What is magazine production?

Magazine production is a part of publishing. Publishing is production and distribution of literature. You could be an author who publishes your work. You can publish your work or take the help of a publisher. Magazine production is not just the production of literature; it is also providing media to do this.

Magazine pre-production

The articles of the magazine, including other artifacts such as advertisements, advertorials, important announcements, and so on are reviewed by the editorial team. A magazine production company has their own style guide, and all content is molded to suit that style guide.

The magazine editor requests a review or issues a directive to the author to change a topic. The magazine editor holds complete responsibility over a section or article in the magazine. There could be many magazine editors in a magazine production unit.

Magazine design

The artwork and layout of the magazine is finalized by a magazine designer or a group of designers. Since desktop publishing software make this process easy, all these activities are done with the help of software applications.

Page dimensions and layouts are created. Articles are fitted into these page layouts. Advertisements are included into the pages as per the terms of agreement with the advertiser.

Magazine printing

The design work in some cases also involves the printing work. But now the trend is to have a separate printing process that looks into aspects such as typesetting, paper quality, binding technique, and so on.

The magazine designer may also be responsible to develop ideas on the overall look and feel of the magazine. Due to this, the magazine designer may work closely with the magazine printers.

Magazine sales and distribution

Sales and marketing strategy is linked with the editorial process. Often, this stage falls in the editorial stage. Once the magazine is published and ready for distribution, the sales people may begin promoting the next issue in the previous issue. The promotional initiatives and strategies of a magazine production company can be done by in-house marketing people or it could be outsourced.

The magazine production business

As with any business, magazine production has its risks. It has to cater to the tastes of people. It could cater to a niche audience segment or a larger audience. The importance of presentation is becoming more ominous now. With more magazine production companies vying for market share, the focus on quality, presentation and relevance of content is much more than before.