Want to know the backstory of how Agenda went print? The magazine’s founder Kaylene Peoples has been asked that question repeatedly in interviews and amongst her colleagues. Not many people know that it took her six months and endless rejections before her magazine was finally allowed to be a part of Amazon’s (Createspace) publish on demand platform. At the time, there was only one publish on demand print magazine on Amazon.com, a lifestyle periodical from Australia—a woman publisher nonetheless. “Getting a magazine to pass the approval process in 2014 was near impossible unless you wanted to have your images in frames with absolutely no bleed.” Recalls Kaylene Peoples.  “I had to translate a German document after months of searching and trying to figure out their specs with absolutely no printer driver!”

Let me take you back to March 2004 before Agenda was even online yet…

“When I launched the website, it was a lot of work managing the concept. It would take me several weeks to put out an online issue. Because you see, even though it was online, it was still a magazine with a table of contents, filled with articles and fashion, not to mention all the video I was streaming. Agenda was not a blog. I started to notice after I’d been doing it for about a year, other online magazines would stream video, too. But I was the first.”

The fashion and lifestyle magazine ran into a few snags. It went print, but the first edition didn’t meet Ms. Peoples’s standards. She unpublished it and redesigned almost a third of the magazine’s content, upgrading it with superior editorials and replacing a handful of articles. Kaylene recounts how difficult and laborious the whole experience was.

“I wish I could say that it was easy, but it was the exact opposite. Now I understand the meaning of ‘printer hell.’  I was sequestered in that fiery pit for what seemed like an eternity.  There was disappointment from the contributors and the stress of what seemed like my first born coming out breech.  But I managed to mold our first issue into the product I had envisioned; it just took awhile.”

The News Sub-Headline in November 2014 Press:

In 2014, AGENDA put out its first print issue. It is a 232-page glossy, full color with breathtaking photography, features, reviews, articles, and interviews. The premier issue is called AGENDA SPECIAL EDITION ISSUE 1, subtitled “Fall Is Fascinating” for the autumn 2014 season. The print edition promised to deliver enduring content, making AGENDA SPECIAL EDITION 1 an “archivable” time capsule.

After ten years online and 54 issues later, a lifelong dream came true. Once upon a time there was a teenage girl who pored through all the popular fashion magazines: Vogue, Elle, Seventeen, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, Allure, etc. She always dreamed of having her own magazine someday. After a career as a model, she dabbled in filmmaking and has always been a musician. This now “all-grown-up” woman published her first online magazine, which incorporated all of her loves: fashion, multi-media, and music. Back in June of 2004, actress Bai Ling graced the cover of Agenda, and the first fashion magazine online to ever stream national runway shows and documentary-style interviews was born. Agenda magazine (agendamag.com) became very popular in its niche very fast. Agenda started out with great photography, interesting journalism, fashion reviews; and it even created focused columns, book reviews, entertainment and travel. The popular online magazine gained the attention of the Oprah show, and was highly sought after by top designers and stylists.

After Agenda became comfortable in her skin, she started to diversify with more fashion, human-interest stories, unique commentary, and valuable insights on a hotbed of topics. The readers of Agenda have watched their beloved magazine grow up. And Kaylene Peoples, that once teenager with a dream, has steered her magazine’s ship through the exotic yet sometimes murky waters of the Internet.

” . . . one of the most creatively ingenious visual reads you will ever experience. It is a kaleidoscope of visually stunning images and informative mind-bending intellectual subjects. When you purchase Agenda [much like a good novel], you will definitely find it hard to put down. Immerse yourself into Agenda’s pages until you experience it from cover to cover.” –Photographer Devino Tricoche

Some of the highlights included in the special edition were articles about Lauren Bacall, Donna Karan, Maya Angelou; the architecture of John Parkinson; going blonde and the pushup bra; interviews with jazz singer Barbara Morrison; the folk duo Bettman & Halpin; and a review of CAB, the Grammy-nominated fusion band. Motivational speaker Michael Levine and Actors Cortney Palm and Noah Hathaway were featured in fashion editorials—only a glimpse of several stunning spreads in the magazine, and a fashion spread and article with Zombie Boy by guest writer/editor/celebrity stylist Ty-Ron Mayes. Fitness Couture by Anthony Heredia set straight the misconceptions of cellulite. He offered tangible solutions to a common problem in both women and men.

Agenda‘s beauty section covered products that had been tried and tested first.

“I don’t review any products that I have not personally tested for at least 30 days—that’s why the title, ’30 Days for 30 Nights.’ How can one know if the product really does what it promises if it doesn’t stand the test of time?“—Shahada Karim, Agenda Beauty Editor

The magazine was much like a Time Life book. It had a hard cover with art paper inside. It didn’t feel like a fashion magazine, more like a coffee table book. But one of the most impressive features was the diverse table of contents, which stretched from architecture to travel.  Really, there was nothing like it. Kaylene was told often that her magazine was produced before the world was ready for it. In a system where print magazines are diminishing and getting thinner every year, to invest one’s time on a 232-page magazine, didn’t seem practical to some people.

“I have been mocked for putting out a print magazine. In fact, most print magazines already existed for years before they went online. I literally did the opposite. My magazine was online for years before going print; I did it backwards according to a few scrutinizing fellow online  publishers.  I was told back in 2006 when I first inquired about going print, that it would cost upwards of 2.5 million dollars to sustain a print magazine for two years before I would see any return, if any, or if I didn’t completely fail first. Getting an investor to put that kind of money into something that seemed so risky kept me from putting agendamag.com to paper. However, when publish on demand platforms emerged, such as  LULU, I started to see a way to live my dream. It only took a few years after that before Amazon’s Createspace (Now Kindle Direct Publishing) made it affordable to print and relatively affordable to purchase. I had decided to go for it with Amazon. Other companies were not realistic in their pricing. Some charged as much as $60.00 for a 40 page magazine. I couldn’t see anybody paying for that, which is precisely why I persevered until Agenda finally passed review.” —Kaylene Peoples

What else will you find on the pages of Agenda? Runway shows . . . a lot, and beautifully photographed, fashion interviews and articles, accessory reviews, and best seller book reviews. The first special edition in print of Agenda magazine is filled with timeless content by talented writers and photographers: Kaylene Peoples, Lee L. Peoples, Glenn Gordon, Anthony Heredia, Eveline Morel, Marilyn Anderson, Tonya Carmouché, Shahada Karim, Arun Nevader, Ash Gupta; guest writer and editor Ty-ron Mayes, and a bevy of stylists, photographers, makeup artists, and art directors.

Agenda Special Edition Issue #1 is available for purchase at an extreme discount here. Being the second fashion magazine on Amazon’s ‘publish on demand’ platform worldwide, we are proud to be the first to represent (in print) the United States for fashion and lifestyle.  Agenda has since published regular print issues (not just special editions and collector’s issues). After almost a year hiatus from being online, Agenda returned with a vengeance. Since that first special edition, Agenda published a fitness-focused collector’s issue in print, titled “Fitness Couture,” followed by Agenda Special Edition Issue 2; and we just released our second collector’s issue, titled Artemis Women Kick Ass!  Stay on the  lookout for AGENDA, A Bride For Every Season:  Special Edition 3, coming soon. 

“As your founder, publisher, and editor-in-chief, I hope you will continue to read, give us your feedback, subscribe, and show your loyalty as Agenda magazine continues to grow and frolic in the print meadows.”  —Kaylene Peoples

Well folks, that’s how Agenda in print gave birth to its firstborn! Learn about past and future collectible issues on our website and check out our Summer 2019 issue. Agenda is published by KL Publishing Group.