In this day and age we see new magazines being launched every time we look around at the magazine racks. Back in the 1980s, grocery stores might sell a few magazines; now they sell hundreds. And because magazines are now produced entirely by computer ? and only printed to paper as the last step in the process ? a person working entirely alone can make a magazine at home, using a desktop computer and a software program. This eliminates much of the staff required by magazines, so that they can concentrate their personnel on marketing, advertising, and distribution. While revenues from advertisers can be maximized, the overhead to run a magazine drops, making the successful magazines much more profitable and manageable.

One magazine writer who specializes in travel stories decided to stop his low-paying freelance career in favor of a high-stakes gamble on producing his own travel magazine. Because he had professional relationships with many travel agents throughout the USA, he approached them with his idea, and not only did they support it in principle, they also agreed to provide the financial underpinning for the magazine. They would pay all of the basic costs to produce 10,000 copies a month, and in exchange he would create, write, and publish it. The travel agents would then, in turn, distribute the magazine to their customers. And because the magazine was dedicated to promoting travel, the customers who read it would be inspired to book another vacation package, which was good news for the travel professionals.

Once this enterprising writer had his magazine overhead covered by the travel agents around the nation, he set his sights on advertising revenue. He sold ads to hotels, restaurants, airlines, rental car companies, and a host of other companies and industries that make money from those who travel ? and who would likely read a travel magazine each month. Because his expenses for the publication were paid, he was able to pocket all of the advertising revenue. So he not only ran his own magazine without being worried about financial backing or seed capital, but he also was able to make a profit on the first issue. Because each issue had the same basic layout or template ? with fresh content and ads plugged in ? his profits were even higher on the subsequent issues of the magazine, and soon he was making $100,000 a year as his own boss.