On the Real: Launching a Magazine Worth Reading
Last week I lamented the dearth of worthwhile magazines that don’t treat parenting like a trendy lifestyle choice available only to the very wealthy, the very urban, the very heterosexual, and the very blond. Keki Mingus kindly took some time away from her studies to answer a few questions at length about Violet, and what I learned was that to publish a Magazine That Doesn’t Suck, you have to run an obstacle course like something out of Super Mario Bros., barreling over mercurial investors, leapfrogging copycat competitors, and avoiding pits dug by unabashedly prejudiced vendors. It’s a wonder she has the stomach to try it again, but I for one am glad she does.
More with Keki after the jump.
Q: How did Violet come about? What were you hoping to accomplish with its publication?
A: I was originally working with two other women on a magazine. It started to get tense because we were at different stages of our lives. One was a career woman and real go-getter. The other was just married and started to become afraid of taking on both a new venture and a new marraige at the same time. I, on the other hand, was in a struggle with my career as a stylist and a new mom, topped with a growing frustration at not being represented in media. These things converged until I felt an explosion and Violet happened. (I honestly felt that if I didn’t get Violet out I would die; I had over 40 years of pent-up feelings that were spilling out.) But I also really didn’t think many other people would even notice it.
Q: What was involved in starting up the magazine, financially and editorially?
A: I kept working as a stylist to fund the first issue. I also sold everything with any value. When there was such a good response to the first issue and chains like Borders and Barnes & Noble wanted large amounts of the magazine, I freaked. My husband started to look for funding. I am not the type of person who usually gets along with those types — he does well with them. We still had to sell our car to get the Patricia Arquette issue out (it’s my favorite). But once it was out, the investor started to funnel some money our way so that we could eat and pay people to write for us.
Q: What was the production of the magazine like? Did you have a editorial calendar mapped out for a couple of years, and did you have lots of friends as collaborators to help?
A: We did have an editorial calander. But it was very loose. I would come up with a general theme and things would fall into place. The chapter idea worked out well to help organize everything but still keep it loose. We were lucky to get the people we did for covers. But then again, I hoped that if someone like Juliette [Binoche] would look at Violet and read just a bit of it, she would understand what we were about and join in. That is part of the beauty of the situation — Violet is not for everyone and the celebrites we happen to like did [get it]. The ones who didn’t we wouldn’t interview anyway because they probably view parenting in that other Cookie sort of way.
Q: It sounds like the rug got pulled out from under you by your investor, and you’re understandably shy about being burned again, so please share whatever you’re comfortable with sharing about how and why Violet went under and the current status of the new talks to get it funded again.
A: I was extremely burned by our former investor. He not only left me holding the bag with incredible debt, but he also made threats to our family — which now almost make me laugh because there was no basis for anything — but at the time, coupled with the magazine going under, his threats made me both gravely depressed and on the verge of suicide. But, the magazine has gone to very interested parties who are much more desirable investor candidates. I wish I could elaborate more, but I don’t want to jinx it. I am so gun-shy.
Q: What tricks do you have up your sleeve for the new Violet?
A: I don’t really have any tricks up my sleeve. Because of this simple thing: As as kid, I witnessed a conversation my father had about the Pink Panther theme, which a friend was telling my father he should sue about because it was obviously kind of a rip-off of a piece of my dad’s music. He said he was hurt a bit but also always found that people who have to steal ideas aren’t artists but businessmen, so they have to steal. People who are true artists just let the businessmen go on about their stealing, because creative people always have new ideas from which to draw.
So yes, I hurt when I hear that [another parenting magazine] steals ideas and at times has the nerve not even to disguise it that well. But I have so many things going on in my brain that I don’t lose sleep. The main difference with Violet will be that we are going to be subscription-based. This is because of the frustration and deep contempt I have for the two large bookstore chains that told me if i put an interracial couple on the cover that they would not take Violet out of the shiping trucks. The Juliette cover got done on time, so my backup cover never became an issue, but I find that kind of mentality depressing.
Q: Whether Violet returns or not, do you have any other new projects planned?
A: I am in school for Islamic studies. If Violet does not make it to the light of day again, I am hoping to get a job working for a realistic administration in the near future, for a Middle East peace plan not based on fear and economics, as it is now.