Issuu Voices is a recurring segment on our blog. Each segment is written by and for publishers to highlight top quality publications and industry best practices. In this edition, the Editor and Director of Who’s Jack chronicles the magazine’s rise from photocopied and stapled fanzine to digital mag sensation.
In five years Jack has gone from an idea talked about in the pub to a company that have put on live events, urban festivals, had a bi-monthly, A5 fanzine that grew into a monthly A4 glossy magazine and launched WJ online and next year WJ TV.
Here’s their story:
Print has always been an expensive process. Paper has never been cheap and distribution has never been easy. Up until around 2006 there were few options for any one that wished to start an independent magazine, in fact there were few about.
Clearly there was a demand for these independent mags, as black and white, stapled A5 fanzines began to sprout up on the streets of London covering poetry, art and music. There was the vision, clearly, but other than a photocopier, never the means. The average creative or writer rarely had the money for a decent print run, nor the contacts to secure stockists for the multitude of facets needed to launch a widely read publication.
It was around this time that the first flash-led online independent magazines started to surface. Why stick to a format that instantly limits reach, when online and social networking were blossoming? Why save up £500 for a black and white print run of 300 magazines, when you can freely link to colour pages, high resolution and a bigger paper size?
Who’s Jack started out in much the same way: a print stuck, cut out, photocopied and scanned mess. We soon realized it was time to learn the ways of the computer to bring about our currently pretty scary ‘vision’.
Originally, we found a flash component that worked, with a few bugs, on our very homemade website. It pretty much did the job to get us online. We were able to share with far more people than our stolen photocopies from work would allow.
From this moment, Who’s Jack was finally able to invest time into perfecting layout, imagery, securing higher profile interviewees and more, rather than cutting our fingers with blunt scissors. As the standard of our pages rapidly increased, the magazine flourished. With Who’s Jack now living online, easy access and easy sharing soon increased our readership and proved its worth to advertisers.
Once we joined the Issuu community in 2009 however, we were able to branch out further still with our past issues neatly arranged, zoom features, and working web links – no doubt a step up from our flash template.
The key to online in the independent’s eye is what it does to release the worry of the publisher. It enables a vision to come to life, regardless of position or backing.
Across the board, advanced online information has helped individuals to create whatever they dream of without having to go back to university or hunting down cash for a professional. With a plethora of YouTube tutorials, help forums, and tricks of the trade, we’ve been able to find plenty of support when it comes to the creative fields – be that writing, graphic design, layout or marketing, to name just a few.
The zine no longer needs to be looked upon as a lesser publication. Content standards are often higher than large consumer publications as contributors are able to have a free reign. Our contributors find themselves out from under publishing house’s guidelines and strict content regulations. The lessened need for large overheads and startup capital are allowing hugely enhanced creativity.
Sharing, uploading and creating has never been easier. In fact, it looks set to get even more so as the world of the online magazine progresses. We are still excited when we think of what this continued progress will bring.
Thanks to Louise Orcheston-Findlay of Who’s Jack for contributing to Issuu Voices! Read their latest on Issuu. If you’re keen to share your digital publishing story, write to press(at)issuu(dot)com
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