Review: WAHM Magazine

WAHM Magazine - The only content-driven digital magazine for work at home parents

If you're a work-at-home parent or thinking about becoming one, this just may be your magazine. WAHM is a bi-monthly digital magazine covering all the different facets of being a work-at-home parent.

Erika Geiss, founder and publisher of WAHM Magazine, envisioned a magazine dedicated to "the whole enchilada" of working from home. It doesn't just focus on business, but also parenting, personal and professional relationships, health and fitness, time management and more.

(Hey, kind of like Mama Needs a Book Contract, but with editing.)

Ms. Geiss allowed me a peek at a sample of the premier issue, and I like it.

At first, the digital format drove me crazy, with scrolling and zooming troubles, until I discovered that I could resize the window to fit my screen. Then I had few problems, and could settle in for an enjoyable read. (I'll admit, I wish it were available in a print version, but that isn't in the plans right now and won't be unless it can be done in an eco-friendly way. It's just that this is the kind of magazine I'd like to grab and read on the couch, or take a highlighter to, or throw in my bag to read in the pediatrician's waiting room.)

Articles range from cute shorts to helpful features. The premier issue includes a Q & A with Stephanie Gruber (work-at-home-parent and founder of BabyTalkBio.com and FrunchyMama.com) tax-time tips from an expert, and service pieces on beating work-at-home isolation, feng-shui for the home office, and clutter-busting strategies. A section called "Stories from the Trenches" gives first-person accounts of those who are doing it, and the "My Time" articles focus on gardening and relaxation. This issue's "Nitty Gritty" gives the scoop on virtual conferences, and "Health and Fitness" goes beyond the page with two podcasts.

Yes, podcasts! I guess that's one advantage a print version of the magazine could not offer.

I have to say that I am impressed, and I'm not easy to impress. There are a lot of print and web magazines out there competing for my attention. WAHM is the kind of magazine I wish the rest of them could be: smart, relevant, useful, and serious without being full of itself. (Hey, when you are a work-at-home parent, you can't take yourself too seriously. We giggle with our toddlers one minute and hit send on a pitch the next. And it's just hard to get on an ego-trip when you smell like peanut butter.)

And speaking of not taking yourself too seriously - my favorite humorist, Amy Mullis, will have a column in WAHM. That has to be worth the price of a subscription in itself.

So what is the price of a subscription (and what does it include)? $24 per year includes 6 bi-monthly issues, full access to WAHM archives and forums, webinars and podcasts, and 10 e-newsletters per year.

I think I'll spring for it. :)

Summary from the WAHM Media Kit:

Feature Sections
 Voices—a featured interview with a work-at-home parent, ideally a well-recognized figure who has achieved success as a work-at-home parent
 The Nitty-Gritty—a section devoted to work-at-home business issues
 Parenting—from being a work-at-home parent with babies and toddlers to 'tweens and teens and beyond
 Relationships—those with significant others/partners, business partners and associates, and friends and family beyond what would be covered in parenting
 My Time—a section devoted to relaxation, rejuvenation and personal time
 Health and Fitness—a column by Craig Pepin-Donat, International Health & Fitness expert, and author of the Big, Fat Health and Fitness Lie (Waterside 2007)
 Humor Column—a column by Amy Mullis, the “New Erma Bombeck.”
 Stories from the Trenches—a section devoted to creative non-fiction

They take submissions from freelancers! Here's a link to the submission guidelines.