Make a magazine

Video: How to make your own magazine..THE SIMPLE WAY

Content

To step
Method 1 of 3: Get started
Method 2 of 3: Create content
Method 3 of 3: Compose the content
Tips
Warnings
Necessities

Putting together a magazine is a great way to share your vision with others on paper. Some self-made magazines become even more professional publications over time. But there is no reason to wait. To make a magazine, you just have to create relevant content around a clear theme that is attractive enough to a specific audience, then organize that content in an attractive layout and publish it digitally or in print. You can make a handmade magazine or use computer software to design and print a professional looking magazine yourself.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Get started

Come up with a theme or focus. What is the primary topic of your magazine? Keep in mind that most magazines are niche publications for a very specific audience (for example, people interested in quilting or brides looking for wedding ideas).
- Ask yourself: will this be a one-time publication or a series? If it's going to be part of a series, what's your bigger theme?
- Derive the title of your magazine from this overarching theme. Note that most magazines have titles of one or two words (such as Time, National Geographic, 17 , Rolling Stone and Forbes). Not only can a short title sum up your theme nicely, it is also easier to cover from a design standpoint.
- What is the focus of this one publication? How can you use this to link all your content together? (It is not without reason that one publication of a magazine is called an "issue".)
  - A good example of thematic issues are the prom editions of teen magazines, or the swimwear edition of Sports Illustrated. All content within such a publication can be traced back to the primary focus.
- What is the title of this issue? If necessary, what is the title of the entire series?
  - Examples of titles for annual releases are the Swimsuit Issue from Sports Illustrated, the Hollywood Issue of Vanity Fair and the September Issue of Vogue.
Decide how you are going to put together your magazine. Which method you choose for compiling your magazine can determine how you collect and incorporate content. Here are some points to consider:
- While the glossy, software-enhanced look of a magazine is standard, creating a magazine without using computers can give your magazine an art-house look. This requires a lot of extra time and talent and is best suited for people who have already done similar projects.
- InDesign is the standard (but expensive) design software for digitally designed magazines. The font is often written and edited in InCopy, which connects seamlessly with InDesign. Alternately, some publications use Quark.
  - If these options are not within your price range, Office Publisher may be a suitable alternative.
Set a deadline. When do you want the magazine to be ready? Ask yourself if you have reasonable expectations, and if you can reasonably have the magazine ready and in the hands of your readers by the deadline.
- A deadline is more important if you are dealing with current issues (such as news or humor), or if you are compiling the publication around an annual event (such as fall fashion).

Method 2 of 3: Create content

Write articles, headings and stories. What do you want to tell the readers? Whether your magazine is built around humorous anecdotes, literary fiction, news stories, remarkable interviews, or a combination of genres, you need textual content. Here are some options to consider:
- Write articles about topics that you or your employees are concerned with. Are they about humanitarian issues? Are they related to current events? Do they offer advice or are they interviews with interesting people?
- Write short stories to give your magazine a more personal touch. This can be either fiction or non-fiction, depending on how they relate to your topic.
- Dig up old poems, or ask friends if you can publish their work in your magazine. This gives a magazine an artistic flair.
- Collaborating with friends to provide different perspectives would be a great way to approach this aspect of the magazine.
Collect images. Even if your focus is on written content, magazines are a visual medium. Great images will keep your readers interested and add another dimension to your articles.
- Take photos related to your content. Make sure to post photos with empty, neutral spaces; these are great backgrounds to put written content on.
- Create a photojournalism project. This means researching one topic in depth and guiding the reader with a series of photos. This is a good option for those with strong photography skills.
- Search online for images with the Creative Commons license. While all of these photos are free, read carefully whether you need to mention the creator of the photo, have permission to change the photo, or use the photo for non-commercial purposes only.
- Buy stock images from a stock photography database. While this is a slightly more expensive route, stock photos are taken with exactly these types of projects in mind, making it easy for you to find images that match your content.
- Create your own illustrations or join forces with someone who can. This is recommended for an art-house magazine.
Design a cover. The cover of your magazine should make readers curious about the content inside, without giving too much away. Here are some ways to accomplish that:
- Make sure the title of your magazine is prominent. While many magazines change the color of their title by issue, the font almost always remains the same. Stick to one that's easy to read, recognizable, and with an aesthetic that matches the content.
  - Most magazines place the title at the top of the cover so that the brand is prominent. For some interesting examples of how to play with the interaction between the title and what's on the cover, check out images from Harper's Bazaar.
- Decide what will be on the cover of your issue. Fashion magazines often use cover models, while gossip magazines use paparazzi or staged photos, and news magazines post portraits. Whatever image you use, it should look compelling and relate to the main story of your magazine.
- Write blurbs (optional). Some magazines only post a blurb, blurb, or title for the main story (such as Time or Newsweek), while others post multiple teasers on the cover (such as Cosmopolitan or People). If you choose the second option, try not to make the cover look too messy.

Method 3 of 3: Compose the content

Choose a definitive aesthetic for your magazine. What your magazine will look like will define its brand almost as much as the content itself. Consider the following:
- The Font: Do you use fonts in the magazine that are easy to read and match your theme? Does the font you used for your magazine title appear on the cover?
- The paper: are you going to print the magazine on glossy or matte paper?
- The color: Some magazines, such as Peopleused to be half color, half black and white to save on ink costs. Many literary magazines are printed in black and white, although most mainstream titles are now in color. Consider what you can afford in ink per topic, and how you can integrate it into the look and feel of your magazine.
Decide on the order of the content. How you organize the content of your magazine dictates how the reader will flip through it. Here are some general guidelines:
- The table of contents usually comes first. If your magazine has a lot of ads, the table of contents can span multiple pages.
- After the table of contents comes a colophon. The colophon lists the title, volume and issue of the magazine (both will be 1 if this is the first issue), the place of publication, and those who contributed to it (such as editors, writers, and photographers).
- Arrange the articles so that the most important piece is somewhere in the middle, or even at the back.
- Consider a whimsical "back cover." Lots of magazines, such as Time or Vanity Fair use the last page of the magazine for funny, non-essential content, like an engaging infographic or a silly interview.
Create the layout of your magazine. Once you know where you want the content, it's time to start organizing things. Exactly how you do this will depend on which software you want to use (or not), but there are certain elements to remember:
- Make sure your formatting is consistent. Use the same borders, styles, numbering and fonts throughout the song; the last thing you want is to create a Frankenzine that looks like it was put together by twelve different people.
- Number your pages, especially if you have provided a table of contents.
- Make sure your final product has an even number of pages (excluding the cover). If you create a magazine with an odd number of pages, you will have at least one blank page.
- If you're making your magazine by hand, now is the time to figure out how you're going to transfer your content to the page. Do you want to print it? Do you write it directly on the pages? Do you paste the photos?
Publish your magazine. You can do this the old fashioned way by printing it, or you can publish it online. Explore your options to see what makes the most sense within your budget.
- Bind your magazine (handmade only). When your pages are finished, you can bind the magazine so they stick together. Consider some of the steps for making your own book.

Tips

Distribute a few copies of your magazine free of charge, such as at libraries, to promote your magazine.
Make sure your publication is ethically responsible.For example, glossy paper on environmental magazines will deter readers, even though it is possible to produce glossy materials in an environmentally friendly way. Stick to matte paper in this particular example. In other words, know your readership and their expectations!
To make your magazine more known to the general public, you can publish it yourself.
Consider subscriptions. This guarantees you money to continue producing the magazine, and is a great way to get special offers and connect directly with your readers.
Quark is much harder to learn, but professionals who use it love it.
Indeed, InDesign is a great graphics program for print. It's quite easy to learn and very versatile. The Text-Edit program is a good addition and easy to use. Perfect the article in Text-Edit, and copy and paste it into the appropriate column.
Before you start with a "Message from the Director / Author", add an introduction page and talk a little about the positive effects of your magazine and devote a few pages to your target audience, and who might find your magazine interesting. Include facts about your magazine.
You can also create a section for children.

Warnings

Start small. It's better to test a small market first to see how successful the magazine is, rather than overprinting and eating up your budget. Make it your goal to gradually attract more readers.
You need a sample of the magazine and an advertising rate as a presentation to potential advertisers. To know what you can charge for ads, you will need to know how much each issue will cost. Beautiful photos and beautiful layouts are just part of a magazine's publishing process.
Some people say the magazine is a dead art form. It's not - people still really enjoy reading a magazine. More importantly, the topic - some magazine topics are less interesting to readers than others, so be sure to research first. Additionally, some topics may work better digitally than in print, and vice versa –– again, do your research before deciding on anything.
Most magazines earn a large part of their income (money) from the advertisements you encounter in the publication. Once you have decided what the readership of your magazine is, "" you "need" to find the companies that want to advertise to that particular audience (this can be very time consuming). View the number of ad pages in a particular magazine in relation to the number of pages of articles. This will give you an idea of the percentage of ads most likely to make your publication a success - this advice comes from someone who has extensive experience in ad sales.