Just landed in London City airport on a four-day trip to the UK. My first stop World News newsstands at the terminal. Pushing two bags and holding five newspapers and ten magazines, I looked and felt like a kid in a candy store. Every time I visit the London I can’t wait to wake up to buy the papers…their content will surprise me every single day. Take a look at today’s Independent… a single front-page story telling you the 50 Reasons to Love the EU. I said it and I will say it again, the problem with our newspapers in America is not the ink on paper, it is the message that they carry. More on that later, and on the rest of my catch of the day in the UK.
Archive for March, 2007
A kid in a candy store
March 21, 2007Goodies under the cover
March 20, 2007
It used to be said you can judge a book by its cover, well in the case of Prevention, you can’t. The cover of the April issue may look the same like the cover of the March issue, but the insides of the April issue are a completely different story. Prevention’s editor-in-chief Liz Vaccariello has added a surge of energy, color, photography and great content to the guts of the 57-year-old magazine. The new Prevention sports a pleasant, easy to navigate design with splash pages introducing every section of the magazine. Whether it is Health, Real Life, Nutrition, Beauty, Fitness and Mind it is all in there. With an emphasis on the answers for “what is in it for me” questions, Prevention is a must read for every health conscious woman. Prevention maybe 57 years old, but the April issue looks and feels like a strong, healthy and ageless energetic women….
A new magazine: The Garden & Gun
March 19, 2007
No it is not a typo. The name of this new magazine is indeed The Garden & Gun and it promises to be “a southern lifestyle magazine, for the 21st century Southern America.” There are big guns, no pun intended, behind the magazine. Rebecca Darwin is the publisher. She served in the same post both at The New Yorker and at Mirabella. John Wilson is the editor in chief. He has launched Charleston magazine among other things. The magazine is aimed at “the sporting Southerner, The Garden & Gun reflects the modern lives of affluent Southerners and those who aspire to the sporting life of the South.” The magazine will speak equally to men and women, thus the name…The spring launch issue of the magazine will arrive April 3 promising to be “anchored in tradition, and with the South’s greatest asset, its writers…” Hold your guns until then…
Amelia’s magazine: glows in the dark and daytime…
March 19, 2007
Amelia Gregory has been publishing, editing and designing Amelia’s magazine for six issues so far. The latest issue of the British magazine (feels and looks more like a book-a-zine or Mook) comes with a glow in the dark cover and a hefty 10 British Pounds cover price (almost $16.00)
The magazine is worth every penny, British or American. The contents stand apart from a lot of other magazines that I’ve seen and the design is second to none. Artistic and playful in its looks, intelligent and meaty in its content. Make sure to check Amelia’s trip to China and her coverage of that country. If you are in the mood for something from across the pond, Amelia’s will be a great choice for you this week. Enjoy
The Future of Newspapers: Daily Magazines
March 18, 2007
Last Sunday I told CBS News Sunday Morning that the problem with newspapers in this country is not in the medium but in the message. The newspapers have become predictable with no elements of surprise. They lost their wow factor and their relevance. Unlike the European papers which began reinventing themselves into daily magazines, witness The (British) Independent with its cover story and in depth analysis. As Time magazine leads the newsweeklies in changing to a weekly glossy magazine, so should the newspapers change to daily magazines. Chasing the news does not belong on paper anymore… tomorrow’s papers should be Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, In Touch Weekly, and Business Week all in one on a daily basis. Newsrooms in this country must wake up and see the future now… I am glad that Time is the first major newsweekly leading the change of the category. The big question is who is going to be the daring first major newspaper to learn from our friends across the pond and lead the change…And just in case you’ve missed my debate in NYC with Bo Sacks, Patrick Henry wrote a good review of the debate on PrintCEOblog.com
The Numbers May Lie, but Not the Magazines…
March 18, 2007
People keep asking me how are you sure that the numbers you report about the new magazines are accurate. My simple answer is that I don’t. I only report the numbers, only and only if, I have an actual physical issue of the new magazine. I do not depend on announcements, other web sites, or even the Magazine Publishers of America (MPA). Last week the MPA said that 262 magazine launches were announced in 2006 up 2% from the previous year…They say they include only magazines with frequency of four times or more. Yet, I see Vogue Living is listed as a new magazine. I count all magazines including the special one shots like Vogue Living in all my counts. They don’t, except maybe in the case of Vogue Living. But, even if I go by the MPA definitions of what a magazine is, my final count for 2006 stands at 332 new titles published four times or more from a total of 901 titles. In either case the numbers of 2006 are down from 2005 and not up. In 2005 there were 350 new titles published four times or more from a total of 1013 new titles. As I mentioned earlier, all of the numbers mentioned in all my stats and books are based on actual physical first editions and you can see each and every one of them on my web site and in my new book Samir Husni’s Guide to New Magazines, Vol. 22.
Best Life “Rocks”
March 17, 2007
In the April issue of Best Life magazine, the cover subject Chris Rock is asked about his Best List…here is what he said in his Reading Best List: “I’m not a big reader, but I’ve read My Native Son, Invisible Man, and Catcher in the Rye, and I read Clinton’s autobiography. But put 500 magazines in front of me and I could knock them all out. I always read magazines. All this information, right there!” (The emphasis is mine)
Ink on Paper or Pixels on a Screen… Is this a Magazine?
March 17, 2007I am looking for answers for a simple question: What is a magazine? I have my own idea and definition, but I would like to hear from others on how they define a magazine. I know it is a wide open ended question, but it will help to get feed back from the audience at large. Is the magazine a printed product? Does it have to publish at least four times a year to be considered a magazine? Does it have to be sold separate from, say, a newspaper? Is 60 minutes on CBS a magazine? Are sheets of paper inside a box a magazine? Is content packaged on the internet considered a magazine? I am hoping for a healthy debate…thanks
Countdown to Condé Nast Portfolio
March 17, 2007
Is Condé Nast Portfolio going to be the last major magazine launch from a major magazine company in the United States as some say? No, but the prophets of doom and gloom are running out of reasons to promote their “print is dead” concept. Every time they see a major launch on the horizon they promote it as the last and they start asking the “doubting Thomas” questions. On April 24 Condé Nast Portfolio will launch in print and on line, and it WILL BE the “the talk of the town.” The magazine promises to be “the most highly anticipated media event of 2007.” From what I’ve seen and heard so far, I have no doubt it WILL BE. Stunning photography and in depth reporting and analysis are going to be the anchors of the new magazine. Think The New Yorker meets Vanity Fair meets Vogue meets The Wall Street Journal, all trying to “captivate” YOU. Their media kit gives a glimpse of what I am talking about. Designed as the old accounting ledgers, the kit uses photography and typography in a way I rarely saw in such products. When opened the size of the spread is 34 inches wide and anything on the spreads will stop you and force to look and read. Unlike any other “event launch” that took place in years past, this one focuses on content and relevance, and not on publishers and editors. However, I must quickly add that when I visited with the group president and publishing director of Condé Nast Portfolio David Carey in New York City recently, I saw nothing but pride, passion and joy in his eyes every time he mentioned Portfolio, its content, its web site, its editor and staff and its ad pages. David Carey is going to be a proud daddy on April 24, 2007 and his “love of new magazines” is going to manifest itself in one healthy glossy baby named Portfolio.
Renovated Mr. Magazine™ web site
March 17, 2007I hope you that you’ve noticed the changes taking place on my web site mrmagazine.com. With the addition of the blog and the regular updates of all the new launches you will be able to keep up with the latest happenings in the magazine world we love and enjoy. When in comes to new magazine launches, you will see every single title with its cover picture and frequency. The magazines will be posted only, and only if we have the actual physical copy of the first issue. If we miss your new magazine, please feel free to send it to us and we will make sure it will be added to the list. Remember, change is the only constant in our business. We already listed the Jan. and Feb. titles from this year’s new crop of titles. I was able to find 58 new titles in Jan. with 21 titles published four times or more. In Feb. I was able to find 37 new titles with 18 published four times or more. See how that compares to last year’s numbers for the same two months. Let me know what you think of the renovated web site and hope to continue the conversation…all the best and many thanks to my fellow workers Garreth, Noah, Barrett and Fred.
Mr. Magazine 