Melissa,

In the past I have edited and authored several publications and
newsletters, edited and written a column to a professional
publication, and sat on an editorial board at a large organization.

You not only need to develop a crystal clear concept of content and
audience but in addition you should be developing your publication
parameters at the same time - as budget will really be a limiting
factor in hard print, unless you are considering an online venture
only.

Try to define those factors by hard cover / soft cover, number of
illustrations / photos, whether you are going with half tones of four
color or some mix, and the approximate number of pages, covers and
binding - and most importantly you need to have a specific idea of the
number of copies that you anticipate ordering as that especially
defines your total cost and the price point that you can set for
sales.

Start by looking at publications that you would like to emulate - and
research how well, or not, they sell and how many copies they sell in
a period (6 months, a year), then get price quotes from several
printers / publishers, and that will give you a broad idea of the
scale of economics that you are getting into.

Ity is wonderful to have all sorts of great ideas but until you know
the scale and budget that you are able to support then you will have
no way of making the often tough decisions needed as a publications
director / editor to know if you can make any of those wonderful ideas
reality in print.

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Conservator
Los Angeles, California

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