My Indie Press
For some reason my head just ran with that cockamamie idea of starting my own literary magazine. I started thinking about how I could secure a successful, if not profitable, circulation. The key seems to be instant accessibility; all popular publications have that "hook" that most higher literature slack, claiming to report things that everyone (or their niche demographic) knows about, is interested in, or in some way has a point of entry into the discussion. Newspapers report the news, and most people try to pretend to know what's going on in the world. Women's magazines report fashion, which all people who wear clothes have to engage in whether they like it or not - and for many, the practice of an activity leads to a presumption of expertise. Everyone knows who the celebrities are. Then there are the "how-to"-type publications, with niche marketing: how to be a parent, how to pick a car, how to invest, how to go on vacation, how to use technology, etc.
What are the popular publications with literary content? Two titles immediately come to mind: The New Yorker and Playboy. Both ride more on other vehicles than their artisticness: the former is popular for its cartoons, and the latter for its prurience. In fact, the New Yorker is hardly the creative publication it often gets credit for (and I can't speak for Playboy because I've never read it); it's true that there are some very high quality pieces in each issue, but most of the contents are essentially news pieces, and I've surely read similar works in other, more straightforwardly news magazines (like Time) in which the quality was just as high - on a creative standard as well as a journalistic standard.
Thus I submit that The New Yorker, the most successful of the literary magazines, owes its popularity and uniqueness to its cartoons. And cartoons, corresponding with what I was claiming above, are one of the easiest "ins" for a reader.
My indie publication likewise needs an easy in. First I'll publish lots of microfiction (200 words or less). Then I'll throw in some fictional news (like the Onion?), perhaps with a horror twist, and tasteful smut.
What are the popular publications with literary content? Two titles immediately come to mind: The New Yorker and Playboy. Both ride more on other vehicles than their artisticness: the former is popular for its cartoons, and the latter for its prurience. In fact, the New Yorker is hardly the creative publication it often gets credit for (and I can't speak for Playboy because I've never read it); it's true that there are some very high quality pieces in each issue, but most of the contents are essentially news pieces, and I've surely read similar works in other, more straightforwardly news magazines (like Time) in which the quality was just as high - on a creative standard as well as a journalistic standard.
Thus I submit that The New Yorker, the most successful of the literary magazines, owes its popularity and uniqueness to its cartoons. And cartoons, corresponding with what I was claiming above, are one of the easiest "ins" for a reader.
My indie publication likewise needs an easy in. First I'll publish lots of microfiction (200 words or less). Then I'll throw in some fictional news (like the Onion?), perhaps with a horror twist, and tasteful smut.
posted by Rex at 2:15 PM
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