Creating a Magazine From Start to Finish

The process of creating a magazine will be faster and easier if you have a talented team by your side. However, building a magazine from the ground up by yourself is certainly possible, but it will require you to wear many hats.

It can take months to create your first magazine, especially when you鈥檙e taking the time to properly lay out and proof your product. If you try and rush the process, the quality of your magazine may suffer.

Planning

The planning stage is where you鈥檒l set your magazine up for success. Proper planning is crucial to the execution of any publication 鈥� you鈥檒l be hard-pressed to find any successful magazine that isn鈥檛 the result of many hours of careful planning.

During the planning stage, you鈥檒l need to make key decisions like choosing the title and concept for your magazine and also cover topics like your desired target audience, the balance between text and imagery, your sources for content, your marketing plan and the overall tone and voice of your magazine.

Will this be a recurring publication? If so, how often will you publish? What鈥檚 the main goal behind your magazine? Once you鈥檝e answered these questions, it鈥檚 time to begin planning the first issue of your magazine. Take the time and effort to plan unique, engaging content that aligns with the tone and purpose of your magazine. By the end of this stage, you should have content planned for each section of your first issue.

Creating Content

Remember: content doesn鈥檛 just mean the articles in your publication 鈥� it also encapsulates headlines, captions and photography. It takes multiple skill sets and lots of working hours to put together the content needed to create a magazine. A skilled editorial team will make it easier to handle all writing, editing and photography needs, but it鈥檚 certainly possible to do it yourself.

Depending on the type of magazine, this stage could involve in-depth research, conducting interviews and photography sessions. If you鈥檙e undertaking all content needs by yourself, we recommend having a very detailed plan and schedule before you write a single word or take any photographs. Once you have a plan, give yourself plenty of time to execute it 鈥� especially if this is your first publication.

Another option for creating content is hiring a freelancer. Platforms like and make it easy to connect with freelance writers, designers and photographers. And speaking of photography, don鈥檛 forget about stock photos 鈥� while it will probably be harder to find the perfect photo for your magazine layout when choosing from a library of stock photo options, it could be a viable alternative if you don鈥檛 have access to a professional photographer. You can find stock photos on , and , to name a few.

Advertisements

This stage is also when you鈥檒l want to start reaching out to other brands and companies to sell advertising space in your magazine. Most magazines use paid advertisements to secure funding 鈥� building, printing and distributing a magazine isn鈥檛 cheap, and selling ad space is a good way to recoup some of those costs.

If you鈥檙e starting from scratch, you鈥檒l want to put together a media kit to send to potential advertisers. It should include information about your projected audience, content and theme, ultimately painting a picture of why these brands should advertise in your magazine.

Then, compile a list of brands in your space that you think would appeal to your target audience. For example, if you鈥檙e making a fashion magazine targeted towards women in high-income brackets, your list would likely include luxury clothing and accessory brands. Once you have a list of potential brands and you鈥檝e decided on your ad rates, begin contacting the brands on your list and sending them your media kit, offering premium ad space in a brand-new magazine.

Proofreading and Editing

Proofreading is a crucial step in the editorial process that helps ensure your final product is clean, professional, and free of grammatical mistakes and misspellings. Even if you鈥檙e working with a team of expert writers, make sure not to skip this step of the process 鈥� it鈥檚 much easier to fix a mistake before it goes to print. Free tools like can make the proofreading step much faster, and often even give recommendations to improve sentence structure and wording.

Design and Layout

Design is an important part of the process; this is where you鈥檒l determine the visual appeal of your magazine. The trick is finding the right balance to make your magazine eye-catching while also being easy to read. Take the time to find the perfect font, and play around with the balance of images and text for a perfect layout on every page.

Your best bet for creating a magazine layout is a design program like . InDesign is full of intelligent design tools that make it easy to create and edit your layout, even if you don鈥檛 have years of experience as a designer. Just make sure to use print-friendly margin and bleed settings (鈪� inch) and export your files according to your printer鈥檚 specifications.

Work With a Professional

If you鈥檙e working by yourself, design is another part of the editorial process where you may be able to get help from professionals. offers professional editorial and design services for teams and individuals looking to print books, magazines and other publications. Their award-winning design team will help ensure a top-notch magazine that matches your vision.

Prepress

The prepress process is when you鈥檒l work with your printer to get everything ready for print. You鈥檒l finalize details like binding, paper finish basis weight and pagination, and you鈥檒l get the chance to proof and approve your magazine before the final step in the printing process begins.

On the technical side, the prepress process involves creating the printing plates used to print the cover and pages of your magazine. These plates are imaged according to your digital magazine layout and then used to transfer ink onto paper. Four separate plates are created to transfer each of the four colors used in the printing process; cyan, magenta, yellow and black. These four colors align to create essentially any color on the visible spectrum 鈥� the reader鈥檚 eye blends the colors together.聽 If you want, look closely at a printed magazine, and on the edge between blank space and printed space, you can see the individual dots of ink.聽 Pretty cool, isn鈥檛 it?

A lot goes into ensuring your project is ready for print. Luckily, if you鈥檙e working with a qualified printer, they鈥檒l be happy to help ensure you鈥檙e set up for success. 鈥淥ur teams do a great job,鈥� says Kevin Werderhausen, General Manager of the 色情论坛 鈥� Fulton printing facility. 鈥淲e give out a manual to our customers with a how-to on developing and loading files, things to watch out for, and what not to do.鈥�

Printing

Once everything has been thoroughly reviewed, it鈥檚 time to begin printing! The pages of your magazine are typically printed using a process called web printing, where the eight plates 鈥� four above and four below 鈥� transfer the ink (in the four colors) onto a huge roll of paper, or 鈥榳eb.鈥� The web of paper is pulled through each component of the printing press at a breakneck pace, receiving images in each of the four standard colors, before traveling through an oven which rapidly heats the paper, quickly drying the ink.

The paper is then cut and folded into groups of pages known as signatures. These signatures, plus your covers, are all sent to the bindery to be glued or stitched together. For more detailed information about this process, read our blog article about offset printing.

Distribution

Once your magazines are off the press, the work isn鈥檛 quite done; now the challenge is getting them to their destinations. Distribution requires a good understanding of shipping methods and postage classes, and it takes a lot of work to get everything sorted and delivered on time. However, you may be able to save time and money by using a printer who also handles distribution.

Don鈥檛 Skimp on a Qualified Printer

Imagine: after putting countless hours into your magazine, you receive a copy of the final product and it鈥檚 all wrong. The colors are off, the binding is shoddy and the paper tears when you turn the pages. Make sure you take the time to properly research printing options and choose a printer with a proven track record.

Don鈥檛 leave the craftsmanship of your magazine up to chance; partner with an expert printer who knows how to get the job done right.

Print Your Next Magazine with 色情论坛

色情论坛 has worked in the printing industry for over 80 years, and it鈥檚 easy to see our expertise when you work with us. Our experienced printers tackle every job with unparalleled attention to detail to ensure complete customer satisfaction. Plus, our customer service representatives help facilitate seamless communication at every step of the process. If you鈥檙e ready to see the 色情论坛 difference, get started by contacting us today!

The post How Do You Make a Magazine? appeared first on 色情论坛.