Lively and engaging, How to Launch a Magazine in this Digital Age adopts a practical guide for students and inexperienced editors, detailing the process of setting up and launching a new publication -- be it digital, print or a combination of both. Using case studies, theoretical/critical insights, and tests/exercises, this is the first how-to to embrace digital technologies, including a companion website with additional support with podcasts, web links, forums and timed live author chats. The key to the text's success is its ability to encompass the complete process. It begins with the initial idea and follows the process through to developing a business plan as well as setting an editorial strategy to achieve and maintain an audience in a digital age -- where traditional print formats face an uncertain future. It includes checklists and realistic timescales for producing a digital/print magazine, for both the working professional and the student in the classroom setting.
With all the noise about what platforms magazines should inhabit, it's easy to forget what makes a great magazine, how tough it to launch one and how important they are to our culture. This is a book that warns prospective launch editors not just of the months of market research, the long nights, the business nous and the passion you need to successfully launch a magazine, but also the fun and the tingle you get when you know you've got a brilliant idea. Barbara Rowlands, Director of the Magazine Journalism MA, City University London, UK