We've had so many letters and emails asking how Horsewyse is made, or how to go about making a magazine, we decided to include some info on our website.

THE MONEY SIDE OF THINGS....
The retail price of Horsewyse is $6 and if we didn't have to pay to have each issue printed and distributed, and we sold all 15,000 copies printed, we'd be rich! But it doesn't work like that. Each magazine costs us around $1.40 to print, and our distributor charges $1.40 per magazine to distribute to newsagents and bookstores Australia-wide. The distributor keeps a record of each magazine sold (this is why magazines are barcoded...it makes computer records much easier).

Horsewyse is quarterly, so each issue is on sale for three months. During that time, the distributor sends us payments for magazines sold in three installments, but the final payment doesn't come through until SIX MONTHS after that issue has gone on sale. For example, for our March 2007 issue, we won't get a final payment until August and sometimes that seems a long time to wait! Meantime, we have all the costs associated with the next issue.

We usually distribute 13,000 magazines to newsagents and have 2,000 subscribers. We only get paid by the distributor for magazines SOLD and this is currently around 60%-70%. Any unsold issues are returned to us (we pay for that too) and these are then stored for future sale as back issues. The distributor doesn't charge their fee up front...they take it out of the magazine sales meaning they get paid before we do. When we started up, we had to sign a document stating if we didn't sell enough copies of our first issue to meet their disbribution costs, we'd be liable for the balance. Luckily we just scraped in and ended up with a first sales cheque of...$4.50. In other words, we more or less broke even (phew!)

Subscriptions cost $1 per magazine to post, and the mailing company also have to be paid to package each issue, so it really doesn't make much difference whether an issue gets distributed to newsagents, or we post it out...it all costs about the same. The main benefit with subscriptions is that they are pre-paid.

We have to pay contributors like Peta Taylor and Steph Jones and we also purchase lots of photos to use in each issue. We also have to pay for office supplies...you'd be surprised how these mount up, especially mailing supplies for the Gift Shop. Postage is another huge cost for us as is our computer and camera equipment. We use Macintosh computers, which are pretty much standard for graphic design...I love my Mac! We've also bought a few digital SLR cameras which ain't cheap, but necessary for quality, high-resolution photos.

Of course, printing is by far the biggest outlay any magazine has. It's a very competitive market...we're forever having printers contact us offering to quote on our printing but we're staying put with our printers because of their great service and competitive pricing. The couple of times we were tempted to stray resulted in sub-standard work and it's just not worth putting all that effort into producing a magazine only to have a shoody print job make it look amateurish. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

It costs extra to have glossy magazine covers. I bet you thought it was ultra-shiny paper but it's actually a finish called UV coating which is sprayed and this costs extra again.

Magazines are printed on big sheets of paper which are then folded, trimmed and bound. There's eight pages to a sheet so most mags have page numbers that are multiples of 8. If Horsewyse wanted to add extra pages, we'd have to add eight pages.

The actual print is done using a four colour printing process called CMYK which stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and the K stands for Black. Every photo and colour you see comprises these colours mixed together during the printing process. Sometimes on the cover we'll add a fifth fluorescant colour, which could be a hot pink, orange or lime. Next time you're at the newsagents, have a look at some covers and you'll see fluorescant writing on the covers, which really helps make them stand out. Of course...this costs extra too!

PUTTING THE MAGAZINE TOGETHER

Above: The desktop of my Macintosh computer...putting together the activity pages using QuarkXPress.

The pages are put together using graphic design programs like QuarkXPress and In Design. Horsewyse is done using QuarkXpress and another image program called Photoshop (which you've probably heard of). You need to be fairly artistic to design magazine pages so they're visually appealling yet contain all the info on them. Sometimes it's tricky making everything fit! For example, we might have some copy and four photos that have to fit on three pages. We often look through other magazines for design ideas, keeping any pages for future reference and inspiration.

As editor, I also have to make sure articles read fluently, and have correct spelling and grammar. I don't have any formal training in journalism or graphic design...I've just learned both over the years. Nowadays you need TAFE or tertiary qualifications to get into publishing, design or journalism. Many have commented I have their dream job. Well, yes...it's interesting but very hard work like any other occupation. The benefits I enjoy are that Horsewyse is done from a home/office and published by family members, so I don't have to answer to a 'boss' as such which is bliss!

Front covers are important and we'll often pay a fair bit for good ones, anything between $300-$600. Being quarterly, we can afford to generate a lot of material ourselves, which helps keep overheads down. The biggest question we're asked is if we can come out more often and unfortunately the answer is no, due to a lack of advertising.....

ADVERTISING
Advertising is VERY important to any publication as it helps pay for everything! At Horsewyse we're very lucky because we can survive on sales...our sales are currently around 67% at newsagents which is excellent considering the average is usually a lot less than that. But advertising is still very important to us to contribute to costs. It's been hard for us to get much advertising as many believe we're just for younger readers, not realising now much buying power kids of today have over their parents (and I'm a parent so I know about these things!) The drought is also having a big impact here.

So you will rarely see any magazine that doesn't contain some form of advertising. Yes, it clutters up the pages but we can't survive without it! Plus some of it is very informative.

Most major advertisers work out an advertising budget 12 months in advance and then stick to it. They may request special pricing for multiple ads and it also pays to be competitive by matching prices in other similar magazines. If you ask too much you'll be pricing yourself out of business.

WHAT ELSE?
Many believe you can start a magazine up and it will automatically sell but it doesn't work like that. Horsewyse has been going for five years now yet I am still being told, "I've only just found you at the newsagent". So it takes a looong time to get established! Added to that is the fact many new magazines flounder and fall by the wayside after a short time, which makes potential advertisers very wary about investing money in new ones. But we're getting there.

I remember when Horse Deals first came out...just a few pages stapled together but look at it now! Their success is well deserved as they've done the hard yards.

The horse world is a small one and most areas are already being covered by existing mags. We saw an opening for a publication for younger horse-lovers and took a gamble which paid off. Of course, we did have many years experience in horse magazines behind us which meant we knew the market and what was involved. Other than Horse Deals (which is top of the list), there's magazines for top level competition, instructional articles and general horse news, show horses as well as Arabians and Western. So it's pretty well covered in Australia now and anyone wanting to start up against any of these established ones will have a tough job ahead of them.

OFFICEWORK
I do most of the design and a lot of the writing of Horsewyse, but I also handle all the office stuff too, like processing subscriptions, Totally Horses memberships, send out gift shop items, do banking, etc. In fact, I estimate about half my time is spent doing these mundane but necessary tasks. I also do all of the website.

THE GOOD STUFF
Working from home (I can get the washing in when it rains!), no boss, no commuting too and from work, able slack off if I'm not feeling well or having a 'can't be bothered' day, being creative, the satisfaction of producing some great issues (if I do say so myself). Going for a walk with my dogs if it's a nice day. Also meeting nice people...I had to sign an autograph once!

THE NOT SO GOOD STUFF
Deadlines...I sometimes have to work nights, weekends and public holidays to meet deadlines. Even though we're only quarterly and no matter now well I try to plan everything, the last two weeks are usually bedlam. If we get a last-minute ad in I have to shuffle everything around to accommodate it. Proof-reading is a hassle too–we try our darndest but a few always slip through and boy, do readers love to write and let you know! The worst was when I left the letter 'r' out of the word 'shirt' in a crossword clue. Doh!

HOW DO I GET INTO EQUESTRIAN PUBLISHING?
Unfortunately it's really limited...most Australian horse magazines (with the exception of Horse Deals) are published by the people who also produce them as this helps keep costs down and is the only way you can hope to make any kind of profit. You can write articles and submit them and hope to get in that way, or ask to do work experience. Unfortunately Horsewyse isn't set up for work experience as there's only enough room in my office for me and my three dogs (and the occasional cat). Nowadays you'll need a tertiary qualification to break into any kind of journalism, get a job with a (non-horsey) magazine or newspaper and hope you can use your equestrian knowledge down the track if there's an opening.

I was lucky...I kind of fell into this field. When I left school I worked as a receptionist for legal and real estate firms. Then I started typesetting on clunky old machines (no computers back then) and began writing the occasional article and...I won't go into it all but one thing led to another although I was lucky to have anaptitude for graphic design (I'd always been 'arty') and English.

You could always start up your own magazine but it would need to fulfil a 'niche' in the equestrian market and most of these are already well catered for and the publications well established.

Anyway, I hope this helps answer some questions for you! If you have any more, feel free to contact me!

Vicki Sach (Editor)

Anyone is welcome to use this info for school or other projects provided acknowledgement is made to Horsewyse Magazine.