paper is suitable for it.

In contact with

One of the leading consultants and developers of periodicals, Evgeniy Evgrafov, shared his thoughts on design in the country and where inspiration is found.

What do you think is main reason visual noise in our country, and do you have any thoughts on how to combat it?

It's simple - what's inside is what's outside. Russian people have a lot of noise and garbage in their heads. This problem is not only design - in photography and music it’s exactly the same, we can’t do it “simple”. A Russian person can rarely just go and do a thing well, with high quality, without showing off.

My friend and I get tired of long discussions on the topic of problems of the Russian creative environment, and almost always come to the conclusion that in our country all aspects of society are in their infancy, when, like Western young people, they are already born with a sense of beauty. They grow up in this environment, and they don’t have to deal with the noise around them.

What can you recommend? You can meditate, you can do yoga, fasting, abstinence, live in a hut in nature, eliminate unnecessary things from your life - all this is pretty funny advice. Be yourself, be warm, as in teaching a child, adopt less other people's programs. Just don’t fight under any circumstances—pride won’t help the cause.


Tell me, where did you receive your design or art education, and where would you advise those who have just decided on plans for a creative future to go to study?

I didn’t receive it anywhere. When in the early 2000s I looked at where I could go, asked where my colleagues studied and what it gave them, everyone agreed that in Russia they don’t teach a profession and don’t teach them to do for the world, only for the table.


Now little has changed, and in some places it has worsened against the backdrop of falling teacher motivation. Yes, Britannia has appeared, but to be honest, she is also rather weak - it is not always possible to “intensively” straighten the brains of young talents. Probably an adequate choice for this moment could be any Western institution. I would like to advise you not to chase the crust and not to listen to any smart people on blogs).

Trust your heart, try to feel exactly the direction you need to go. It is impossible to follow someone else's path, but you need to follow your own. If you think you need to go to study biology at the forestry department, do so!

Even if this conflicts with your aspirations to be a designer, who knows how it all might work out in the future, maybe you will create eco-friendly biodynamic housing.

- Do you work as a freelancer, or represent the interests of an agency?

The journal is primarily a team effort. For example, you can’t say “I did Interni”, it would be at least incorrect. There were 4 of us designers in the team and each did their part of the work and everyone put their heart and soul equally into it. Therefore, it is more correct to say “We made this magazine,” because there is a publisher, editors and a bunch of people without whom nothing would work.

It turns out that I have been working as a freelancer for 3 years with various publishing houses and people. Before that, I worked at Independent Media on a salary, redesigning layouts for the publisher’s magazines.

-Where do you get inspiration?

Design in its pure form doesn't really inspire me. It is much more interesting to understand what a person felt when he created a certain thing, what thoughts were in his head, how he solved the problem, why he approached it this way and not otherwise. I look for inspiration in life, I just live and breathe the world around me, listen to classical music, observe nature as it works, watch completely different movies, play with my child, learn from him how to be himself.

Traveling by car is still very inspiring, I don’t know why... By the way, I recently visited the SPD website, and it turned into a nice blog about magazines, maybe it will be useful to someone.


- Which artists/graphics/architects impress and inspire you?

I love everyone, all points of view can exist, sometimes completely unexpected people surprise and inspire. I like how completely polar views coexist in our world. Shishkin, Levitan, Tarkovsky, Miyazaki, Bach, Rachmaninov, Rostropovich, Tchaikovsky, Kip Mazuy, Andy Goldsworthy, Clyde Butcher, Fontbureau, Pentagram studios.




- Tell us, how and who do you consult on the creation of periodicals?

It is probably appropriate to say that magazine design is not exactly design, just as car design is not exactly the sketches that an artist draws. In fact, the ratio is 50% management and 50% pure design... and in business publications it can reach 70/30. You are required to establish a work plan, communicate a lot with the art director, publisher, editor-in-chief, structure all the information and take into account the nuances.

One could probably use the words “design” and “management”, but then this is not really about working with people. You can still consult without design, if the publisher does not have enough money for a redesign and wants to do at least a little better product within the existing budget/staff. Support for the magazine after the redesign for several months is also here.



10 tips from Evgeny Evgrafov for creating a good magazine!

1. Love the people who are around you. Love the team you work with.

2. Love what you do. Believe me, if you are happy with your own work, then everyone around you will be happy. If you make a magazine, the reader always subconsciously knows in what mood the issue was created, so there is no need to deceive yourself.

3. The editor is exactly the same designer as you. If there is no editor-in-chief, your magazine will turn into a collection of funny pictures, so sit down and come up with interesting things together, collective creativity gives birth to incredible ideas.

4. Find the most suitable font for the task; the font is practically your main tool of communication with the reader. Make every effort to convince the publisher to buy a beautiful font, because this sets the level at which you work. But it’s not enough to buy beautiful font, you need to remember all the subtleties of typography, love the letter, remember why and why the type designer created it.

5. Do more than is expected of you. Don't waste your time redoing the material again until you like the result.

6. Select photographers and illustrators who are like-minded to your magazine. There is no need to use in-house photographers for complex shooting, unless you want “reportage” style material shot on digital quickly.

7. Try not to look at other people's work. But if you did watch it, then look carefully!

8. Carefully calculate the layout; all fonts should be in proportion and harmony with each other. For a professional, even the mess on the strip looks harmonious.

9. Prepress the head of everything. Find someone who will have a good sense of color and maintain the mood and style throughout the entire issue.

10. Work in such a way that the Creator finds it interesting to watch you.