525,600 Minutes - Measuring a Year in the Life

I caught the tail end of Rent on cable the other day. I tuned in during Angel's funeral and watched it through to the end. Angel is one of my favorite characters, sweet, non-judgmental, generous. But the reason I mention it now is the theme song has been stuck in my mind ever since. You know, "525,600 minutes... How do you measure a year in the life?"

 A lot can and does happen in those 525,600 minutes. For me, the last 525,600 minutes began with a classified ad in the Sunday newspaper. There was a job listed for an editor of a new women's magazine. I had been working as a freelance communications expert and was doing pretty well on word-of-mouth references, but writing and editing are my first loves. I really enjoyed my all too short stint editing RGV Women magazine (the publisher hired me to edit the last few issues before he shut it down in 2006) so I welcomed the opportunity to do it again. I got the job, started laying the foundation for it on a part-time basis in September, and by mid-October I was there full time, editing Lady Couture Magazine. Our first issue was published in December. Although I headed the editorial side, I really didn't have much say in the design or art direction. In January, things began to change as I was given more authority and flexibility with the design-side of the magazine, working with graphic designer/photographer Esmer Olvera, and by February we were pretty much set. It was a fine magazine. Well produced, top quality, mailed to readers instead of just distributing it at local businesses. We created a buzz and were getting recognition and building our brand and our audience. We had some wonderful contributors, too: Kim Cantergiani, Chef Marcel, Marcie Kazen, Anissa Garcia to name a few.

 

But from the very beginning, we were told that magazines are a dime a dozen here in the Rio Grande Valley and that it is very hard for a magazine to be a success here. In other words, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. Which is exactly what we planned to do.

 

The last issue of Lady Couture Magazine.

Unfortunately, the market couldn't support it and a couple of weeks ago, our publisher made the heart-breaking decision to close it down. Our August issue, which was also the first monthly issue only available as an e-magazine, was the last one. But, there is hope that Lady Couture Magazine will surface again sometime in the future. Goodbye Lady Couture Magazine. Hope to see you soon!