Indie Mags Called the “Heart and Soul” of Print

elsieAs anyone who associated with one knows, indie titles have far different motivations than corporate publications. And that’s why they are such a powerful tool for self-expression.

“My magazine doesn’t have a target audience or a big message. I just put it out there,” Les Jones told Folio:’s Cable Neuhaus about Elsie, the indie magazine Jones creates and publishes.

“Like many other independent magazines that are the product of a singular vision and a profound passion for the medium, Elsie is intended chiefly to fulfill the dreams of its editor. If audiences follow, great,” Neuhaus writes in Folio:.

“In this booming digital era,” Neuhaus continues, “it’s many of the indie titles that best represent the heart and soul of what it means to be a print magazine. They are not intended to be websites first; they are print books first and always, and with good reason.”

Neuhaus compares the typical indie with the mass market magazines in a good analogy: “I compare the slick national magazines to studio-driven motion pictures: They generally deliver the goods, and production values can be spectacular. But how often do you leave the theater feeling you have been in the presence of greatness?”

Of course, the corporate players are in it primarily to make money…and there’s nothing essentially wrong with that. It’s just so refreshing to read a magazine this is done purely for the love of the thing.  Jones, according to Neuhaus, created Elsie “out of a passion to create something of my own, a space for myself, with no one looking over my shoulder.”

What is it about a print magazine that offers this creative fulfillment? Jones was determined to push the boundaries in order to find out.

“What am I, as a magazine?  What can I achieve?  What is my meaning?  How can I connect with someone?” he asked. When a publisher asks those kinds of questions, it’s hard to imagine the tribe not finding you.

And that is the beauty of the indie magazine in our modern world, as it’s easier than ever to connect with a tribe based on shared passions or similar vibes.

Print, in delicious independent magazine form, remains a vehicle for creative expression that simply can’t be beat.