PCOS Magazine

I’ve been amazed as-of late at the sheer amount of attention PCOS is receiving on Facebook…and the number of fans of PCOS Magazine. I want to say thank you SO much for your continued interest.

As this magazine is a personal passion, fed by the wonderful writing and perspectives of some absolutely FABULOUS contributing writers (Angela Grassi, Holly Amarandei, Suzy Reyes, Sasha Ottey, and more)…well, let me just say this, it takes a lot of work to produce. I’m not complaining one bit. That’s the thing about it being a passion.

This said, life has thrown a couple of curveballs lately and it’s made it hard to concentrate on the magazine. I’m a little late getting the latest issue out to everyone, and I want to apologize for that. The upcoming issue will be out soon, most likely before May 1, and I promise to you that it will provide a great deal of great information!

PCOS Magazine is a group effort, essentially. We are always looking for new writing talent/voices, people who have design or ad sales experience, and more. If you have a talent, the readers of PCOS Magazine will probably benefit from it. Please let us know how you would like to get involved.

PCOS Magazine invites its readers to visit the new FREE-TO-READ version of the entire magazine. Using the great online-magazine technology created by Issuu, PCOS Magazine readers can find the latest issues in a number of different locales: The PCOS Magazine blog; the PCOS Magazine homepage; or at Issuu! While you’re there, subscribe! You’ll be the first to know anytime a new issue is posted!

Two of the most intensive jobs of starting a magazine are finding content and procuring advertisers.

I’ll admit this…the first issue was short. This next issue (which will be out shortly) will be longer. To keep up with this trend, here at PCOS Magazine, we need help! I don’t like short, and I know you, as readers, like more pages and more content. Who doesn’t?

Do you have a background in journalism? Do you like to write? Do you have a unique story idea that you’d like to develop into a story and then contribute? If so, then we want to hear it!

Also, more advertisers means more premium content. We need advertising sales gurus who are willing to work on commission (at least staring out) to help PCOS Magazine add more advertisers to its repertoire. You have the background? Contact the editor!

The September/October issue of PCOS Magazine is live and available at Magcloud. To keep overhead costs low and give you the best magazine possible, PCOS Magazine is using something called print-on-demand. When you order your copy or copies of PCOS Magazine, it is printed at that point and sent to you by MagCloud.

Virtual copies and subscriptions are a few days away, and we’ll make an announcement here when that option is ready.

In this issue are some great articles about the nutritional needs of teens with PCOS by Angela Grassi of PCOS Nutrition, an introduction to the inCYST Network and Monika Woolsey, and relevant diabetic information you might not have known about. Holly Amarandei talks to us about learning to love exercise, and there’s a great article about dealing with the long-term emotional effects of chronic illness.

Let us know what you think! We’d love to hear your comments on this issue, and if you have ideas for the November/December issue, contact us!

Pardon the “shouting,” but I’m happy to announce that the website for PCOS Magazine (formerly PCOS Today Magazine) is now live. You can reach it at http://www.pcosmagazine.com. You’ll find a fairly well-designed site with preview of the upcoming September/October issue of the magazine.Angela Grassi’s column about PCOS nutrition returns, Monika Woolsey gives us an update on what the inCYST network is doing, and more!

More details about the next issue will follow in the next few weeks too. I will also be adding a “community” page shortly. Check back to the new site soon for more information about subscribing, either to a digital/virtual version of the magazine, or a hard-copy. This is exciting stuff, folks!

I think I’m finally getting the hang of this technology thing!!!

The PCOS Today blog is migrating to it’s new home with PCOS Magazine (formerly PCOS Today Magazine). The new blog, which contains the same posts you’ve come to love here at the PCOS Today blog, can be found here.

The new PCOS Magazine site, as a whole, will be uploaded in the next few days!

So, come join us. Take a look at the new blog. Please read the new post (called “Thinking” about PCOS Magazine) and provide your commentary!

I look forward to seeing you there! — Linda

After some trials, some tribulations, and a name change, PCOS Magazine (formerly PCOS Today Magazine) will resurface at the end of September 2009 (a few mere months away)!

There are all sorts of (great!) changes ahead. First off, readers will be able to access the magazine, via subscription AND single copy, either hard copy or virtually through Issuu and MagCloud. Monika Woolsey is going to update us on her PCOS workshops, and readers will find out about big (and good) changes with Project PCOS.

Not changing is Angela Grassi’s column! She’s back with another great piece, this time about the nutritional needs of teens with PCOS.

The new PCOS Magazine website will be up and running by the end of this week. It will include writer’s guidelines if anyone would like to submit articles, etc., to the magazine, as well as a page of resources. It’s a work-in-progress, so bear with us while these changes happen. More content will be added constantly (and an announcement will be included here as that happens)!

So, early next week, check for the new site! By the way, if you’re interested in advertising either in the magazine or on the magazine’s website, contact Linda Harvey!

I’ve been fighting with the questions I pose in the title for this post for quite a long time. E-zines, or online magazines, are relevant in regard to costs and ease/speed of communication. They are digital publications in the truest sense.

I work in journalism and mass communications, public relations and whatnot. I teach students about creating tools to publicize, publicly communicate, and strategically reach target audiences. One of the discussions often brought up among students and colleagues alike surrounds the concept of a paperless society, the death of newspapers and other publications, and what seems to be a general disregard of the potential relevancy of digital publishing.

I’ve fought with this as I continue to morph and evolve PCOS Today Magazine. It’s been in PDF form in the past. It’s been strictly online, but I haven’t been able to create a thoroughly interactive quality to it, and it’s been in hard copy (which I’ve been griped at about cost vs. amount of content). I wonder sometimes that with the sheer breadth of information available, that we in society expect the information to be freely available. Information is king, as long as it doesn’t cost a thing.

So what is needed for PCOS Today Magazine? I’m still quite comfortable with the idea of it being strictly an online publication, an e-zine. I’m finding that advertisers are more excited about reaching readers online than in the “standard” hard-copy format…which as an old desktop publisher like me is still a little surprised (but secretly giddy) about. I also think I’ve *finally* found a content management system (squarespace.com) that a student turned me on to, that will work. It will help provide the page-by-page, interactive content that readers want with the ease of content management that I need (because my Web skills are still a work in progress). Every time I finish a new design or content upload for PTM, I like to think I can sit back and relax, rest on my laurels. If I’ve learned anything through this experience, it’s that it’s always, run, run, run, and content, content, content. It’s obviously time to bring it all together.

Thank you for indulging me this publishing rant. Now back to our regularly scheduled PCOS discussions…

I have discovered that I will be continually reminded how hard of a road it is to publish a magazine. I have also discovered that I will probably need to maintain the “publication” in an online format. What’s ironic is that Mr. and Mrs. Average will pay $4.99 to $6.99 for 100 pages, half of which are all advertisements, but I get griped at by a few readers for $6.72 for 8 pages of quality content and only 1 (yes, 1) advertisement. The print-on-demand route is obviously not the way to go. I’ve learned my lesson there. I get it.

One of the ideas I have always played around with is what’s called “digital pagination.” Essentially, you get the “feeling” of turning pages, but the entire publication is online. I might still offer it in PDF digital downloadable format on Lulu.com. I don’t know.