Why I Started my own Magazine

I visited Tyler Perry’s website a few nights ago and read his message board. He usually motivates me with his videos or inspirational rants. I noticed that over 90% of the people were asking him for money or begging him to help them promote their book or movie.

Marketing. Marketing. Marketing. Lacking the desire to market oneself is the graveyard where most dreams go to die. It’s fun to write, paint, sew, sing, dance, --- yep this is the fun stuff. Nevertheless, getting that song heard, book read, and movie produced—now that is another job not meant for the faint at heart.

I  have written for several national and international magazines, newspapers, etc...  I decided to start writing for myself after a dispute with Upscale Magazine. I use to write an article and just mail it to several publications back in the early 90’s.

Well, what had happened (Improper grammar on purpose. Sometimes it is needed. Thank you.) is several magazines published the same article and Upscale Magazine was one of them – and they wanted to sue me.

Yes. So, this is when I learned about North American First Rights or something. Basically, when I agreed to let them publish my article—my ideas—my stuff:  Are you with me? It no longer belonged to me. It belonged to them. I can’t remember if their ownership lasted 5 or 10 years. The money was minuscule from each publication. I couldn’t buy groceries with that money but I loved writing so much I felt and still feel like a billionairess when I write.

 However, what bothered me the most was that—I no longer owned my own words. Now, this was devastating.

This is why I  decided to start my own magazine.  The first few issues were just plain white paper folded in half—maybe 8 pages long—black and white. I found some old copies in my office yesterday, which warmed my heart. 

I laughed so hard that I couldn’t breathe because they reminded me of when  I was asked not to drop off magazines at Madonna college (by the head Nun) because of an abortion ad in my magazine. No problem. A dentist office claimed that a few of my pictures were risqué and offended his clients. Please do not deliver here. Okay.

Anyway—I have received way, way , way more positive compliments from readers—but the primary problem  for me was: How to monetize my publication without local business  owners feeling like they had the “right” to dictate my content?

The problem with submitting articles on the Internet is that I was simply giving my content away. Many of my articles were  being duplicated without my permission, and sometimes without my name.

I am so excited about my Authentik Beauty Magazine Jan 2016 issue that I just uploaded to PSPrinting.  (They do awesome work, inexpensively and ship to my house). This issue will travel across the United States to various  business, clubs, organizations, health facilities, etc.  Yes. Yes. In full color—I tried to watch the risqué pictures this time.

It’s time to market my babies, The Jungle Beauty Goddesses—not just wait for random people to find me on the Internet. For the very first time, I am offering products and services—created uniquely by me. Yes—it would be nice if Tyler Perry, Lee Daniels, Oprah Winfrey, and Shonda Rhimes would stop working on their dreams and projects to assist me with mine. Now that I think about it…Really? Nah....

I want to do it my way. In my imagination, I see them as my peers and equals—not my boss. I see us swapping recipes and drinking tea together—not me serving them—metaphorically.  I looked at the pictures of my old magazines and they made me cry with joy because they represent “hard core evidence” that I live my dreams boldly with everything I got. Win or lose. I see my progress. I learned from my mistakes. Each time I delivered and wrote the articles for my magazines I did something different and I learned something about myself that only marketing myself (owning myself) could have taught me.