“I’ve made a huge mistake”
A practical guide to self publishing a video game magazine…
Are you thinking about publishing a bespoke magazine project in 2024? The best piece of advice I can offer is simple - don’t.
Seriously. Walk away while you still can. Take up a sport. Take up recreational drugs. Get heavily into lawn maintenance or CRT TVs. Write angry letters to newspapers.
Any of these pastimes would be more rewarding, cheaper, and less stressful than trying to publish and sell a physical magazine in this economy.
But if you’re a glutton for punishment, and really can’t think of anything better to do with your time, I may be able to offer some hard-fought truths and advice from the trenches.
#1. You need an angle
The most important thing is the concept. Or the idea.
Something short, precise, and original enough to grab people’s attention. Something that you can communicate quickly and easily in a single sentence.
‘A magazine about old video game magazines’ is a good example. It’s articulate. It allows you to explain the premise in a 30 second elevator pitch. And it walks a very fine line between inspired genius and really dumb.
Either way, it cuts through with a laser-like focus.
Once you have your idea, stick with it. You may be tempted to veer from the path, and experiment with adjacent concepts. Resist the urge. People have short attention scans and minimal interest in whatever you have going on. You need to stay on point and carve out your niche.
So, for example, don’t follow-up your magazine-about-old-video-game magazines with a two-magazine-double-pack that no one understands… Ahem.
#2. You need content
Having said that, an idea will only get you so far.
Which is why content is, actually, the most important thing.
I spent two years interviewing former magazine editors, writing articles, growing the website content and sharing it online so that when the time came to produce a physical magazine I had a wealth of material to choose from.
But content isn’t the same as substance. And the best way to find an audience is to add value to the conversation. A magazine about old video game magazines is a cute idea, but it’s just the jumping off point for a broader conversation about old magazines and media, and how they influenced a generation of kids.
That generation is all grown-up now. And with age comes wisdom. So maybe they’re thinking about the life choices and influences that led them to this point in time. Maybe they’re nostalgic for simpler, carefree days in front of a Sega Mega Drive. Maybe they have some disposable income to spend on a boutique magazine that brings those memories flooding back.
Question is, where do you find them?
#3. You need an audience
If you’ve got a product to sell you need an audience. And the best way to grow an audience is still social media. So forget everything I just said. If we’re being honest, social media is the most important thing.
Granted, social media isn’t what it used to be, and it’s getting harder and harder to build an audience as the various platforms aggressively spam our timelines with ads, promos, and dog videos. But if you’ve got a project on the horizon it’s still the best way to build a like minded audience.
Here’s the thing though, you can’t just spam the feed with promos for your project / website / whatever. You gotta mix it up. That means finding the right balance of audience friendly content, deep cut oddities, and promos for your own material. Real quick, these are my go-to-item when I want to give the likes / engagement a bump.
Anything Neo Geo
Japanese print ads for games
Old arcade flyers
GIFs of retro games
Old shmup ads
When you post is almost as important as what you post. Take Monday mornings. By any sensible measure a Monday morning is a terrible time to post on social media here in Australia. People are rushed, trying to get their week organised, and focused on the task at hand… But Monday morning in Australia is Sunday evening in the US - a high engagement window for social media.
I could write a whole article about the things I believe to be true when it comes to social media, retro gaming, and building an audience. And maybe someone would like to commission me to do that. But before we jump off that ledge I should point out that the production process, and the quality of your end product is in fact the most important thing.
#4 You need a product
Concept, content, and an audience are all important. But the production process is where you’re going to be spending all your money. So based on that fact alone it’s easily the most important thing.
Bespoke magazine production is expensive. Keeping your costs down and the production standard up is crucial. A5 is the universal standard for small run magazines. That’s not a coincidence. A5 is cheap and easy. It’s just a generic A4 sheet of paper folded in half.
If you try and get cute with custom dimensions (like I did for issue #1) you’ll soon find your costs and margins blowing out. For instance, I was quoted $3200 AUD for 200 magazines, 64 pages, full-colour, at a bespoke 180mm x235mm for issue #1.
Issue #2 was printed on standard A5 stock. I was quoted $2000 AUD for 200 magazines, 80 pages, full-colour. That’s a huge difference when it comes to boutique, small run magazines and the associated margins.
In any case, Forgotten Worlds #1 cost $25 per copy to produce (when you take into account design, promo, etc). It was sold for $25 a copy. That means I had to sell through the entire run just to break even. The issue 2+3 bundle is the same basic deal. $25 to produce. $25 to buy.
Which is a terrible business model. But I am also an idiot, so there’s that.
#5. You need to sell, sell, sell
So you’ve got a finished product. Congratulations. But you still have to sell this magazine. Which is why a digital storefront with global reach is really important. You could even argue it’s the most important thing.
Here’s a breakdown of Forgotten Worlds #1 sales by region:
USA - 43%
UK - 30%
Overseas (other) - 18%
Australia - 9%
As you can see, 90% of sales have come from overseas. That makes sense. With just 25 million people, Australia is a tiny market. By comparison the US has 350 million plus.
This is why “breaking the US market” has been the end-goal for virtually every musician, actor, artist or business for the last 100 years or so. It’s orders of magnitude larger than a recurring role on Home ‘N Away and promises the sort of fame and riches you can’t find at home.
But here’s the rub. Overseas postage is crazy expensive. $11 AUD per package for a small magazine. That factor alone is going to lose you a considerable audience.
#6. You need to get the word out
Wait. I lied. A digital shopfront is important, obviously. And it allows you to sell to a global audience. But you still need a marketing plan to coordinate the launch, spread the word, and get the magazine out in front of people.
So, as you may have guessed, a marketing plan is, definitely, for real, no kidding, the most important thing. Just ask any PR or marketing folks you may know. They’ll tell you.
How you go about marketing and promoting your publication is on you. One neat trick is to pitch an article to a larger, more mainstream media organisation about something “adjacent” to your magazine (and then slip in a reference to your own project).
Think outside the square. Museums, art institutions, design blogs are a way to reach a broader audience if you can frame your project in those terms.
The thing about promo is you really need to be ruthless. You may feel a certain way about talking up your project. This is not the time for false modesty. People have a million other things going on and short attention spans. You’ll know you’re doing the promo thing right when you’re sick of hearing about your own stupid project.
#7. You need a back-up plan
Having said all that, acceptance is the most important thing.
Accept that you will probably lose money. Accept that the designer you hired on Fiverr doesn’t speak english and will incorrectly spell the name of your magazine on the front cover. Accept that you will not notice this fact until the magazine has been printed because who bothers to check the name of their own magazine…
Let it all wash over you. Accept the terrible reality.
Invest in duck tape. Print new labels. Spend hours manually fixing each cover. Look up Wabi Sabi and embrace the imperfection. This is no longer just a magazine. This is a bespoke art project. We’ve crossed the rubicon. Things are getting weird.
#8 You need perspective
The truth of it, then, is that everything is everything.
And everything is the most important thing. Every choice, decision, mistake and correction will impact the end results. And when all else is said and done you’re still at the mercy of forces largely outside your control.
So it’s a good thing we’re just talking about a video game magazine, and not something actually important.
PS. For those paying attention, the framework of this article was wholesale stolen from the Edge magazine review of Arms in #306.
PPS. Forgotten Worlds issue 2 and 3 come packaged together as a limited edition bundle. They’re limited to just 200 copies. Issue #2 takes a deep dive into Sega Mega Drive / Genesis box-art. Issue #3 is dedicated to video game fanzines back in the 90s. Order your copies via the button below.