About three years ago I was based in London, commuting back and forth on the tube, every day at the same time, to my own publishing company - earning plenty of money, but really stuck in the rat race. Everything in my life was going wrong: my relationship was up the river, my job, London . . . and I could anticipate exactly what I would be doing each day for the next year. I was beginning to feel there just must be more to life than this, so I did a Reginald Perrin - just upped and left, with my girlfriend, sold the house, my car, everything, and went to live in the Wicklow mountains for a year.
I spent a year thinking, reading, walking in the mountains, and had a fantastic time! From then on I couldn't throw off the idea of creating a magazine which would be useful to people, not one which told you how to shop, but which was for men in their thirties who want a good read rather than a mindless flick through tips on which aftershave to wear.
Research shows that about 80 per cent of men don't actually read lads' mags - they aren't interested. Our unique selling point (USP, in the jargon) is that there are no bums, breasts, no well-dressed perfect men, no fashion shoots - it's a magazine about spending your life, not your money.
The tone is humorous, and I would think more hardhitting than a women's magazine. At the moment we don't carry ads. I just feel that advertisement for men's products like anti-wrinkle cream or hair gel totally contradict the ethos of the magazine.
We've stories in the first issue on how to survive the hell that is shopping and we've interviewed loads of guys about why men like to have flash cars. We're questioning things about being a man, looking at why we are ambitious and competitive.
It's a magazine which offers men a way out of the gym - very anti-"six pack" and all that rubbish. Basically, it's showing guys how to find out about something more useful than the beer and sex style of therapy.
We'll see now is it possible to sell a men's magazine without the babe culture, and so far so good. I'd only planned on printing 30,000 copies, but the demand has been so big, I've had to do a print run of 100,000. I can't do any more though - I've no money left!
There's been a phenomenal response from retailers. It is just about impossible to get something which simply didn't exist a year ago on to store shelves these days. In theory, this magazine shouldn't exist in the 21st century marketplace, but we've done it.
I'm the co-partner in Blue Sky Productions (with Satkar Gidda), which publishes the magazine. There are four people currently working directly on the magazine, and a lot of freelancers.
Getting this magazine off the ground has been a real emotional rollercoaster. I've no money now, but I have got a sense of passion for my job, and this time round I never know what's going to happen next.
The magazine world is so competitive, you can't anticipate how a new concept will be met. The response from the media has been terrific so far: the English Independent ran a story last November expressing an interest in the idea of a magazine like this, and I just ended up crying with joy.
The hardest thing is the tiredness. It is really, really time-consuming, and has been for a long time. I feel like my eyes are sinking into my head. At times I get so tired I can't actually sleep. But if you believe in what you're doing, it keeps you alive.
In conversation with Jackie Bourke
Men's Quest is launched on April 15th and will be available in Irish newsagents.
