Vanity Magazines and Their Relevance In The Industry

[Urban Stylin]

'Vanity magazines' have been around for a while and mostly became popular with the advent of social media. They are the magazines that rely on submissions from different creatives to produce content which makes them more diverse than the more controlled and nepotistic mainstream magazines. But then they also get content from people and charge them to appear on the cover sometimes to even appear in the mag and in some cases even going ahead and selling the particular issues to the contributors since they mostly print on demand.
Is it a good move for a creative to contribute to these types of magazine and maybe pay extra sometimes upward of $3000 to get a cover and editorial for their portfolio and exposure or don't vanity magazines have as much relevance in the industry as would require such rates.
On the other hand, considering how generic and insta focused the mainstream issues have become, do Vanity magazines give creatives more room to flex their creative muscles?

Side note, many of these magazines give mainstream issues like US Vogue, Glamour and Allure a run for their money in terms of layout and cover content.

pics
blurb
fixthephoto
yumpu
vulkan
vanityteen
mobjoournal
oscargarciaphotog
kavyar

 

[Urban Stylin]

pics

mobjournal
magcloud
isuu
gmaro

 

[axiomatic]

I bought one of these years ago at Barnes and Noble (how they got to BN is a mystery to me) and was surprised by how amateur it was. I'm sure there's variety in the quality of independent, at-home style magazines, but if I were a model/photographer/stylist, I'd be careful of what magazine I'm associating with

 

[Yodda]

I'm surprised that a young person in 2021, comments like this
What should surprise you is to trust magazines that in their social networks, have 500k followers, and only 100 likes per publication, is that ok for you?
it seems ok to you, that magazines that have NO repercussion in social media, web, online have brands like GUCCI? magazines that move thousands of euros every day, and do not spend a miserable time in taking care of what they publish, with a poor visualization of 500 visits in their social network?
and what do you know if celebrities pay Vogue? to be on the cover, you should do better research.
I think you should adapt a little to the modern world, in your environment times change, unfortunately they leave behind some, and favor others, new ideas, new concepts, that's life.

 

[Yodda]

there are horrible magazines, run by rich people, and rich magazines run by creative people

 

[Yodda]

 

[Urban Stylin]

I've had some experience with some of these Vanity mags and read others that are offered free of charge online. Some of them do care about the content they carry and also come with a very steep price to appear on the cover or receive promo on their social media which might have a considerable following. When it comes to the cover, IMO its mostly an ego/portfolio thing since it wont create as much hype as a mainstream cover, but then again what are the odds that a young creative who has no famous last name of instafame will even appear inside the pages of mainstream publications? Mainstream publications also tend to feature very limited content from unknown creatives, one will be lucky to have a quarter page feature in Vogue in one of those pages no one ever reads. IMO in the end it comes down to portfolio as far as vanity magazines. Some even offer a cheaper version of a digital cover that you'll never see anywhere but your inbox with very amateur text that shows that the cover was just made for you not for any news stand or bookstore.

 

[GivenchyAddict]

Fashion industry works by association. Look the stylists who contributed if they managed to get better publications to work with...

Then, never ever pay people for a service/work you do. You have to know your worth. Honestly, paying to get a cover for these publications brr.

 

[Urban Stylin]

True, you are literally spending on a shoot, paying them to run it in a publication that is gonna make money off your work and worse still buying the publication with your work in it!

 

[Yodda]

I am surprised that you say "magazines that nobody reads" but you have seen the screenshots about LOFFICIEL, a magazine with almost 400k followers, and only 100 likes per publication, with an average of 500 likes per publication, for you that is magazines that everybody reads?

you can do the same with the "BIG MAGAZINES" all with 1 million followers bought, and only 500 likes per post, that's success for you?
And the cover of MALUMA (macho singer) that the moderators have deleted me, cover in GQ a magazine that moves millions, to you it seems good cover? professional? Do you think that the big magazines do not charge for cover to celebrities? promotion? it is the second time that I tell you, why do not you investigate a little about that?

And as far as you said, that you have had an experience with one of these magazines that you call VANITY, you should feel proud, because maybe VOGUE or other "old classic top" magazines might do you cases, and if you write them an email maybe they will never answer you because the more powerful is a magazine, or company, the more closed it is to the young public and new creatives.

 

[Yodda]

big magazines are like banks, if you have no money they will never give you a loan, if you are nobody, they will never talk about you.
What's wrong with a magazine giving you the opportunity to talk about your work, even if you have to pay for the promotion?
maybe someday a rich old man from those big magazines will see your work or know you through those magazines you call VANITY.

 

[JPineapple]

Obviously you’re gonna find differences in the number of likes between a post made 2 hours ago and a post made 2 days ago, no matter if
the account has 10k, 300k or 1M of followers.

I don’t know a lot about this Vanity magazines but l’ve seen more talented people (with less money than I expect) jump from a independent magazines with a defined identity to big pig publications without the need of paying to be on the cover.

And of course, if you pay money you can be on a “big” fashion magazine, just check one of the Harper’s Bazaar editions outside UK, US or Spain that no one cares about or some Vogue covers sponsored by brands with a very specific cover subject.

For example, here in Mexico there’s and actress that has no relevant projects and appears on the cover of every Vogue Mexico supplement but if you see the little words in the masthead page, is always sponsored by a secure company where she is the ambassador.

 

[Urban Stylin]

Yea and probably even more money than the vanity mags

 

[Yodda]

of course, you can jump from VANITY magazine to big magazines, obviously, if you have talent, if you don't, you are like the rest of humanity.
but that's why I was saying that it is important that young creative magazines exist because talented people can pay to appear, as a showcase for the "rich old man of TOP magazine" to see you and promote you.
obviously if you have no talent, no matter how much you pay a magazine, you will still be talentless, and no one will notice you.
VANITY magazines accept everyone who pays, and obviously not everyone is talented because like life itself there are all kinds of people with and without talent.
Vanity magazines are for people with talent to stand out and be a loudspeaker for their art.

 

[Urban Stylin]

If they accept everyone wont that turn off people that may be interested in finding the next big talent? They may assume that everyone in the publication is some rich kid with a nice camera who paid to be on the cover. I noticed that many of them put out several issues a month sometimes more than 10, 2-4 may have decent content and cover but the rest will just accept anyone and anything since each cover is paid for and also means that the entire team will want to purchase the particular issue which goes for a rather high rate between $30-50. Am not mad at their business sense am just saying any serious creative needs to be ware of the intentions of a Vanity magazine, some of them are actually serious about the content they feature, the likes of Lucy's, Vulkan, Avessa etc and only feature a particular number of issues a month but others seem to front being cool indepenent issues but do the opposite.
Its good for any photographer, model, stylist etc to be on a cover and if its well done it gives you a sense of achievement and looks good in your portfolio but in most cases its mostly that and if you have the extra bucks to spare why not.

 

[Urban Stylin]

Some of them do have a wider reach and are even featured on entertainment sites and MDC and feature some well known cover subjects.

PH
Isuu.com
theuntitledmag.com
vulkanmagazine
models.com

 

[Yodda]

I would like to know your opinion about TOP magazines, with a horrible taste, moving a lot of money per month, with TOP brands, publishing friends on their covers, a closed classicism, that do not evolve, that do not accept young creatives, and the important brands subsidize that kind of direction, because the man of the magazine is an old businessman, who has different businesses in his life, and the magazine is one more,
with a neglected social media, hiring useless people, who sell their licenses to other countries, and they don't care about the content they do with it, while the old man gets his money for his license?
and editors who have never worked in their life, because they are loaded with money and you will never turn your face in their life, no matter how talented you are.
what do you think about those TOP MAGAZINES?

 

[Urban Stylin]

Unfortunately many of the so called 'top' magazines have lost the title considering how mediocre and predictable they have become and its especially evident in the magazines threads where most of the people here are fed up of mediocrity in the industry that's surprisingly applauded by the masses. Right now you can guess who is going to be on the cover and whose son or daughter is going to shoot or style them. They have taken away the mystery that made everyone want to be in them and only enjoy the privilege of the names that editors before them created. Now would be the chance for some of the Vanity magazines to cross over to stronger fashion or beauty oriented publications that are known for cutting edge and fearless content. We have seen a couple on independent fashion publications that are very strict on content and hold the same prestige as top magazines. On the other hand we also have to factor the fact that print is a dying medium and the people buying are not as many thus the need to satisfy the masses and come up with innovative ways to make money like issuing 15 covers and charging for them. Can't blame them for trying to keep afloat in the current environment, young creatives just need to know what they are getting in return.