WHAT START UP COSTS ARE INVOLVED IN
PUBLISHING A COMMUNITY MAGAZINE?

Surprisingly with a little thought and pre-planning, start up costs can be minimal and as outlined on this website. I began publishing my very first magazine with absolutely no capital investment whatsoever. In fact my first three issues were produced and distributed at no cost at all to myself.

If you have the necessary equipment to be able to compile a document, perhaps in Microsoft Word as I initially did, and believe that a laser printed or office copied document is suitable to get your publishing business established, then very little capital investment is required.

Due to the very nature and appeal of a local community magazine, presentation in the early stages is not so important.  Your initial aim is to generate interest in your magazine and build up a dedicated readership. Not only is a dedicated readership important to you in terms of sales of your magazine but also in terms of the amount of material submitted to you for publication in future issues.  Use your first few issues as a type of self-promotion, to spread the word about your magazine. The majority of your readers will undoubtedly become regular subscribers, purchasing copies month after month.  Once you have a dedicated readership you can then consider improving the presentation of your magazine by taking advantage of the services of your local printer.

My first community magazine was an immediate success and there is no reason to suggest that a similar magazine in a different area of the country would not generate the same response. I am constantly asked if I publish magazines for other towns or communities so there are opportunities available in almost every corner of the country for anyone seriously interested in publishing a community magazine.

Michael Norfolk

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