Not to be discouraging, but I don't think I would personally be too interested in a magazine full of other people's travel stories - at least not interested enough to buy it.
I also think in today's economy it will be difficult to get companies to advertise in a new start up magazine when they are struggling to cut costs in response to sluggish consumer spending. And it may be difficult to get mainstream consumers to buy a new magazine at this time when consumer spending levels are low.
Maybe an e-zine that could be downloaded to a smartphone that travelers can read on the go (or hikers can read on the trail) would catch on. It would at least be different. Maybe you could offer a sample edition for free and sell subscriptions. I would personally be more interested in something I could easily read on the go without carrying anything extra.
It doesn't sound like a type of magazine that would really interest me.
But I' m a weirdo that sleeps in shelters and subscribes to Backpacker too.
It might be tough to start up a new magazine right now. Whenever there's a recession, or even the hint of a recession, advertising is the first thing cut from every company's budget. It's a killer for established magazines, never mind small start-ups.
However, it could work as an online venture. I wouldn't count on making any money off it...but, it is an intriguing idea. There are already several sites set up for travel bloggers, like www.travelblog.org. But what you want to do sounds more like a book series I once came across, which contained reprints of travel stories, grouped together by theme (vacation romances, women finding empowerment, etc.).
There are good writers out there, but the professional ones WILL cost you money. Granted, not a lot of money, but professional writers DO NOT write for free.
Reader's Digest is all reprints -- stuff that's already been printed in other media, like newspapers and magazines. So you could start sifting through papers and mags to find material, then contact the publication, ask how much the reprint rights would cost, etc.
It would be a lot of work, but, hey, anything is possible.
Good luck!
I should have realized that when asking for thoughts and opinions for an idea, there would be some annoying individual to criticize typos just to be insulting and demeaning. I didn't ask for an opinion on my stream of consciousness in writing to a general thread in a non-literary forum. I have had around 15 articles published in local media, they are spell checked prior to submission and then there is what you call an "Editor" to catch the rest. In order to satisfy those who need correction:
complete production
poor mans copy write protection
interrupt
official authorities are encountered
I still like the concept and appreciated the honest opinions pertaining to the original idea and would welcome continued advice, rather it be negative or positive. To the forever-demeaning personalities here on White Blaze, I so apologize, perhaps you can volunteer to be the professional editors for every thread posted on this web site. Perhaps those insulting have never incorrectly had a typographical error in their life, good for them! Give me a break.
Blister "Bitchen" Sister
I don't think I was being particularly nasty or overly critical to point out spelling errors in an invitation to invest in a publication. I stand by my opinion that it would not be a prudent investment.
As long as I'm here, it's poor man's copyright.
I've read stuff Blister has written.
If she was associated with any outdoors magazine, I'd read it.
At no point have I requested financial investments. The request of having anyone help me start this project, would be people to submit stories or share expertise such as; software, advertising or photography. These are areas of which I have very little experience. As long as you are here, continuing to be overly critical, perhaps you can actually post an honest opinion why you so dislike a publication concentrating on various forms of long distance travel? The actual question requested at the start of this thread.
I have an idea; perhaps Fox News has a position for you at their network "Internet Thread Analyst". How many typographical errors can you find in this post?
Blister "Bitchen" Sister
I don't think a paper mag of this type would sell enough. Perhaps a ezine would make better sense
Backpacking Light used to have a hard copy of their magazine until recently, but went to an all electronic format due to costs
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-...ing_light.html
I am not sure an ezine would work for Blister's idea as there is much competition for free. (Even if her published works would be of higher caliber writing).
I do not claim to know the publishing business, however. So who knows?
Last edited by Mags; 11-14-2008 at 20:06.
Paul "Mags" Magnanti
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The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau
It all comes down to this: Do you need to make money on this, or is it something you'd like to do that you can afford to foot the bill for. There are plenty of options for doing this, it is just a question of how much are you willing to spend. If you need this to be a profit-making venture, your options are far more limited, especially in this economy.