*Big exhale*. Wow, okay. Cool. Here we are. The end of our first week as a real, published magazine! And what a whirlwind, although I expected no less from our first week of publication. This is only our fifth magazine article so we really are right at the beginning of our journey, although it doesn’t feel like it.
This project has been months in the making, starting out as a kind of random idea in the back of my mind last summer. If you want to read more about how this all came together, head back to my first article where I introduced our team of writers here at Outloud Magazine.
Today, I want to talk more about the concept of Outloud Magazine, how it has developed since, and where we’re headed. I’ll also be giving you a sneak peak at the sort of exclusive content you can expect if you sign up to our mailing list, so stay tuned for that!
The Feminist Magazine That’s Not About Feminism
This was my original idea: The feminist magazine that’s not about feminism.
I’m the kind of person that does a lot of research before they buy something, whether that’s a new foundation, a clothing brand, or something as boring as a kitchen appliance. If you’ve ever googled reviews of a beauty product or anything to do with fashion, I’m sure you’re familiar with the types of magazines that appear over and over again in the search results.
Now, I’m not here to slander some of the biggest and best-loved magazines out there. They produce some great content, and they’ve taken big strides towards inclusivity in recent years. But I still felt they were lacking.
They’re still full of articles telling you what you should wear to get a man to notice you, or how you can better please a man once you’ve got him. Not only are these articles incredibly heteronormative (they’re clearly aimed at women), but they’re also kind of sexist. Who says I want to dress for a man? And why isn’t he seeing a constant stream of content about how to dress for me? Who’s going to tell the non-binary people how to dress?
The idea wasn’t to create a magazine for feminists, but for everyone. No matter your political view, gender identity, height or hair colour, you deserve to read content that you can relate to.
The Magazine That’s Not Like Other Magazines
This is where the concept began to expand. This goes way beyond feminism.
It’s no secret that just about every minority group that exists is underrepresented in the media. Whilst our small magazine can’t do much to change that, we can at least provide a space in which people can explore content without coming across something that makes them feel like an outsider.
I found that the majority of spaces online with this aim very much revolve around activism. Whilst I admire their work (and would love to collaborate with them in the future) that’s not what we’re about at Outloud. We want to provide the entertainment and escapism you might find in your typical entertainment magazine, but for a new generation.
Open-minded Writers For Open-minded Readers
We’re still looking for more writers (if I keep writing this much myself we won’t last very long…). The more writers we can have contributing to Outloud Magazine, the more people we will represent, and the closer we will be to fulfilling our goal of creating a magazine for everyone.
You don’t need to have a particular opinion or political stance to join our team. You don’t need to be a professional writer, either!
Our main requirements are:
- Writing that doesn’t make assumptions about its reader
- Articles that are open minded and without bias
- Good stories, from all walks of life
If you want to come along for the ride and try your hand at writing, you can email me here: isabella@outloudmagazine.com
Exclusive Content on our Mailing List
Lastly, as promised, I’m going to tell you why signing up to our mailing list is so worthwhile!
By joining our community of readers, you’ll get a weekly email dropping all of our brand new content straight into your inbox. You’ll also be the first to hear any updates, like when a new series starts (hint: this week we have another new columnist making her debut, and one brand new series in which me and one of my best friends attempt to hand out our advice to readers… 😬).
Whilst we’re on the topic, if you’d like our advice, you can submit a question either anonymously or with your name here: https://forms.gle/kcAcMAdRSfG2Ym5q8.
As well as all of the above, we’re offering exclusive content to our email readers. This will be different each week (just to keep you on your toes) but will include content like: Q&As with our writers, behind-the-scenes news and pictures, deleted scenes (or, should I say, deleted paragraphs) where you’ll see extended versions of articles, and much more.
You’ll also be the first in line to access new initiatives we have to offer, and trust me, we have a lot in the works. We’ll be branching out into interviews, events, and much more over the coming months.
Lastly, and arguably most importantly, you’ll get the chance to give us your feedback (within the same email, don’t worry, we won’t spam you) in the form of polls, surveys and direct questions.
If emails aren’t your thing, you can also keep up to date with our latest content on our Instagram page here and over here on Twitter.
You can sign up to our mailing list here to hear from me personally every week. What better way to kick off your weekend?!
Speak soon,
