Spring is upon us, and with it comes the promise of great growth and change. As
part of my author platform, I’m excited to launch the inaugural edition of my
monthly magazine, ‘Hold On,’ exclusive to my mailing list subscribers. The cover of my very first edition of my magazine is seen above.
‘Hold On‘ is specially designed to give everyone some HOPE to hold on to. Life is
full of both good and bad surprises. When faced with adversity, I believe that a
positive attitude can help us overcome anything. #HoldOnToHope and together,
we can find happiness even where we least expect it.
Today also marks the official release of my debut novel, ‘Hold on please, Emily,’ and
on May 7th, the accompanying music album, ‘Hold on please, Emily: Songs of Hope‘ will be available.
Launching this magazine was a dream come true. When I was in university, one of my good friends, Omar Murji, managed his own magazine, ‘FutuReale,‘ which was a magazine about Toronto’s arts and culture. We would often talk about his magazine during break and my sister even wrote articles for them too. I was impressed with the quality of ‘FutuReale‘ and dreamed of starting my own magazine one day. Though, I never did end up creating a magazine until the idea to create ‘Hold On‘ came back in March.
In March, I started setting up my social media platforms and website. I signed up for MailChimp to manage my mailing list and was brainstorming about what I can offer my newsletter subscribers.
We learned in SPS that to build our mailing list, we need to author something valuable to our newsletter subscribers. I didn’t want to be like most mailing lists that spam you with daily emails. Unless you have very valuable things to say daily, this excessive messaging actually can deter people from staying subscribed. I also knew that it would be difficult to stay on top of weekly emails too. So, after many days of brainstorming, I came up with the idea to create a monthly digital magazine that will be released on the first of each month.
I thought this magazine could be an excellent way to showcase my writing, provide updates on my authorship career, cross-promote other like-minded authors or artists, and to share stories of hope.
In this edition, I will discuss more details about my novel and soundtrack, including a special feature on Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada and the voice of ‘Songs of Hope‘ (Kromatix_).
Looking at the final product of this magazine, I’m super proud with what I designed. However, looking at my collection of ‘FutuReale‘ magazines, I know I have lots to learn if I want to create a magazine that is professional-looking and full of quality content like Omar’s. I plan to spend the beginning of May doing some research on magazine layouts and learning how to make my magazine even better for my audience. It’s all about improving what you have and making it better. I’m confident that with time, ‘Hold On‘ is going to be a magazine people will look forward to reading every month.
Excited to read this first edition of ‘Hold On‘? Subscribe to my newsletter to get your copy. If you’re already subscribed to my newsletter, make sure to check your inbox for the May 2021 edition today!