Publish Now! will feature practical advice and guides for individuals considering publishing their own books, magazines and websites, as well as looking at the tools and technology driving the rise in self-publishing.
"I realised that with the arrival of ebook reading devices in their droves, self-publishing would become popular. Vanity publishing has moved on to become the Publish On Demand (POD) market, but there wasn't a magazine to help budding writers self-publish their own work. I felt that a bookazine on self-publishing could do well," Howell told Journalism.co.uk.
"The recession has hit the publishing market hard. For me I see a burgeoning self-publishing sector that will grow massively next year. And with more people looking at self-employment as a realistic option, moving into self-publishing that they do from their homes will be very popular in the near future."
Priced at £7.99 the magazine will be available from all branches of WH Smith and via mail order. If the new title performs well, Howell will publish two further editions in 2010.
Howell's own experience of self-publishing includes sister publication HomeWorker magazine, which his firm Nexus Publishing launched in summer 2008.
Despite launching two print products during a recession, Howell said he sees a potential revenue stream in publishing these titles, which can compliment his other freelance work.
"The recession has certainly hit all freelancers. At the beginning of the year the phone didn't ring as much, and the markets for more general consumer writing and journalism became increasingly difficult to find. Commissioning editors have cut back on the amount of work that they do offer to freelancers - even the people they have commissioned regularly for years - simply because their freelance budgets have been squeezed by their publishing houses," he said.
"I saw the reduction in the available work for my freelance writing services in the consumer magazine sector coming about 18 months ago. I set about moving my client base away from consumer publishing and more into the business and trade press where the market was much more stable. Also, I have moved increasingly to web-based content as print publications continued to reduce. Today, I have more online content clients than I have print-based clients, and of the print-based commissions I do get, these are from specialised publications.
"I had a background in publishing so it seemed sensible to look at this market for the revenue stream I needed. HomeWorker magazine was the result."
Howell has also developed a successful blog to run alongside the print edition of HomeWorker and has expanded this into an online shop for gadgets and office technology.
"My blog started out as really just another channel to market my freelance journalism and writing business that I have run for the past seven years full-time. As I developed the blog it started to change into more of a home business portal," he told Journalism.co.uk.
Four more issues of HomeWorker are planned for next year on a subscription-only basis and Howell will also publish new monthly advice guide The Working from Home Handbook in 2010 with a special edition aimed at freelance writers and journalists.
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