Hello! I often play with the concept of how exciting and fulfilling it would be to create a literary magazine. Does anyone else ever have that desire? Is that a doable thing? Or is it something I should just keep in my head?
Sure it's doable but I have no idea how. I'd imagine it's a piece of cake once you have the writers, distributors, advertisers, and readership.
Do you want to do it as a business, or a hobby? i think it would be VERY hard to make (or even not lose too much) money. But itd be pretty easy to collect some stories and epub them...
My wife had a small press for many years (now closed), and reports that one of the hardest part for her was dealing with all the writers that she had to reject. Also doing layout. She hated doing layout.
It's doable, yes. Running a magazine/ezine is a very time-consuming task, and one that is not likely to break even, let alone earn a profit--at least not immediately, and maybe not ever. I worked as an editor (mainly read slush) for a magazine/ezine for a few years. It's more than a one person job to run a magazine (website maintenance, marketing, screening submissions/reading slush, editing, layout, payments, commissioning art, and more. Every month, or quarterly or whatever. If you are thinking about it, I would suggest trying a one-off anthology. Also, I would recommend payment (flat rate or per word rate) vs. royalties, which would be an ongoing expense, item to deal with. Yes, you can ask for stories for free/exposure, but the better you pay, the better chances you'll draw in better talent and quality submissions. Possibly accepting reprints might assist with that too. Just a few thoughts.
