SHIFTing My Attention

As several of you know, my dream job is to run my own magazine. I've done it before, as part owner of Motor City Sports Magazine in Detroit, though that didn't end as well as it started. Still, even after one year of prep time, and four issues, I knew that heading up a magazine was what I wanted to do. I loved the deadline drama, I loved helping my writers figure out their stories, I loved it all.

Well, once we started the Shift Web site (which has been horribly neglected, and I apologize), I started thinking how the concept of Shift would make a good magazine. Support, success stories, product reviews, family-friendly health tips - the works. Take all that's right with titles like Men's Health and Fitness, but make it a high-class, family-based magazine, helping others to learn how to shift their lives by first shifting their minds and bodies.

Starting a magazine out of thin air is tough. Actually, it's borderline impossible. If you don't know somebody with money or connections, your dream is likely to stay just a dream.

I sent a few emails out, talked to a few people I knew - and got nothing back. It wasn't looking good.

Well, yesterday I sent an email to the publishers of the magazine I'm currently working for. They publish four titles, including a national nursing magazine. My email was just a "got any advice for me?" kind of thing, but I laid out the idea for Shift, and sent him the image you see here.

The response I received shook me to my core.

I am meeting with the President of Haas Rock Publications next week to discuss Shift, as they are intrigued by the idea.

Now, this is just a meeting. No guarantees. But it's a step closer than I thought I'd get for a long time.

Now, how does this effect FAT? Well, one section I want in this title is a "Success Stories" section. Before and after photos, bios of the subject, an interview, words of wisdom from the person in question, etc. And my first targets would be you, the members fo the FAT Coalition. Again, no promises, but if Shift does come to life, you have my word that I'll use it to give you all the credit you deserve.

Wish me luck, as I'll be preparing a proposal for Haas Rock over the next five days, hoping to make this magazine look so good they can't possibly say no.