Auxiliary Magazine is all about the alternative. They go against the mainstream to bring you the beauty of sub-culture which they have been proudly doing for 5 years and through 32 issues. I sat down with the Editor In Chief for Auxiliary Magazine, Jennifer Link, to discuss what it takes to run a popular independent magazine as well as their recent Kickstarter campaign to help the magazine go to print.
In typical alternative fashion, while most magazines are heading towards digital mediums, Auxiliary Magazine wants to defy that trend and is looking to find new success in the print media market. Their recently launched Kickstarter campaign looks to raise the funds required to help with the costs associated with this endeavor. Looking to raise $30,000, the money would go directly into:
- Printing the next three issues
- Distributing issues to subscribers
- Producing content
- Funding photoshoots for editorials and features
- Compensating contributors
- Laying the foundation for the continuation of Auxiliary Magazine
Auxiliary Magazine has been independent since day one and averages some 29,000 readers per issue spread out across 165 countries. Editor In Chief, Jennifer Link, gives us some further insight about the incredible success, day to day operations, and future plans for this growing magazine.
Could you tell our readers a little bit about the inspiration behind Auxiliary and how the magazine came to be?
We started the magazine over five years ago. I was living in New York juggling and trying out multiple photo jobs... photo assistant, art director at a photo agency, assistant producer, and photo equipment rental associate. I was also shooting my own fashion and portrait photography and building my portfolio in my spare time, which I didn't have much of! I learned a lot but realized more than anything I wanted to translate what I had learned to my passion, alternative and subculture fashion photography. I was also submitting my work to many fashion magazines and realized the magazine I wanted to work with, didn't exist. So I moved to Buffalo, a city more conducive to starting a business and started Auxiliary Magazine with another photographer, a fashion stylist, and a DJ and event producer.
What are some of the challenges you face running an independent magazine?
What are some of the challenges you face running an independent magazine?
There are many challenges. Trying to stay independent. Keeping a high level of professionalism in an industry that is adopting some not so great practices to stay afloat. Right now our biggest challenge is funding the production of the magazine and figuring out how to better compensate creatives for their great work. We are always working with way too small of a budget. We decided to use crowd funding to pre-sell subscriptions. By switching to the format of print runs with paid subscriptions we will be able to overcome this challenge!
I've had the pleasure of shooting for Auxiliary a couple times and I know how much time and effort the entire team puts into each editorial. It's incredible the passion and dedication that each of you bring. Could you tell us a little bit about what goes into preparing a magazine editorial?
Preparation is key to producing the high quality outcome we want. A great team is key too! We are always thinking about what the final result should be. First we know what issue we are shooting for, what season, what trends we want to cover, what style and mood we want to convey. Next comes a detailed outline with moodboards and reference images. Then we cast a team that always includes a fashion stylist or creative director to keep the vision, fashion, and styling on track, a great photographer, a makeup artist, a hair stylist, and talented models. While we cast we keep in mind the vision for the editorial. We pull wardrobe from a few different designers for each editorial to keep variety and to create more rounded looks. Then it's a long day of shooting. We try to shoot the editorial in one day to maintain constancy.
In an era where everyone is going digital, why is it so important for you to create a physical print product?
In an era where everyone is going digital, why is it so important for you to create a physical print product?
Magazines are best in print. I don't think that will ever change! Digital editions are great too. But with print it makes you slow down a bit and really take a photo in. With so much online content between social media, blogs, and all that, some people only look at a photo for seconds. With print you can really take in a photo, an idea, and digest it.
I think it is very interesting that you chose to crowdfund the project. How did you decide that this was the right approach?
We have been thinking about it for over a year and preparing for about six months. We have been feeling for a while that in order to realize our ideas for even better and more ambitious content that we would have to change the format of the magazine. We decided print subscriptions were the best format for us. We have seen many musicians we have covered fund their new albums with crowd funding. We have seen many artists fund their next gallery show, and photographers fund publishing their own photo book. Record labels, galleries, book publishers can't support artists much anymore. But with crowd funding, artists get the chance to get the funds to produce their project directly from fans. We knew our readers wanted print subscriptions, crowd funding is allowing us to raise the funds we need to do print runs by pre-selling subscriptions.
What does the submission process look like for Auxiliary? Could you share with us some insight as far as what your magazine looks for in the submissions you receive?
What does the submission process look like for Auxiliary? Could you share with us some insight as far as what your magazine looks for in the submissions you receive?
We produce most of the content for each issue by putting together a photographer and team to produce an editorial or shoot a celeb or artist we want to feature. But we do love picking up great submissions from time to time and we normally have one or two an issue. We get a lot submissions. Every couple weeks we sit down and review them. Submissions that are clearly submitted get our attention first because we can easily and quickly look at them. My favorite way to look at a submission is in a pdf that is presented like the photos would be in a magazine, with a proposed editorial title and laid out in a good order. It shows planning and vision was put into the set.
Aside from the Kickstarter campaign, what does the future hold for Auxiliary?
We plan to start some new reoccurring one page features and lifestyle articles and increase our page count to include more editorials in each issue. We hope to release some more limited edition items like our Reclaim T-Shirt Collection which is out now and a reward option with our Kickstarter. We have some ideas for special edition issues that would happen once or twice a year. Lots of ideas and plans! Once we switch up our format, we should be able to pursue all the ideas we've wanted to.
For more information about the magazine and the campaign check out the Kickstarter page where you can pledge your support. You can also connect with Auxiliary Magazine on their Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, and Pinterest page.
