New magazine masterclass dates

When we ran the first masterclass on how to publish an independent magazine back in September 2012 it was a bit of an experiment. We didn’t know whether people would be able to afford the ticket price (there’s no two ways about it – £399 is a lot of money) and we didn’t know whether the students attending would turn into fully-fledged publishers.

Three years on it continues to be an experiment, but one that’s going from strength to strength. We held one masterclass that first year, two in 2013, and we’re now announcing this year’s third masterclass, on 24-25 May. And right from the beginning we found that people were coming to us with serious projects that they turned into very real magazines.

I’m expecting to see the same thing again in May, so once again we’ll have a packed two days of top quality speakers and practical magazine publishing advice, with the line-up from this year’s first event back to do their thing:

// Guy Andrews from Rouleur will speak about the importance of finding your niche
// Rosa Park from Cereal will speak about making an impact with a magazine
// Jeremy Leslie from magCulture will give his overview of the independent publishing industry
// Esra Gokgoz from Human After All will present her guide to digital strategy
// And of course I’ll be on hand to cover off all things distribution

But the talks are only a part of the weekend’s activities, and I’ll also be leading the sessions that focus on exploring students’ own projects and taking them to the next level, whether that means working at the very early ideas stage or sharpening up a magazine that’s already in print.

Class sizes are limited to just 16 people (hence the price tag) and the weekends become a response to the people in the room and their various projects, so it’s never quite clear what exactly they’re going to throw up. The one thing I can guarantee is that they’re always incredibly inspiring, exciting and exhausting (but in the best possible way).

Tickets for the May event are on sale now, and with only 16 places available I think they might sell out again. So if you think this might be for you, feel free to drop me a line – I’m more than happy to go through the weekend in more detail for people who want to get a better idea of what’s involved before they sign up.