Nikki Simpson

Hi everyone, I want to open an International Magazine Centre in Scotland and I need your help. If you're new to magazines or the industry, first let me tell you a bit about what makes them wonderful. Magazines foster communities This is my favourite part. When you've found the magazine for you, it opens up a huge world of like-minded people, all doing things you're doing or aspire to do, all telling you cool, interesting or useful things, all making your magazine experience feel personal. Most magazines run some pretty amazing events on their subject, and if you can't make it in person, there's a wonderful world of social media to tap into that same community. And all available either for free or a mere £2-£10 in a newsagent near you! Magazines are a creative outlet Magazines are a platform for incredible photography, design, illustration and advertising. Even before you focus on the specific topics of each magazine, editorial design can be so beautiful - check out <a href="https://coverjunkie.com/">Cover Junkie</a>, <a href="https://magculture.com/">MagCulture</a> or <a href="https://www.stackmagazines.com/">Stack</a> for some of the world's most visually stunning. And then there's the topics themselves - magazines insist on reinvention in every issue, giving editorial designers huge scope to explore the subject and its interpretation - who couldn't be inspired by the images of <a href="https://www.architectural-review.com/">Architectural Review</a>, the covers of <a href="https://twitter.com/GailBichler">The New York Times Magazine</a>, or the sheer fabulous-ness of <a href="https://thegentlewoman.co.uk/">The Gentlewoman</a>? Magazines inspire Magazines offer long-form journalism dedicated to inspiring, challenging or entertaining the reader - if it's none of these things then you won't want to read it so publishers are focused. Imagine if it worked the other way - if you went to a publisher, told them all the things you like and then they created content just for you, and not just on the things you already like, but the stuff you didn't even know you like! You'd feel pampered, right? Guess what, this is already happening - you just have to find the magazine for you.  Are we all agreed that magazines are brilliant? Good. Read on for more magazine loveliness... So what's the International Magazine Centre about? The International Magazine Centre is an hub for magazine lovers, for magazine publishers and for all those industries that contribute - photography, journalism, design, social, illustration, advertising, events, marketing, data and more. Just like the magazines it works with, the Centre will foster a community - connecting global publishers to collaborate and share their expertise, supporting internationalisation through initiatives like our Licensing Hub, nurturing talent and creating jobs through our new publisher accelerator programme. There'll be office space for publishers and those affiliated industries above, incubator space for recent publishing and journalism graduates, hot desking and support for global publishers who need a space in the short term or permanent space for the long term. There'll be events space not only for publishing talks and workshops, but also for publishers to hold their events - and with broadcast facilities to ensure you don't miss out if you live the other side of the world. Does that sound good? Keep reading, you're getting there! Like the magazine world, the Centre will also be a platform for creativity - promoting magazine innovation, delving into publishers' magazine archives and celebrating the wonderful world of magazines. There'll be space for exhibitions on magazines, photography, design, advertising, illustration and more - some aimed at magazine geeks working in publishing (cookery magazines of the 1920s anyone?); some focusing on a business audience interested in tech innovation in the sector; some with a broader consumer appeal - we'd love to see an exhibition on the illustrations of The New Yorker for example. (Hi The New Yorker! If you're reading this we'd love to <a href="mailto:nikki@internationalmagazinecentre.com">work with you</a>!) And if you're not able to make the exhibition itself, the online presence will be so good you'll wish you had jumped on a plane. Finally, in the same way magazines inspire, we want to do the same. If you got a bit confused earlier when I talked about 'the magazine for you', then we want to change that. Our magazine shop (and cafe - never forget the power of good cake!) will have an incredible selection (both in the shop and online) of traditional newsstand and indy magazines; consumer and business-to-business titles; free, customer, internal and membership magazines; international and multi-lingual titles. If we haven't got it we'll find it for you, and if you haven't found the magazine for you yet, you'll have it by the time you leave. For publishers, there'll be low-cost digital training courses to skill-up or learn about innovations in the industry; an online and in-person events programme to connect with international magazines; and an inspiration web page to get the grey cells moving or the creative juices flowing.  Still with me? Thanks for reading this far, you're amazing! This is great for people in Scotland, but what about the rest of the globe? This is always top of my mind - what's the point in calling it 'international' if it's all Scotland, Scotland, Scotland? There's no doubt that this will be an incredible venue that you'll want to visit, but I'm doing my utmost to make sure that everything possible that we can offer in a physical space is also offered through our website. That includes the licensing hub, training courses, inspiration from publishers, events broadcast in real time or available to view on demand, the shop and exhibitions in all their glory. Yes, you're right, you won't be able to buy cake through the website, but the rest is possible. (In fact, cake is possible, but I think shouldn't be our main focus.) If you can think of any other way we can support publishers on a truly international level then we'd love to hear from you! If you've read all the way to here then I'm impressed - thank you! If you agree with all of this and you'd like to help make the International Magazine Centre a reality I'd be incredibly grateful for your support. You can support the Centre by giving as much or as little as you like and in return I'll give you as much support, inspiration and cool stuff as I can. Yes, I've worked in magazines for ages (13 years) so maybe I'm as magazine-geeky as they get, but I love this industry, and I'm passionate about magazines, creativity, publishing and publishing people - I hope you'll join me on my journey!

Free

Our Explorer tier is right for you if<ul><li>You'd like access to our member-only problem solving forum on LinkedIn</li><li>You'd like free or discounted attendance at online and in-person events, including our annual conference <a href="https://internationalmagazinecentre.com/magazine-street/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Magazine Street</a>, our monthly member-only online event The Mag Meet, and our Member Away Day</li><li>You'd like to use our International Magazine Centre LinkedIn page for recruitment advertising</li><li>You'd like to access our <a href="https://www.stackmagazines.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Stack Magazines</a> offer of an introductory magazine from their subscription service for £1/$1/€1</li></ul>

Explorer

Our Voyager tier is right for you if<ul><li>You're interested to be <a href="https://internationalmagazinecentre.com/mentoring/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">mentored</a> by one of our international publishers</li><li>You're thinking of attending our <a href="https://internationalmagazinecentre.com/category/whats-on/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">training courses</a> with industry specialists and would like a discount</li><li>You'd like a copy of <a href="https://internationalmagazinecentre.com/magazine-street/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Word On The Street</a>, the magazine we create in a day at Magazine Street</li><li>You're using illustration in your business and would like a 25% discount on all <a href="https://internationalmagazinecentre.com/ikon-images/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Ikon Images </a>illustrations, as well as your first five images for £50</li><li>You'd like to use newsprint for a magazine, supplement or project and would like a 10% discount on print up to £100 from <a href="https://internationalmagazinecentre.com/newspaper-club/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Newspaper Club</a></li><li>You're thinking of trying a new printer and would like a 10% discount on print from <a href="https://internationalmagazinecentre.com/the-manson-group/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">The Manson Group</a></li><li>You'd like all the benefits of our Explorer tier</li></ul>

Voyager

Our Visionary tier is right for you if<ul><li>You'd like your whole team to be able to take advantage of free or discounted entry to our events and training</li><li>You're thinking of submitting magazines to our Licensing Hub, which sets out to create partnerships, networking and pooled resources through the promotion of magazine titles and content available for license in your territory</li><li>You'd like access to our training course - coming soon - <a href="https://internationalmagazinecentre.com/training" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">register here</a> to be notified when we launch</li><li>You'd like to access our Resource Library - coming soon</li><li>You'd like all the benefits of our Voyager tier</li></ul>

Visionary

This tier is for suppliers to the magazine industry, and is right for you if<ul><li>You're ready to be listed in our Supplier Directory</li><li>You're ready to be featured in our Newsletter. Our newsletter goes to more than 1,400 international magazine publishing contacts across 27 countries</li><li>You'd like free or discounted attendance for two of your team at our Events, including our member-only monthly event, The Mag Meet</li><li>You're ready to use to our member-only problem solving forum on LinkedIn</li><li>You'd like to sponsor our annual conference, Magazine Street, and would like a 25% discount</li></ul>For further details contact nikki@internationalmagazinecentre.com

Partner

Contact us to discuss investment in the International Magazine Centre. See how your organisation can help us in our goal to open a physical building dedicated to magazine publishing. Email nikki@internationalmagazinecentre.com for information.

Nikki Simpson

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