According to Bob Herschfeld at Folio:, starting a new magazine is kind of hot again. After a dip going into 2002 (and including that year), over 200 more magazines launched in 2003 than did in the year prior.

Who, you ask, is going out on the proverbial limb with a new publication? According to Herschfeld, it's mostly independent entrepreneurs who are taking their ideas to the masses.

What keeps these Marines hitting the beach? Whether publishing pros or neophytes, magazine launchers are almost all driven by a personal passion. They have a burning interest and expertise in a subject that gives them the stamina to overcome the hurdles. They also share a knack for inventiveness — when doors slam in their faces, they jimmy the window.

So does focus create success? One thing that has been mentioned to me about this particular blog is that I'm focused (at least most of the time). I try to mix in as much hardcore content with some opinion and some anecdotal stuff to make it interesting. Hopefully that formula will continue to work. But for a magazine, just because an idea is out there doesn't mean it's going to work. You also need capital, and lots of it. And attracting it isn't easy.

Definitely a great read, and it was very interesting to those of us with a little bit of entrepreneur in them. I suppose the rest of the readers would like it too =)