Independence – Interviews with 12 indie mag makers

196 pages, PDF

Book published in 2015

Written by Jeremy Leslie

Designed by magCulture Studio

Available only as a PDF download

At 2015’s Pick Me Up festival Jeremy Leslie interviewed 12 independent magazine makers. Initially conceived as a one-off series of live events, the resulting recordings have been edited together for this limited-run book published by magCulture.

Hear from key figures in British independent magazine publishing:

Rob Alderson, Printed Pages
Alec Dudson, Intern
Polly Glass, Wrap
David Lane, The Gourmand
Danny Miller, Weapons of Reason
Rob Orchard, Delayed Gratification 
Cathy Olmedillas, Anorak
Rosa Park, Cereal
Danielle Pender, Riposte   
Marcroy Smith, Print Isn’t Dead
John L Walters, Eye
Steve Watson, Stack

Much is rightly made of the creativity and invention that go into the magazines, but these conversations focus on the tougher everyday reality of making your own magazine. They add up to a unique resource, an essential record of this particular period in publishing, a time where many of these projects are growing beyond their DIY roots to become serious businesses.

Why did these people launch a magazine now? What day are the day-to-day challenges do they face? What is the toughest part of the role? What is success? Is independence on its own a trait that matters?

WIth plenty of tips and advice, this is a must-have for anyone interested to make their own magazine and anyone simply intrigued by this developing part of the publishing industry.

Interviewee portraits by Ian Pierce

This book was first published in 2015 and reprinted in 2016. The print edition is now sold out.