My Magazine Proposal

This semester I’ve been taking a grad class at FSU called Introduction to Editing and Publishing. During the first half of the class we concentrated on books and now we’ve moved on to magazines. My final project, due the last week of class on December 4, is to create a magazine proposal. I’ll be turning in a written version and will also be giving a short presentation. I don’t need to concern myself with costs or circulation plans, just the scope and content of the magazine. But even without the burden of the financial aspects I’m finding this to be a challenging assignment.

What hasn’t been done?

I have to admit, I’m having a rough time coming up with a good concept. It seems like most everything has already been done. Don’t forget, my proposal has to be more than just a concept, a look and example contents. I have to give an audience analysis, competition analysis and advertising analysis. I’ve given up on trying to create a magazine with mass appeal and have begun to consider what niche I can carve out. But therein lies the tension: I can’t make my magazine so specialized that no customers will want to buy it and no companies will want to advertise in it!

Furthermore, I don’t read a lot of magazine. Not like I used to, anyway. Growing up I used to flip through the magazines my parents subscribed to: Newsweek, Road & Track, Aviation Week, Chemical & Engineering News (what can I say, I have smart parents). In previous years I’ve had roommates who subscribed to ESPN’s magazine, World, and Time. Now the only magazine I get is Relevent. My medium of choice is the blog. I get my information through about 100 blogs that I subscribe to. Now, for this assignment I’m allowed to propose an e-magazine, but I have to be able to show that it is more than just a blog. (Just a blog? How dare he!)

What new magazine would you read?

I thought I would put the question to my readers. Is there a magazine niche that you’d like to see filled that currently hasn’t been tapped? Or, if not an untapped niche, maybe one that you’d like to see done differently or better? Leave your thoughts in the comments.