Any Interest in a new Ukulele Magazine?

uBass

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Hi All.

I've been lurking here for a while but have not posted much.

I am developing a monthly Ukulele magazine that will be printed on high-quality paper and in full color. If I can get enough advertisers it'll be a free subscription, if not, I'll have to charge for subs.

I'm (hopefully) getting funding from Kickstarter for this project. The pledge page will be live in a few days.

This is not to knock the other great mags out there already (Ukulele Player, Kamuke, Rolling Coconuts) and the great web sites, but I think there is a need for a "lifestyle" magazine with musician profiles (famous and up-and-coming) news, gear reviews, maybe trascriptions and most importantly high-quality photo essays. I see this publication as a compliment to the other mags, not competition.

Everything about the publication will be top notch – the writing, photography and editing. And in case you think I'm just some joker who wants to slap together a PDF, no this is not the case. I've been a journalist/photographer for more than 30 years. I've been involved in the start-up of a few print and online publications, so I have an idea of what's entailed in publishing a magazine like this.

Anyway, I am trying to find out if there is any interest in such a magazine and what type of content Ukulele players would find useful each month. Any suggestions would be helpful.

You can respond to this thread or email me directly at dtomasula (at) gmail (dot) com.

By the way, Ryan gave me the go ahead to post this thread.

Thanks for helping me out on this.

Dean
 
Hi Dean

I like your enthusiasm! To be different from other Uke magazines, I think I would like to see 2-3 tabs in each issue, and maybe a couple of strumming songs for Uke Clubs. If it could be part songbook, part info on technique, that would be different than other magazines. Reviews of ukes and gear are always welcome, especially if they can compare side-by-side similar products. I like the idea of the photo essays. I would also like to see a tablet (iPad or Fire) version available with links to videos. If you look at the most talked about topics on the UU forums, you will get lots of ideas for articles... (low G string tuning, humidifiers, cases, choosing the "right" size uke, ukes in cars, how to teach uke to your friends and family).

Good luck and keep us posted.
–Lori
 
I think it is a great idea, and would love to see it succeed. I would also recommend a section where you can interview manufacturers and luthiers. Good luck to you, I will definitely subscribe if you do it.
 
This sounds great!

As for content, interviews, gear reviews, playing tips and tricks/how to's, monthly songs to play with tips, monthly music theory articles, luthier profiles.
 
I'm for it. I already do reviews of uke books...so if you need material, in fact, here is one of my reviews.
 
Wow this sounds amazing. I completely agree with Lori, especially about including a tablet version. Three things that I'd like to see that haven't been mentioned:

1) Guest writers. Adding different authors (as I'm sure you know) will allow for more perspectives, more opinions, and in turn, a richer magazine
2) Contests. These would be great for promotion (especially in the introduction and growth stages of your company), and everyone loves contests (as you'll see in the "UU Contests" forum, many threads have well over 100 responses)
3) A free promotional issue. Of course, this only matters if you are looking to charge for subscriptions, but a promotional issue would give readers a taste of the magazine before they commit to subscribing.

I'm sure you know all of this already, and I don't mean to sound condescending, but I just wanted to post my suggestions. Thanks.
 
Sounds like a great idea. Maybe a digest size so it even fits in a uke case or bag. And a companion web site, no doubt.
 
and distribute in the UK as well as stateside
 
Thanks for the suggestions. They are all helpful. I'm trying to think of ways to differentiate the mag from the others out there. There's no sense in putting out something that's already been done.

I was considering a section on luthiers and manufacturers (maybe interviews or factory tour type articles). I think this would be interesting to Uke players and would help get the manufacturers interested in advertising. Also considering transcriptions and playing tips.

I'm also planning on doing a digital version. And a web site (which isn't up yet).

I hadn't thought about a digest size pub, but it's a good suggestion. It certainly would be cheaper to print than a full size magazine.

I'm definately going to need writers and I hope to be able to pay something for articles. It won't be much but it'll be more than zero! And I'll gladly accpt subscriptions worldwide.

Of course this is all contingent upon my getting the money pledged on Kickstarter so I can get the project started.

Please keep the suggestions coming and I'll keep you guys informed on the progress of the magazine.

Thanks again
Dean
 
I like the idea. I'd subscribe to it if it isn't gawdawful expensive.
 
A little (financial) advice: a magazine in print is said to be the quickest way to destroy a fortune. I've been buying e-zines from a knitting publisher and I like them--good format, nice pages in pdf and you can download them to Nook or Kindle Fire (black and white are best on regular Kindles.) Or view it on the computer. I'd go with color because the ukes are best viewed that way.

You could have pdf pages of printable music tabs, which would be popular. You can imbed sound and video clips. You can imbed lessons. I would not go into print. Unless you have massive advertising, it would be difficult to be solvent. But an ezine would be cheaper to subscribe to and cheaper to produce. I'll offer my reviews (I'm one of Amazon.com's top ten reviewers ) for free if you like--I've reviewed tuners and music books so far.
 
Nickie, I plan to make the magazine a free subscription (if I can get enough advertisers).

Gwynedd, that's definitely something to consider, but I'd like to make the magazine a high-quality full-color publication and with a PDF version, there is only so far you can go. But I'll look into it as an option.

Thanks
Dean
 
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A big thank you to uBass for following the rules and seeking approval before posting any commercial threads. I wish more people would do this. Best of luck in a ukulele magazine!
 
I think you should do digital out the gate and totally abandon print.

Now that we have some real players in making digital periodicals easy to find (amazon and itunes)

I would gladly pay $1 to $2 dollars per digital download.
 
Sounds like a great idea, and I'd definitely be interested in supporting you by buying an ad for my Uke Blog.
 
Well, I'm still considering whether to go all digital or print (with a digital version to come later). It's one of the many questions I am wrestling with now.

And, Ryan, thanks for allowing me to post this. I appreciate it.

I put up a page on the web site where people can write for more info the 'ukulele magazine.

I also have the Kickstarter page live now.
 
I would subscribe as well if the content was worthy.
 
Thanks for the suggestion Scott. I love your podcasts by the way.

And thanks to everyone for the support so far. I was afraid that people would tell me not to bother. But I'm glad to see that there is so much interest in this project.
 
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If I were able to walk into my local newsagents and buy a high quality ukulele magazine right off the shelf like the hundred different guitar mags (or order it over the net for delivery) then I would definitely buy every issue! I'm not a fan of reading full magazines or books on my laptop, I like something tangible, but I recon I'm probably in the minority.

From a business standpoint though you'll stand more of a chance making a profit going digital only.
 
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