Need Feedback on My Classic Game Magazine Sample

[Hobie-wan]

For a publishing thing versus a content thing, is it going to cost a lot more to have black pages with white text? It does look cool, but surely printing costs will take a hit.

[BakaTanuki]

Interesting that I come across this thread since I also am in the middle of creating a game magazine. Keep us posted; I will be very interested in checking it out.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but if anyone is interested here is information on my upcoming magazine: http://insert-disc.com/2010/06/09/i-d-m ... -superior/

[onemanfilmcrew]

Thanks for the feedback!

My plan is to have the price be $10 and have it be around 40 pages. There are going to be exactly zero ads, as it's all going to be content. I know 40 pages doesn't sound like a lot, but I looked at the latest 100 page issue of Game Informer and once you subtract all the ads, non gaming material, and writeups on the latest Guitar Hero/Madden type games, it isn't much more than 40 pages.

I've also decided to go a slightly different route with publishing. Instead of doing it as a magazine, I'm going through the same publisher as my book. So the finished product is going to be an 8x10 full color book rather than a magazine. The main reasons for this is

1. I can keep the cost at $10.

2. It will not only be available on Amazon, but will also qualify for their free shipping program (when you buy $25 worth of stuff).

[Erik_Twice]

It's not bad!

Since you've gotten some great comments, I feel obligated to point out what you can do better!

You need to mix it up a bit and start to use headers, highlight words and make the text and images come together to form a page instead of a page with images and text. Do you know what I mean?
Take a look at this:[snip]

The words and text belong together, you can't separate them. Just look at the layout in as many magazines as possible and just steal stuff, use their layouts and make it your own!
It makes for a much interesting read!

I couldn't agree more. This is gooooood advice!

[JohnBaxterly]

1. I can keep the cost at $10.

oh my god thank you

And I actually think that 40 pages is just enough. Perfect amount for a magazine of this kind. I also like the whole "more-like-a-book" idea. All in all, I can't wait for this to come out. Keep us posted!

[CRTGAMER]

Looks great. Just curious, with magazine and newspaper sales dropping like a hot potato will your magazine have a viable market? Look at the recent game magazine five dollar subscription offers. Perhaps selling your Retro articles to an existing reputable magazine such as Retro Gamer? Hope you do publish in one form or other, good luck.

1. I can keep the cost at $10.

2. It will not only be available on Amazon, but will also qualify for their free shipping program (when you buy $25 worth of stuff).

EDIT
Read second page after responding to your first post, sorry.
If you go the magazine "book" route, at 10 bucks definitely worth it!

[BakaTanuki]

Yeah, 10 books for a book format? Sounds great. I could see this really getting some sales from the type of people who hang around here. Hope it goes well!

[swiftzx]

I have two questions on your magazine:
What systems is it going to cover?
and
When are you going to release it so I can buy a copy?

[onemanfilmcrew]

[quote="swiftzx"]I have two questions on your magazine:
What systems is it going to cover?
and
When are you going to release it so I can buy a copy? [/quote]


Answers.

1. At the moment it is going to cover everything from the 16-bit era and before (including the Sega CD/Turbo CD/etc). In the future I will probably add systems to the mix, but there is just so much material in those systems that I really want to focus on a time period and dive into it. Also, I'm going to be including a couple of Japanese games in each issue (one that is totally playable to non Japanese speakers and one that looks cool enough to make you want to learn Japanese).

and

2. Originally the first issue was going to be coming out at the end of Summer, but since my girlfriend and I are moving from Illinois to Austin in a couple of months I haven't had the time to really work on it as much as I need to. As a result it will probably begin around October or so.

[onemanfilmcrew]

[quote="CRTGAMER"]Looks great. Just curious, with magazine and newspaper sales dropping like a hot potato will your magazine have a viable market? Look at the recent game magazine five dollar subscription offers. Perhaps selling your Retro articles to an existing reputable magazine such as Retro Gamer? Hope you do publish in one form or other, good luck.

[quote="onemanfilmcrew"]1. I can keep the cost at $10.

2. It will not only be available on Amazon, but will also qualify for their free shipping program (when you buy $25 worth of stuff).[/quote]
EDIT
Read second page after responding to your first post, sorry.
If you go the magazine "book" route, at 10 bucks definitely worth it![/quote]


The good news for me is, I'm doing this entirely on my own, which really keeps the costs down. Plus since I'm going the printing on demand route (like my book), my upfront investment is relatively low.

My profit margin is very, very modest with this (as well as my book), but according to my calculations if I can get 1,000 fans of what I'm doing who buy every issue I'll have the ability to drop down to a part time job and be able to spend 35-40 hours a week. that would let me eventually get this magazine/book to a monthly publication, as well as write more system guides, and create more episodes of my show ( www.thevgatv.com ).

But even if it never gets to that it is still very satisfying to me knowing that at the end of the day I'm doing something I really enjoy doing. And, well, if I can make a few bucks on the side, I'm all for it