Production

CMYK: The four ink colours used in most colour printing. Cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black). Combined in different proportions, they create the full range of colours you see on the printed page.

Flatplan:A visual map of the whole magazine, laid out spread by spread, showing where every article, ad and page will sit. Editors use it to plan the flow of an issue and make sure the pacing feels right from cover to cover.

Letterpress: One of the oldest printing methods, where raised metal or wooden type is inked and pressed directly onto paper. It leaves a subtle indentation you can feel with your fingers, and is often used for covers or special issues where the object matters as much as the reading.

Perfect binding: A binding method where pages are glued to a flat spine, giving a magazine the look and feel of a book. Common across indie titles that want each issue to feel substantial and worth keeping on a shelf - lots of our titles use this method.

Print run: The total number of copies of a magazine produced during a single print job. Commercial magazines might print hundreds of thousands per issue, while indie titles usually work in the low thousands or fewer.

Small print run: A small production quantity of a magazine, typically anywhere between 500 and 3,000 copies. They're the norm across indie publishing, giving each issue a limited-edition feel and making back issues genuinely scarce.

Risograph printing (riso): A printing method that layers inks one colour at a time, creating a textured look. It's often used by zines and smaller publishers, like Counterpoint, as it gives each copy a hand-crafted feeling.

Saddle stitching: A binding method where folded pages are stapled together along the spine. It's simpler and cheaper than perfect binding, and often used by zines and thinner magazines, like The Fence.

Sheet-fed printing: A method where paper is fed into the press one sheet at a time. It gives finer control over colour and quality, which is why it's often used for smaller print runs and indie titles that care about how each page looks.

Web offset printing: A high-speed printing method that uses continuous rolls of paper rather than individual sheets. It's the go-to for commercial magazines with big print runs, though rarely used by indie publishers. 

Paper and Material

Paper stock: The physical sheet of paper chosen for a printing job, defined by its type, weight, surface finish and colour. Indie magazines tend to think carefully about paper stock because it's a big part of how the magazine feels in your hands.

Coated paper: Paper treated with a compound like clay or polymer to make it smooth, shiny and less absorbent. Coated stock produces sharper images and richer colours, which is why you'll often see it in glossy commercial magazines. You won't see too much of it on our shelves.

Uncoated paper: Paper without any surface sealant, giving it a soft, matte texture that absorbs ink into the fibres. It's commonly used in indie print because it feels warmer in your hands and reads more like a book than a magazine.

GSM: Grams per square metre, the standard measurement of paper weight. Higher GSM means thicker, more substantial paper. Indie magazines often use 150gsm and above to make each issue feel like a keepsake.

Matte finish: A flat, non-reflective paper surface. It makes colours look more muted and natural without glare. You’ll commonly see this across indie titles like Lodestars Anthology because it suits the slower, considered reading experience.

Gloss finish: A shiny, reflective paper surface that keeps colours vivid and images sharp. More commonly used in commercial magazines than indie ones, though some indie titles use it selectively for a specific effect.

Format

Zine: Short for "magazine", zines are typically smaller and tend to focus on niche, personal or unconventional topics. They have a do-it-yourself feel, with a format used by titles like The Film Pupil.

Bookazine: A hybrid that blends the visual polish of a magazine with the single-topic depth of a book. Often thicker, more expensive and designed to be kept on a shelf. Like our own publication, Flourish.

Magazine: We tend to think of anything that comes out on a regular schedule as a magazine. Indie magazines tend to publish less often than commercial titles, giving each issue more time to come together.

Journal: A specialised periodical focused on a specific discipline or field. Journals aim at expert readers and tend to be more technical than general-interest magazines. Like Errant Journal, which delves into political and cultural questions.

Editorial and Publishing

Brief:The written outline an editor gives a contributor when commissioning a piece. It usually covers the angle, word count, deadline and tone. A good brief gives the contributor enough direction to shape the piece without narrowing what they bring to it.

Commission:When an editor invites a writer, photographer or illustrator to create a specific piece for the magazine. Indie titles often commission emerging talent alongside more established names, which is part of what gives each issue its distinct feel.

Contributor: A freelance writer, photographer, illustrator or expert whose work appears in a magazine alongside other creators. Indie magazines often work with a rotating cast of contributors rather than a large staff.

Independent publishing: Magazines produced outside the big commercial publishing houses, usually by small teams or single founders. Like our independently owned house, Iceberg Press. Indie titles tend to take risks and cover subjects the mainstream media wouldn't necessarily.

Licensing Rights:The permissions that determine how a piece of writing, photography or artwork can be used. When an indie magazine commissions work, the licensing rights spell out where and for how long the piece can appear. Reprints, online use and translations often need separate rights.

Long-form: Writing that's longer and more detailed than typical magazines or news pieces, prioritising depth, context and storytelling over quick facts. It's common in indie print because indie magazines have the space and time to let a story breathe. Like Eaten, with historical stories surrounded by archival artwork.

Masthead: The section of a magazine that lists the editorial team, publisher and contributors, usually near the front. We use this in our own magazine, The Simple Things. It's a small window into who made the issue, and indie titles often keep this list short and personal.

Slow journalism: A movement that prioritises depth, context and accuracy over speed. Slow journalism rejects the 24-hour news cycle in favour of longer-form reporting that revisits stories after the initial coverage has moved on. Delayed Gratification is one of the best-known indie titles taking this approach.

Frequency

Annual: Published once a year. Common for magazines that treat each issue as a major event, often thicker and more substantial than titles that publish more frequently.

Biannual: Published twice a year. Common across indie titles (Beneficial Shock and Gutter, for example) because it gives each issue several months of editorial time.

Bi-monthly: Published every two months, so six times a year. Titles like The Idler, Enki and Little White Lies follow this schedule. They have a slightly faster pace than quarterly, giving readers a regular rhythm without the demands of monthly publishing.

Quarterly: Published four times a year. Quarterly reads like Simply Scandi and Wildflower are often aligned with the seasons.

Selling

Back issue: A past copy of a magazine that's no longer the current edition. Because indie magazines have small print runs, back issues often sell out quickly and can become collectible. We think indie reads are often timeless, so proudly stock back issues.

Newsstand: The retail point where magazines are sold to the public. "Hitting the newsstands" is industry shorthand for when a magazine officially goes on sale.

Subscription: A fixed price paid upfront or on a recurring schedule to receive upcoming issues directly. Subscribing to an indie magazine supports the publisher more directly than buying at a newsstand.