Publishing as a creator
Publish your first issue
From creating a title to uploading a PDF, generating the cover and going live.
Create the title
- Open the Studio and choose New issue.
- Either pick a saved title profile from the dropdown, or type a new title.
- Add the description, tags and the Published by credit.
- Choose the PDF and save — you land on the title dashboard.
Published by is for the name that should appear with the issue, which is useful when a freelancer or agency has produced it. The account owner is always credited separately.
The title dashboard
Each title has its own dashboard at Studio, then the title. It opens with the title name, its status badge, a row of counts, and a grid of issue covers — the issues are the main event, not a list at the bottom.
- Add issue and Title settings are buttons in the header, so nothing looks like it is editing the issue on screen.
- Each issue card shows its cover, page count, status, price and views.
- Edit on a card opens that issue's own settings; View, Statistics, reorder and delete sit alongside it.
Title settings versus issue settings
- Title settings cover the whole title: name, About this title, tags, credit, pricing, mature flag, who can see it, publish state and schedule.
- Issue settings cover one edition: its own title, description, price, preview pages, cover and publish date.
A title's About text is used as a fallback wherever an issue has no blurb of its own.
Covers and the PDF
The page count is read from the file and the cover is generated from page one automatically. You can replace the cover with your own image, and replacing the PDF refreshes both.
- Use a print-ready or web-optimised PDF with pages in reading order.
- Single pages work best; the reader pairs them into spreads for you.
- Keep within your plan's page count, file size and storage limits.
Price, preview and publish
- Free issue: readable by anyone, no preview needed.
- Paid issue: set a price and, on eligible plans, choose how many preview pages to give away.
- Scheduling: on eligible plans, set a date and the issue goes live by itself.
- A title only shows as Live once the title itself is published and it has at least one live issue.
Common questions
- Why did my images not appear?
- Flatten transparency and avoid unusual colour profiles when exporting, then re-upload. If a page still renders blank, send us the file and we will look at it.
- Can I reorder issues within a title?
- Yes — use the reorder arrows on the issue cards. That order is what readers see.
- My issue is unpublished but I can still open it.
- You are seeing your own draft as the owner. Visitors and other readers cannot open it until it is published.
- What kind of content can I upload to Joy of Mags?
- Joy of Mags is built for digital publications uploaded as multi-page PDFs — such as independent magazines, literary reviews, zines, art and photography books, comics, exhibition catalogues, and periodicals. You may publish original work where you own the copyright or hold permission to publish all included text, photography, illustration, and design, general audience content, and work containing mature literary themes, graphic violence, or non-pornographic artistic nudity provided the title is marked with the 18+ Mature content flag. Pornography and sexually explicit material are strictly prohibited — Joy of Mags is not an adult-content platform, and explicit sexual acts and commercial pornography are forbidden even under the mature flag. Hate speech, harassment, defamation, content depicting or promoting unlawful or harmful acts, and content infringing third-party copyright, trademarks, or publicity rights are also not allowed.
Related guides
Did this not answer your question? hello@joyofmags.com