Otway Life Magazine-into the future

We started our community magazine in January 2014 as a social enterprise for the Forrest Neighbourhood House Inc.  It is produced every season and promotes local writers, musicians, artisans and small business connected to the Otway Ranges in the south east of Australia.   

It is a humble, non-glossy but quality publication printed on recycled paper. If we could afford vegetable inks we would use them too.

Otway Life Magazine has been a labour of love for editor Nettie Hulme and designer Gillian Brew for almost 3 years. With the assistance of voluntary contributors and administration help we have kept it alive when statistically 9 out of 10 magazines fail in their first year.

It has become a much loved little publication appealing across generations.  There is always something about the past, present and the future of the Otway Ranges and we like to look on the bright side of life.

Did you know that as of the 2011 Autralian census almost 90% of us live in urban areas? This is why it is important to retain what little of the wilderness is left on our dry continent and celebrate the life it supports.

We stay away from the depressing, newsy news...there is plenty of social media for that.

We love to share inspiring stories of the people who live and visit this beautiful part of the world where you can still find respite far from the madding crowd.

Our magazine helps connect the small communities across the ranges, the coast and the hinterland.

For visitors, it shows places off the beaten track and tells tales not told in tourist brochures.

Our magazine is a way of having some 'time out' from the worldy woes. To find out what is happening locally, those community events that mean so much but do not rate mention in the mainstream media.

We attempted to raise revenue through advertising and subscriptions but due to the high cost of printing have been unable to make it financially viable. So we need to change our business model to prevent becoming an online publication only.

We have modest expectations. We are not in the business of making a million bucks.

So...from Summer Issue (1 Dec 2016 - 28 Feb 2017) we will be operating on a small business model and will be charging a cover price of $7 for print edition and $5 for online edition. But we need to kickstart again.

We need  $5000 to 'reboot' our production as we transition to the new business model.  These funds will pay for the printing of 1,000 copies which then allows us to raise revenue through advertising and print/online sales to pay for the next issue and so on it goes into the future...

Who knows, we may even be able to make some dollars to pay contributors eventually...

The main challenge will be to sell enough copies to cover costs. 

We will be happy with a small surplus above costs to be able to pay a modest fee to our contributors.

Our main aim is to keep the magazine alive, both the print and online editions, and provide some quality reading about the Otway Ranges, her flora and fauna, human lives and communities.