Not Just Child’s Play

Stephanie Wilkinson and Jennifer Niesslein have a lot in common. Having met at graduate school at the University of Virginia, both enjoy a love of the arts, have a passion for writing, and in 1999, were slightly shell-shocked after both gave birth to their first babies, and became new moms. Wilkinson was looking for solace and some handholding on how to deal with her colicky baby, while Niesslein was still trying to come to grips with her new role as a stay-at-home mom. The pair was in desperate search of a medium for venting their common frustrations— and celebrating their individual joys—by publishing personal essays on parenting.  At the time, there was nothing in sight.

The two enterprising moms and aspiring publishers put their heads together and came up with a concept: Brain, Child  (www.brainchildmag.com), a quarterly magazine for the "thinking mom" set. Unlike the dozens of newsstand magazines covering parenting, Brain, Child  would publish personal essays, not how-to articles. There would be no tips and tricks stories, no doctors’ advice columns, and absolutely no guides for rainy-day craft projects. Rather, Brain, Child  would celebrate the experience of parenting, regardless of what style, in a high quality, literary format.

"Raising children doesn’t come with a blueprint—if there was one, everyone would follow it," says Wilkinson, based in Lexington,VA. "We wanted to create something that was more like sympathetic sisters sitting around a coffee table sharing their experiences."

By the spring of 2000, Wilkinson and Niesslein had done just that. Brain, Child  made its debut at the Million Mom March, with Wilkinson and Niesslein going to Washington, DC and renting a cheap hotel room to hand out the first 5,000 copies. Prior to that, though, the publishing duo spent a year learning the business and drumming up content for its first issue. The pair made due with a startup investment of $21,000 (compared to the $1 million-plus budgets of many large-scale magazines). "We worked every spare moment," Wilkinson recalls. "We gave up hobbies, we didn’t go on vacation, and we worked during naptime and at night."

Wilkinson and Niesslein also relied heavily on their networks of friends and contacts during the startup stage, calling in favors from previous colleagues to contribute articles and artist family members to help with the graphics. Wilkinson said she also learned early on the value of tapping into industry organizations as well as identifying those who launched similar publications and picking their brain for advice. At the Independent Press Association (www.indypress.org), for example, Wilkinson was able to gather information about printers and shipping costs and take part in a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, for only a small fee. She also hired a consultant for a few hours to get a crash course in magazine launches and do reality checks on the Brain, Child  business plan.

Vital Stats

Name: Brain, Child Publishing Team: Stephanie Wilkinson and Jennifer Niesslein Online Venue: www.brainchildmag.com Home Base: Lexington, VA What it is and why it’s different: A literary magazine in the genre of the New Yorker aimed at "thinking mothers." Unlike most parenting magazines which serve up childrearing tips and expert advice, Brain, Child chronicles the experience of motherhood through personal essays. How they did it: With a $21,000 investment, sweat equity, and support from friends and contacts.

Beyond Bootstrap

The magazine has also received its share of editorial accolades. Brain, Child was recognized in its first year by the Independent Press Awards as one of the five best new magazines and it has received regular awards for editorial excellence every year since. "We definitely hit a cultural nerve," Wilkinson says. "Our readers are both older, first-time moms, and highly educated. They felt the same kind of bind we did—that motherhood is interesting, but no one is talking about the ways in which it’s interesting. They were looking for some type of community."

Moving forward, Wilkinson believes a lot more moms would benefit from the Brain, Child  brain trust. Although she never sees the magazine growing to the size of a traditional parenting book (on the order of around 1 million subscribers), the goal is to expand the reader base to around 80,000, and there’s also the possibility of adding a catalog of books and interesting products, all aimed at this very specific audience.

Even though Wilkinson has no direct experience in the catalog business and is continually learning the publishing end, she says she’s not deterred by the next challenge. Her background as a journalist and the stamina gleaned from her PhD work give her the confidence to address whatever lies around the corner. Says Wilkinson: "I didn’t start this with the idea that it would be a hobby—it would either be my next career or a way to get my own stuff out there. I love having my fingers in every aspect of the business." BA

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