Editorial team wanted

hey ladies

i'm starting a bike-related mag, and i've recently been making baby steps to try to achieve this. done website, got some contributers lined up, tonnes of ideas for features, have looked into the printing, and i have some very special ideas that i cannot disclose in such a public domain.

the mag is called CogNitive magazine (for the thinking rider), and it'll be a bike culture magazine based around fixed gear. the mag will include as many types of bike as necessary for each issue, but primarily will be of the fixed gear variety with no geared bikes (bar polo bikes). i plan to include bits and pieces centred also around bmx, downhill biking and polo. think Landscape magazine meets Fixed meets Cooler. of course i'll include all the art, culture and people at the heart of modern city riding. it's very important that there is an implicit focus on women and their bikes, which i hope will be acheived by having as many women on the editorial team as possible, and by my other idea, which i cannot say publically.

to be involved, you just need to be truly passionate about riding your bike, and about keeping the beauty of printed media alive. and willing to do this for free without being paid! it's a hobby... hopefully i can assign you one of the following roles and we can all meet up and chat over tea and bonbons:

publisher (urgently needed )
advertising
design editor inc photography (urgently needed)
distribution
contributers

at the moment, i am trying to cover all bases, but eventually my role would be
editor in chief and also fashion editor. if only a couple of people want to get involved, we could split the primary roles between us anyway. i really want to do this well, and create a beautiful magazine.

lets chat :)

Begging your pardon, but I'm a bloke. I also work in publishing though, have done for 4 1/2 years, been on a magazine too, in editorial. Know the ropes. Would love to help in any way I can, subbing, proofing etc. Of course, you can tell me to keep my bloke-nose out of it.

good luck with your venture tash

sorry but that seems a bit pants! how much experience have you actually got riding bikes? fixed meets pfff meets pffff... sounds GREAT! so basically you are looking for everyone to do everything, to fill every role for you whilst you get to be editor. Creating a 'beautiful magazine should not be your main concern it should be content!

apology not accepted. thanks for your comment redrum, but fuck you.

anybody who knows me on here knows my bike background, so i won't justify it to you. fyi i am doing everything by myself at the moment, which, if you have ever done any kind of project, you would know is a lot of work. I am also a full time editor as my day job. and as i mention in the post, i have the content sorted, but i won't say what i have on this forum.

if you are going to comment, please be more constructive. how very dare you make unfounded presumptions about my work ethic. i shall have to wait and see what proportion of your particular brand of single-minded cynicism is mirrored by other forum users.

in fact, i might even have met you if you're a friend of Andy's, so you should know better

No offense, but I think being fixed only run's against your 'thinking cyclist' idea, it comes across as narrow minded.

You don't have to get all Pro Cycling, or even feature any lycra. But plenty of thinking urban cyclists take to gears and a freewheel every now and then.

I'd love a magazine that covered all aspects of non-competitive cycling culture (the competitive cycling genre's pretty saturated) with out being prejudiced to one discipline. Features about long and interesting tours, cargo bikes, people who make spoke nipples etc.

...but then I'm probably not your target audience.

I'm looking forward to your magazine either way.

thanks ste5,

yeah i've been considering the exclusion i'd be creating by making it fixed only, but since my main riding world is fixed i've decided to stick to that as a guide but allow for other genres of non-competitive cycling. there is such a thing as having too wide a scope, and i think it would be more of a mistake to try to cover too much ground, especially since it's just me doing this at the moment. what is intuitive to me based on my experience (which is why there's some other genres i also deffo want to include).

i'm not ruling out expanding to all aspects, which yeah i agree would be a great magazine! but right now my main focus is not that, and based on my research it would be more difficult than it appears on the surface. exclusivity doesn't have to always be a bad thing, when done in the right manner and using the appropriate tools of advertising. although i think from what you've mentioned you will like the mag, once it's done, if it gets done especially ideas like 'people who build spoke nipples', since i have a similar thing to that in my collection of content pieces.

well whether i've met you or not, i still have an opinion.
And as for making a mag for the 'thinking cyclist', thats stupid. Its like saying some riders don't think! I think anyone would struggle to ride a bike if they couldn't think so who exactly are these 'thinking cyclists'?.
PLus you say you will not feature geared bikes but then go on to say you will include BMX and downhill?
Out of interest, what is your 'bike background'? Enlighten me? Is that you have one?

apology not accepted. thanks for your comment redrum, but fuck you.

anybody who knows me on here knows my bike background, so i won't justify it to you. fyi i am doing everything by myself at the moment, which, if you have ever done any kind of project, you would know is a lot of work. I am also a full time editor as my day job. and as i mention in the post, i have the content sorted, but i won't say what i have on this forum.

if you are going to comment, please be more constructive. how very dare you make unfounded presumptions about my work ethic. i shall have to wait and see what proportion of your particular brand of single-minded cynicism is mirrored by other forum users.

Owing to the first line of this post, I would gladly work for you for free nay bother although (technically) I am a man. My spelling is grate and my punctuation: is perfect.

I could send you a CV showcasing my laudable credentials but fear I would be just another victim of sexism in the workplace which I abhor sweetcheeks.

also, my description of the mag as in this post is for the purpose of those who want to be involved, so that anyone in the resultant team starts off 'on the same page' as me. you get me? although the magazine will be primarily be focused on fixed, this won't be so exclusively marketed as such to the casual magazine reader/other genre'd cyclist. for example, it will also have markers on key pages that would interest the non-fixed rider.

@ redrum. do i seriously have to explain to you what is meant by 'the thinking rider'?

i am one, you are one, presumably. anyone who enjoys riding is one. it's an inclusive slogan.

@ everybody else: thanks for the offers of help, i'll pm peeps if and when the sort of help offered is needed.

perhaps this is the wrong place for this thread, my request is for people who ride bikes but have publishing/editing experience which enables them to understand where i'm even coming from

I think this

and it'll be a bike culture magazine based around fixed gear. the mag will include as many types of bike as necessary for each issue, but primarily will be of the fixed gear variety

rather than this

with no geared bikes

I.e focus on FG, but don't rule out geared bikes if you have a story that makes it worth-while.

I'm a freelancer, with little experience, but wanting to get into publishing, so would be happy to do any jobs as a placement, if/as needed :)
I also have a little experience with editing, and photography.

And good luck! It takes a lot of guts to take something that exists in your own head and put it out in the world! Excited to see what the

very special ideas
are.

well then why say its for the thinking rider if the thinking rider is everyone? Just say its for everyone! and if it's so inclusive, why it is focused soley on fixed and the odd other thing that takes your fancy

PS i have editorial experience , which is why i am raising the issue of these obvious holes in your pitch

So what is your biking background?

Is there a decent Cycling magazine that caters to women more specifically?
I feel thats a target demographic that could do with more coverage, seeing as the womens cycling in Britain is world class and interesting.

@ redrum, its clear that you've misunderstood the marketing or brand identity, because the reason for labelling something as the 'thinking' anything is to play on the inherent pride that any individual has of their own intelligence.

Hence why there are so many thing labelled with it.... Classic psychology.

Finally a slaggin match is so totally unnecessary. Just chill out.

Mate i am doing a MA in psychoanalysis so i understand what she means...but basically its trying to flower up a piece of shit! Its completely stupid to pretend its for both the 'thinking rider' and for everyone. Which is it?

Here goes an explanation with the key points highlighted.
Sorry if it seems patronising, but frankly, since you seem incabable of understanding, I thought I'd spell it out.

It doesn't matter which its for, as inherently in naming it the 'thinking' person's you tickle all people's desire to be seen as intelligent. Are you with me?
Good.

So in labelling it that- you make it more desirable, just like Taste the Difference at Sainsbury's. For the most part, you'd be hard pressed to notice the difference but people still shell out the extra quids because it's a status purchase.

I think it's a jolly good idea, best of luck, I'd throw my hat into the ring to help, but I am a man, and 3rd year uni wouldn't allow for it.

Sorry about that. I come across as a right twat.

Basically, all I'm saying is don't piss on people's chips.
I know you're background- you're involved in Fixed Magazine, no?
Which is an excellent magazine, but very much plays to a specific desire in certain areas of the cycling demographic.

yeah i do understand, i just think its bullshit

It works and works really well.
It doesn't matter the reasons behind it.

@ Tash, or anyone reading this, my comments were about an abstract item, to explain the general principles behind the tagline and how status purchases work, please excuse me if you felt that my comments were a slight on a magazine that I would like to see thrive.

I would still like to know if there is a cycling magazine that focuses on the women's side of the sport (considering the appalling lacking of coverage in mainstream media is an example of the way people in this country see women's sports as something to jerk off to or as mere hobbies, again IMHO), I can offer proof-reading, and occasional article writing, but probably not much more.
I have two friends from med school who are super CXers, in the league up here and maybe they might be a good set of contacts for an insight into Uni Cycling??

yes it works for stupid people! Do you seriously buy taste the difference because you actually think it tastes different?

Sorry about that. I come across as a right twat.

No it's not you who is coming across as a right twat. redrum please take note.

hahahahahah piss off....soooooozie