A guide to publishing a magazine in the UK

Although publishing a magazine in the United KIngdom can be a complicated procedure, if you know exactly what you would like to publish, how much you will need to invest, the amount of advertising you will need to cover costs, and what will attract your target market's attention, then you are already in the process of successfully publishing a magazine.

B2B magazines

Trade journals
Most publishing companies opt to publish business-to-business or trade magazines, which are posted directly from the publisher to the subscriber without being displayed in retail outlets. These magazines get their profits from focusing on a niche in the business industry such as pharmaceuticals, oil and gas or food manufacturing. Advertising
B2B magazines flourish mostly owing to print advertising. Advertisers are typically the companies who would like to reach your target audience. So, if the intended reader is a food factory manager, for instance, the company advertising in your journal is likely to be a machinery supplier of equipment that can be used in a food factory. Before embarking on publishing a magazine, it would be wise to get advertising commitments from as many companies as possible. ABC audited
To ensure that the magazine is regarded as a respected publication, it is advisable to get it registered for ABC auditing. This means that the claims it makes about numbers of subscribers is checked and approved by a professional auditing company. Potential advertisers will certainly be interested in knowing this.

Revenue streams

Online presence
It is almost impossible these days for a print publication to survive without new media to support it such as a dedicated website, online newsletter and e-blasts. The advantage of these forms of media is that it will not cost much to establish them but additional revenue streams can be gained by hosting advertisers' banners and sponsored articles. In addition, a weekly digital newsletter will ensure that the magazine brand is constantly placed in front of potential advertisers as well as readers and subscribers. Quality of journalism
While many trade journals have to be commercially aware because they rely so heavily on advertising, there should certainly be a degree of editorial independence which will impress not only readers but advertisers too. In this respect, journalism in the magazine needs to be maintained and grown for the publication to be successful, and ideally should not rely overly on press releases.