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TV Guide Magazine President, Tony Frost, On The Launch Of His Company’s New Streaming Publication TV Insider Magazine To Samir “Mr. Magazine” Husni: “Yes, We Do Feel There’s A Need For A Printed Magazine.” The Mr. Magazine Exclusive Interview…

February 21, 2023

“I’m sure some people will say these guys are crazy for launching a new title, but we feel very strongly there is a need for us, for our expert guidance on all things streaming. People today watch shows on various platforms – mobile phones, tablets , computers and tv screens. They want too know what to stream next. And this is what you get with TV Insider; the best and most comprehensive guidance to the world of streaming.” TV Insider president, Tony Frost.

“The future for us is TV Guide magazine maintaining its presence as a relevant guide for traditional TV while TV Insider grows over the next three to five years as a relevant guide for everyone who streams. Because streaming is everything these days. If you watch TV streaming is it.” Tony Frost.

Today streaming is one of the most important ways to watch your favorite shows, be they on a specific streaming service or a primetime network. But the need for a guide to what streaming has to offer has become something we may all need.

Enter Tony Frost and TV Insider. This great new print magazine features streaming in its complete form. And talking to Tony I have found another human being as bullish about print as I am. He believes strongly in it. In fact, the entire company – NTVB Media – feels there is a need for this new printed magazine with a direct link to their successful digital entertainment website, tvinsider.com.

First issue of TV Insider on the newsstands today….

The first steps to creating TV Insider, a monthly title, came last April after TV Guide Magazine carried out its biggest-ever reader survey. Seventy-four per cent of respondents said they now streamed. Soon after Neilsen reported that viewers were spending more time steaming than watching cable or broadcast programming.

At a business meeting in New York City, Tony presented the idea for a streaming magazine independent of the regular TV Guide Magazine to NTVB owners Andy DeAngelis and Larry Mckenzie. After discussions with subscriptions guru Ed Fones, the project was green-lighted.

“Ed was very bullish,” says Tony. “He felt it could attract a significant number of subscribers.”

After several mock covers using the instantly recognizable TV Guide logo for the “special Streaming Edition” failed to impress, , fast-forward to September when TV Guide EIC Michael Fell came up with the idea of calling the new title tvinsider magazine.

DeAngelis and Frost loved it and the tvinsider website team gave it their seal of approval.Thus tvinsider monthly was born.

So, I hope that you enjoy this great conversation with a man who really knows his way around a television. Without further ado, the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Tony Frost, president, TV Insider magazine.

But first the soundbites:

On the story behind TV Insider: TV Guide readers have doubled their interests in streaming. And we decided to do something about it. We had various meetings with the owners of the company, Andy DeAngelis and Larry McKenzie who fly in once a month from Michigan for executive meetings, and managed to convince them that there is a marketplace for a streaming magazine. And we talked about how it would look; how it would affect TV Guide magazine, and we tried various iterations of the TV Guide logo, which is one of the most recognizable logos in America and still a very strong brand.

On why they didn’t just change TV Guide instead of launching a new magazine: Michael Fell, the editor in chief of TV Guide magazine, asked why didn’t we call it TVInsider? We have a very successful website called tvinsider.com that we own and Michael’s idea was let’s spin off the title of our website with all the obvious advantages and synergies. But on the first cover we locked up we used the TV Guide logo close to the UPC stating From The Publishers of….., The TV Insider logo, created by our Creative Director Paul Aarons is very different and distinctive in its own right.

On whether he feels there’s a need for a printed publication about streaming: You hear many people tell you there’s so much to watch on TV these days, but what do I watch? What’s worth watching? And the slogan of our magazine is “Know what to stream next.” That slogan comes from Barb Oates who runs our custom publishing unit in Milwaukee. She’s overseen our industry-related TV magazines for a number of years. And she believes the one thing regular streamers want to know to know is what to stream next. So yes, we really do believe that there’s a market for this.

On the shrinking newsstand today: Obviously, the newsstand today has shrunk. Not just for TV Guide magazine but for every title. We’ve been putting out less than a 100,000 copies of TV Guide on newsstands and we’re there will be approximately the same number of copies for TV Insider. They will be at the newsstand side by side and readers will have a choice between the TV Guide magazine or TVInsider. Some hopefully will want both! Maybe streamers who buy TV Guide magazine use TVInsider as a companion guide.

On launching the magazine monthly: It’s a monthly, yes. TV Guide remains biweekly and TV Insider will be monthly. It’s larger than TV Guide with an 80lb cover with pages and pages of advice on all things streaming: articles, interviews, features and more highlighting the newest shows specials and movies. It’s a very nice-looking book, which Michael Fell and the TV Guide editors have put together, designed by Paul Aarons, who is our creative director, with uncut from Barn Oates in Milwaukee and Marcie Waldrup, NTVB’s marketing director in Troy, Michigan. It’s been real teamwork and we’ve had great support from Samantha Westfall, chief content director at tvinsider.com. You know, Samir, it’s really great when it all comes together!

On today’s magazine ownership being people with really no interest in magazines at all: That’s a very good point. The fact is that Andy and Larry, who own the company, and myself the president of it; we all have a huge and sustained interest run print and magazines and love magazines. We’re not going to walk away from print when there is still great opportunity like this.

On whether their belief in print is their age or their convictions that it’s still necessary: We think print is viable to so many people. TV didn’t kill the radio, did it? Radio adapted and so will we. We have one million TV Guide magazine subscribers. TV Insider can be successful with 100,000 subscribers. You talk about venture capitalists and hedge finders owning media, well they would want to see a million dollar return in the first couple of months. We don’t expect that. We are realists and know it is going to take time to build the audience and to make consumers aware of this excellent product. And that’s what we’re doing now..

On the magazine Stream + and any other competition: That’s encouraging in itself, the fact that a360 believes there’s a market for this type of magazine. Stream + is a nice magazine, but it’s not a guide, it’s an entertainment magazine. We’re a guide. We’re the experts and we provide the expert knowledge and utility. From my standpoint, it would be great to think that a360’s title and TV Insider could co-exist at the newsstand. Nothing would please me more.

On his biggest fear with the launch of this new magazine: I don’t think fear plays into it. We want to remain relevant in 2023 and in going forward. TV Guide has been relevant for 70 years. Let’s hope tour new title heralds the start of another 70 year cycle.

On the future of magazines in print: The future for us is TV Guide magazine and maintaining its presence as a relevant guide for traditional broadcast TV. And TV Insider growing over the next three to five years and becoming a relevant guide for everyone who streams. Because streaming is everything these days. Practically everything on regular TV ends up on a streaming service eventually.Streaming is it.And we feel that this guide is both vital and relevant in this day of the streaming revolution. People can read it leave in their coffee tables, pick it up again several times during the month and keep finding something fresh to watch.

On TV Insider having no grids or listings: The grids and listings still appear in TV Guide. There are still a lot of people who love the grids and listings. They’ll continue to get those. The audience for TV Insider are those people who perhaps rely less on grids today, but are frustrated because they can’t find anything to watch. And they channel surf for two hours without finding anything worthwhile. With TV Insider magazine they will be getting plenty of options

On what keeps him up at night: I go to bed at 10pm most nights but if Arsenal – my favorite English Premier League football team – lose it takes me a while to get to sleep. I get up at 5:30 most mornings and my staff see a lot of early morning emails from me. I read the pages – headlines, full text and photo captions – of all the magazines we produce. I’m invested in making sure TV Guide, our SIPs, Puzzler magazine and now TV Insider are the best they can be.That’s why I sleep so well.

And now the lightly edited transcript of the Mr. Magazine™ interview with Tony Frost, president TV Insider.

Samir Husni: It’s one month away from 70 years and the launch of TV Guide. So tell me the story behind TV Insider.

Tony Frost: The story is that last April 2022, TV Guide magazine carried out its largest reader survey ever. And we had thousands of replies, both online and by mail. And most of them were loads of interesting information. One of the most fascinating discoveries was that at that time, a year ago, 74 percent of TV Guide readers were now streaming. And that compares to our previous TV Guide survey in 2018, where 35 percent were streaming.

So in that four years, TV Guide readers have doubled their interests in streaming. And we decided to do something about it. We had various meetings with the owners of the company, Andy DeAngelis and Larry McKenzie who fly in once a month from Michigan for executive meetings, and managed to convince them that there is a marketplace for a streaming magazine. And we talked about how it would look; how it would affect TV Guide magazine, and we tried various iterations of the TV Guide logo, which is very important still. It’s one of the most recognizable logos in America and it’s still a very strong brand.

We have one million TV Guide magazine subscribers still and as you correctly said we’re about to celebrate our 70^th birthday and we decided that this would be an opportune time to launch the new title. It will launch very soon.

Samir Husni: Why didn’t you just change TV Guide instead of launching a new magazine?

Tony Frost: TV Guide will continue to exist just as it is right now. What we did was try the TV Guide logo and TV Guide streaming, etc., but we needed to work on that. And we felt that, especially at newsstand, it would be hard to differentiate between TV Guide magazine, regular issue and the streaming issue if we used the logo in the same way.

So Michael Fell, the editor in chief of TV Guide magazine, suggested and asked us why didn’t we call it IV Insider? We have a very successful website called tvinsider.com that we own and Michael’s idea was let’s spin off the title of our website with all the obvious advantages and synergies. So we locked up a cover and as you can see, that’s the traditional TV Guide logo, so the TV Insider logo, we decided to make different.

But on the cover you will still see the TV Guide logo on TV Insider magazine. It’s telling people that it’s from the publishers of TV Guide magazine; it’s from the editors of TV Guide magazine. They are getting expert guidance on streaming from TV experts.

Samir Husni: As you launch this new magazine, do you still feel there’s a need for a printed publication to tell people what to stream and what to watch on TV?

Tony Frost: We’ve promoted this magazine in our publications; in TV Guide already and other publications that the company owns and we already had several thousand subscribers before it’s even launched. So the answer is, yes we do feel there’s a need for a printed magazine.

You hear many people tell you there’s so much to watch on TV these days, so what do I watch? What’s worth watching? And the slogan of our magazine is “Know what to stream next.” That slogan comes from Barb Oates who runs our custom publishing unit in Milwaukee. She’s been responsible for our industry magazines for a number of years. And she agreed that people want to know what to stream next. So yes, we really do believe that there’s a market for this. The tears were there to put out a magazine that is different from TV Guide and doesn’t confuse TV Guide readers, and one that maybe TV Guide readers will want to buy and subscribe to as a companion to TV Guide magazine.

Samir Husni: The days that TV Guide used to sell 12 million copies on the newsstand are gone.

Tony Frost: Obviously, the newsstand today has shrunk. Not just for TV Guide magazine but for every title. We’ve put out less than a 100,000 copies of TV Guide on newsstands right now and we’re putting out approximately 100,000 TV Insider, so they’ll be at the newsstands side by side and readers will have a choice between the TV Guide magazine or the average streamers who buy TV Guide magazine; will they switch to TV Insider or buy it as a companion guide.

It’s interesting that we’re launching this magazine as TV Guide’s 70^th birthday approaches, but it’s even more interesting that it’s at this time when many magazines are closing and going to digital, we’re going from digital back to a magazine.

Samir Husni: Are you crazy, or is there something behind the craziness?

Tony Frost: I’m sure some people will say these guys are crazy for launching a new magazine, but we feel very strongly that there is a need for us, for guidance; for all things streaming. And this is what you get with TV Insider; all things streaming.

Samir Husni: And you’re launching it as a monthly magazine instead of a weekly.

Tony Frost: It’s a monthly, yes. TV Guide remains biweekly and TV Insider will be monthly. It’s larger than TV Guide and has 40 lb. stock for the inside pages. It’s a very nice-looking book, which Michael Fell and the TV Guide editors put together. It’s been designed by Paul Aarons, who is our creative director and he’s done a great job. We’ve worked very closely together.

We have another traditional TV magazine called TV Weekly, which is produced in Troy, Michigan. And the team at TV Weekly came up with ideas for the streaming magazine. In fact, the index look on the right side of the cover with the titles of the major streaming services, that was given to us by Marci Waldrup, who is marketing director for TV Weekly. Barb Oates, our custom publisher in Milwaukee came up with a slogo: What to stream next. Michael Fell, the TV Guide editor in chief, came up with the idea of calling the magazine TV Insider, which leads you directly to our website.

Samir Husni: You’ve sort of done some reverse engineering by taking the digital to print.

Tony Frost: You can call it reverse engineering; you can call it crazy; you can call it what you want, but the good thing about our company is we have no debt. We have Andy and Larry who own the company and they don’t have investors, they don’t have banks breathing down their necks; they don’t have to go to quarterly meetings with BS projections. When we do something, we do it slowly and steadily and we will grow this publication in a slow and steady way.

Samir Husni: Back a century ago, when magazines like TV Guide, Time and Reader’s Digest all came onto the scene, there were individual entrepreneurs behind them. Nowadays it’s more of a venture capitalist endeavor. The two largest magazine companies, Meredith and A360 Media, are both technically owned by digital capitalist folks who have no interest in magazines.

Tony Frost: That’s a very good point. The fact is that Andy and Larry, who own the company, and I’m the president of it; we all have huge interests in magazines and love magazines. We’re not going to walk away from print when there is still great opportunity like this. And this is an extension of what we do. This is something that became a natural progression for us as we worked on it. And we realized just how much knowledge the team has. And how quickly this crazy idea became a reality. And a very good one.

Samir Husni: Forgive my question, but is the love of print by Andy, Larry and yourself, is it your age or is it because you still feel print is necessary in this day and age?

Tony Frost: We think print is viable to so many people. TV didn’t kill the radio, did it? Radio adapted and so will we. We have one million TV Guide magazine subscribers. TV Insider can be successful with 100,000 subscribers. You talk about venture capitalists, venture capitalists will see a million dollar return in the first couple of months. We don’t. We know this is going to take time to build the audience and to make the consumer aware of this excellent product. And that’s what we’re doing.

Our internet marketing director is starting a marketing campaign very soon. It’ll be pretty extensive and we feel that with TV Guide and our other in-house titles and with tvinsider.com and our marketing and promotion plan, we can get word out pretty widely that this is an excellent product for everyone who loves streaming. And that’s practically everything now, everything is streaming. Even the traditional broadcast shows end up on streaming.

Samir Husni: Other than Stream +, which is published by a360 Media, is there any competition out there for your magazine?

Tony Frost: That’s encouraging in itself, the fact that a360 believes there’s a market for this type of magazine. Stream + is a nice magazine, but it’s not a guide, it’s an entertainment magazine. We’re a guide. We’re the experts and we provide the expert knowledge. From my standpoint, it would be great to think that a360’s title and TV Insider could exist close to each other on the newsstand. Nothing would please me more.

Samir Husni: As you launch this new magazine, what is your biggest fear?

Tony Frost: I don’t think fear plays into it. We want to remain relevant in 2023 and in going forward. TV Guide has been relevant for 70 years. Let’s hope this is the start of another 70 year cycle with a new title.

Samir Husni: I noticed that you’re giving away free streaming for up to 10 years.

Tony Frost: It’s a promotion, which we feel we have to offer. And we’re doing a sweepstakes. It’s just an add-on; an added value to our readers.

Samir Husni: You have been with TV Guide for years and you’ve seen the changes in the marketplace, in the industry and with the wholesalers and distributors. What do you believe is the future of magazines in print?

Tony Frost: I think it wouldn’t hurt if there were more people like Andy DeAngelis and Larry McKenzie, myself and Michael Fell, who are commissioned to the future of magazines. We believe in them and can’t imagine a world without them.

The future for us is TV Guide magazine and maintaining its presence as a relevant guide for traditional TV. And TV Insider growing over the next three to five years and being a relevant guide for everyone who streams. Because streaming is everything these days. If you watch TV streaming is it.

And we feel that this guide is relevant in this day and age and is needed by people to read from the coffee table, pick up again and see what they can watch tonight, and pick it up next week to see what’s on. It gives people options and you can’t spend your whole life glaring at a screen, whether it’s your workplace computer, mobile phone or tablet or your TV. You have to have something to read in print. And this as a guide for giving you the best advice on how to spend two hours watching something that appeals to you. There’s nothing better than TV Insider.

Samir Husni: You opted with TV Insider not to have any grids.

Tony Frost: The grids and listings still appear in TV Guide. There are still a lot of people who love the grids and listings. They’ll continue to get those. The audience for TV Insider are those people who perhaps rely less on grids today, but are frustrated because they can’t find anything to watch. And they channel surf for two hours without finding anything to watch. With TV Insider magazine hopefully they can find something to watch.

Samir Husni: Anything I failed to ask you?

Tony Frost: The interesting thing is that on the cover of TV Guide is Kiefer Sutherland who’s star of the new espionage drama on Paramount Plus. He’s the cover and we have an exclusive interview with him. He has graced 19 TV Guide magazines. But the timing was right to choose him. TV Guide magazine is one of the most important brands in the entertainment world today 70 years after it was launched.

Samir Husni: Anyone ever ask you to be on the front page of a digital product?

Tony Frost: We have a very robust website, tvinsider.com. It has 8 to 9 million users per month. And we think we can transport material from TV Insider print to tninsider.com. And readers may like the magazine and may well become subscribers.

Samir Husni; My typical last question, what keeps you up at night?

Tony Frost: I get up at 5:30 most mornings. My staff sees a lot of emails from me at 5:30 in the morning. I look at the pages, make suggestions, because we’re all invested in making TV Insider the best product possible. I run Central Park twice a week, which means that noting keeps me up at night. (Laughs)

Samir Husni: Thank you.

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FIPP Interviews Me About The Magazine Century, Second Edition…

February 9, 2023

Pierre de Villiers from FIPP Connecting Global Media interviewed me regarding the second edition of The Magazine Century. You can find the interview here and you can order the book here.

Posted in A Launch Story..., Innovation in print, Magazine Power, News and Views | Leave a Comment »

To Embrace Is To Create A Beautiful And Necessary Magazine: The Mr. Magazine™ Interview With John Sotomayor, Founder & Publisher, Embrace Magazine.

January 6, 2023

”The pandemic brought the world to a halt, but not Embrace Magazine. I decided to launch anyway, keeping all unpaid ads intact to allow LGBTQ+ owned businesses and their ally businesses a chance to bring awareness to their products and services during the pandemic while launching the magazine as it was intended…” John Sotomayor

“Publishing Embrace will always be a labor of love akin to the quote by Mark Twain, “find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life,” however, it is definitely a business venture…” John Sotomayor

What happens when you mix in a blender a creative person at heart, with a strong business sense and enjoys the aesthetic appeal of magazine design, along with the intellectual application of the editorial content that can have an outward impact on the world around us? This person also adds every personal and educational experience of his life into the mix. And did I fail to mention he is gay, and also Roman Catholic? This and all is John Sotomayor, the publisher, editor-in-chief, and executive producer of the Florida based Embrace Magazine and Media.

I met John last year at the annual conference of the Florida Magazine Association where I was speaking. His love for magazines and specifically for what he was doing with magazines, was evident in every single word he told me. I could feel the passion, the love, the excitement, but at the same time the fear of the future. How can one survive in this marketplace and how can a great magazine (my words, not his) survive in the midst of all the headwinds?

I have decided to interview John and ask him a few questions about him and Embrace magazine and Embrace media. What follows is my Q and A with John:

Samir Husni: Two years ago, you single handedly launched Embrace, tell me the story of that launch and your memories of that period…

John Sotomayor: After the success of a previous brand magazine, I decided I wanted to launch an LGBTQ+ magazine, which was more inline with my identity. I decided to make my formal announcement on June 28, 2019, the 50^th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in my native New York City, which signified the start of the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement. I used the next few months on market research and development. Prepared to launch in January 2020, I had some delays that occur naturally with a startup. I was ready to launch next quarter, April 2020 when the world had other plans. The pandemic brought the world to a halt, but not Embrace Magazine. I decided to launch anyway, keeping all unpaid ads intact to allow LGBTQ+ owned businesses and their ally businesses a chance to bring awareness to their products and services during the pandemic while launching the magazine as it was intended. It paid off. We received public engagement. Emergency relief funds provided us the financial assistance we needed to get the first three issues published.

S.H. : As you reflect on the launch, what are some of the most pleasant moments that you can recall?

J. S. : The most pleasant moments involved working with the contributors and our supporters toward developing the vision and content I desired to achieve the level of publication I sought Embrace to be. Everyone brought their A game. Many contributed at a fraction of their worth, and some contributed for free. Where some might have thought print publishing was on a downturn at best, and a thing of the past at worst, those around me saw this as an opportunity to achieve a next level platform for the LGBTQ+ community. Then, there was the reveal. The premiere issue exceeded all expectations. Minds were blown, and new engagement began instantaneously. My former employer, Kendra Akers, publisher for Akers Media Group publications I wrote for, sent the following message, “Hi John, WOW, you have outdone yourself with this publication. Great job! I wish you the best of luck with this new endeavor! I think people will really love it and appreciate it.” She was right. Many others shared similar sentiments. On competition level, judges awarded us with the highest honors in every competition we entered for various journalism organizations throughout Florida and the nation.

S.H. : What are the biggest hurdles you faced and how did you overcome them? In case you did not overcome them, what are the plans to do so?

J. S. : The largest hurdle we faced so far was the COVID-19 pandemic that saw a worldwide shutdown and isolation for almost two years. As we all know, businesses were closed from most of 2020 – 2021. Even when they reopened, for their own survival, they had to drastically reduce their operating budgets. The first for most to go was advertising. That was our bread and butter. We managed to stay afloat by publishing three issues per year rather than four. We planned to publish quarterly. We also kept our operational costs extremely low, again, thanks to the generosity of our contributors. Not only did I not make any earnings for the first three years, but I also contributed financially from my personal savings. It is unwise but necessary. This leads to the next hurdle, becoming sustainable, and even profitable. The solution I am currently negotiating is an acquisition deal with a major media group that sees value in our branding. They have a vast umbrella of luxury brand magazines, but none solely devoted to the lucrative LGBTQ+ audience. Embrace is that asset. If the deal goes through, they will handle all operations — circulation, distribution, advertising, expansion — and I will retain creative control as managing partner, publisher, and editor-in-chief. We will retain our status as a certified LGBTBE (LGBT Business Owned Enterprise), granted to us by the NGLCC (The National LGTB Chamber of Commerce). That status as an LGBTQ+ owned business helps us enormously to attract businesses, including Fortune 500 companies, that wish to do business with a supplier diversity business.

S. H. : The magazine was well received by the magazine community in the state of Florida and in fact it won the magazine of the year in its first year from the Florida Magazine Association. What’s next?

J. S. : Thank you, that was a major moment for us! To give the full effect of winning Magazine of the Year by the Florida Magazine Association in 2021, we need to add that Embrace Magazine won Charlie (first place) for Best New Magazine, Best Overall Magazine, and won Magazine of the Year, all in the magazine’s inaugural year. That has never happened before and some say, may never happen again. Also, we took top honors in all four Best Overalls, including Charlie for Best Overall Writing and Best Overall Magazine, and Silver (second place) for Best Overall Design and Best Overall Digital Innovator, the latter a new category. No other magazine has ever accomplished that either yet. In total, we were honored with 22 awards, the highest any startup magazine has ever garnered. We also made history at the FMA as the first ever LGBTQ+ magazine member in 2021, the organization established in 1953, and the highest awarded startup. We made history with the Associated Church Press, being the first LGBTQ+ magazine member in 2020 of that Christian-based journalism organization, established in 1916. This year, we added a national award from the NLGJA: Association of LGBTQ Journalists for Photo-journalism Excellence, and a national board position for me, as publisher, with the NLGJA as well. Both occurred in Chicago. The FMA also added me as a board member. As a result of these achievements, Embrace Magazine was approached by the Poynter Institute of Media Studies to do a profile on us as a successful startup LGBTQ+ magazine. That by itself, is a high honor given the status in media the Poynter Institute carries. What’s next in 2023? I have already entered us in the GLAAD Media Awards. We should know the results in early 2023. If we are a finalist, I will attend the ceremony in either Los Angeles or New York City. If we win, anything is possible, as that will indeed be a high honor.

S. H. : Is publishing Embrace still a labor of love or more of a business venture now?

J. S. : Publishing Embrace will always be a labor of love akin to the quote by Mark Twain, “find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life,” however, it is definitely a business venture. Embrace is designed by Em Agency, owned by my good friend and long-time colleague, Jamie Mark. With them, we work on ads together. Our website, embracemedia.us was designed by A Great Idea, owned by my new close associate, Shane Lukas, who also contributes content to our online resource blog. We added Embrace Media, which in addition to the magazine, includes Embrace On-Air, our radio show broadcast out of 93.6 FM/1370 AM WOCA The Source, in Ocala. We create video content inhouse but are also in negotiations with Gardner Productions based in Toronto, Canada and New York City to create video advertisements. Hopefully, the acquisition deal with the media group goes through. We should see regional distribution grow to include Barnes & Noble for print, then eventually expand to other regional markets, applying national content to regional advertising. Ultimately, I hope Embrace Magazine and Embrace Media take me to a comfortable retirement, while leaving a lasting legacy.

S. H. : What makes John tick and click?

J. S. : I am creative at heart, with a strong business sense. I enjoy the aesthetic appeal of magazine design, along with the intellectual application of the editorial content that can have an outward impact on the world around us. I also apply every personal and educational experience of my life. I am gay, but I am also Roman Catholic. I made it a point to include a Religion department alongside Issues + Politics, International News, Art + Culture, and Activism + Charity. We have made many major advancements socially, politically, and culturally as a community. However, if the LGBTQ+ community is to ever be completely free of oppression, then we need to confront and unify with our largest oppressors, which are religious groups. I would like to be a catalyst of real change. I also am diversely educated. I studied mechanical engineering but have a dual bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester in Economics and Political Science with a certification in Marketing and Finance. I studied law at Howard University School of Law in Washington, DC but did not complete my JD degree due to complications from being outed as gay. I am also a natural, self-trained artist with the ability to draw. I apply all of my education and artistry to my magazine. I am hands on with every editorial and design decision in Embrace. I have been told by the COO of the media group I am negotiating with that in essence, I am the magazine. What you see within the pages are all a reflection of me.

S. H. : What are the plans for 2023 and beyond?

The immediate plans are to lock the negotiations with the media group and Gardner Productions. Then hopefully become a finalist at the GLAAD Media Awards and hopefully win. Either way, the plan is to attend the GLAAD Media Awards in LA or NYC and continue to network and bring awareness to Embrace Magazine and Embrace Media. If the deal with the media group goes through, Embrace Magazine will grow regionally, starting with states that have large LGBTQ+ communities, then expand outward. Ultimately, I would like to see a European version of Embrace, and a Spanish language version called Abrazo. There are still many areas in South and Central Americas that do not embrace the LGBTQ+ community yet. When a person comes out to their family, the family either shuns them or tries to have them institutionalized until they denounce being LGBTQ and reassimilate as straight. We need to reach those areas to promote and assist change. From there, assist those in need in other repressed areas of the world for LGBTQ+ people in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Looking further into the future, I would like to see Embrace Magazine have its own televised programming, maybe even a network, like National Geographic. Imagine the potential outreach Embrace could produce then.

S. H. : Anything you’d like to add that I failed to ask, or you’d like to mention?

J. S. : When I am asked to improvise, I see an opportunity to add my shameless plug. As a startup, Embrace Magazine still needs financial support. We welcome investors, and of course advertisers. Our 2023 Media Kit is available on our website, embracemedia.us. I also welcome story ideas. Please reach me at john@sotomayormedia.com. Finally, I welcome new contributors: writers, columnists, photographers, illustrators, and graphic artists. Two-thirds of our contributors are LGBTQ+, the remaining third are allies. One of my goals was to provide a platform for talented LGBTQ+ artists to showcase their writing, photography, and design skills toward LGBTQ+ related subjects. They may not have the opportunity elsewhere. Allies are welcomed. Why would I not include the best writer or photographer simply because he or she or they are not gay? So long as they support the mission of the magazine, their talent is welcomed in our pages. We are all inclusive, diverse, and unifying.

S. H. : And my typical last question, what keeps John up at night these days?

J. S. : I have two answers. First, I am concerned for all of our LGBTQ+ community, that our hard-earned civil rights are not torn away by the political mechanism that seems hellbent on doing so. Being from Florida, I see that already being enacted on the state level by our current governor, who has his eyes on the presidency in 2024. I have seen and heard the hate spewed by the Proud Boys who meet in rural bars to plan their next protest. They are getting louder, and forceful. They are no longer satisfied with disruption, they seek destruction. We at Embrace exist to counter, using intellect, compassion, and love to persuade people so that peace and prosperity win. These are the nightmares that keep me up at night.

Second, I am always thinking three steps ahead, as I always have played my favorite game, chess. I do not compete against others. I compete against myself. However high I set the bar previously, I focus on how I can raise the bar even higher. I think, what theme or concept can we come up with to excite our audiences? The photo-essay that won our national award in photo excellence was world renown and revered drag photographer, and Embrace Magazine contributor, Magnus Hastings’ brilliant concept for his book, “Rainbow Revolution” which we used as the foundation for “Thinking Outside the Box.” We collaborated on the July 2022 Arts issue, “Icons Gone Wild” which featured popular LA drag queens reenacting iconic Hollywood actresses in well-known scenes, with a twist. The result will surely garner more awards, as it has received world-wide attention. We have come up with another concept I will keep secret, for now. I can tell you it will be published in our summer Travel issue, and it will be our campiest drag photo-essay yet! These are the thoughts that keep me up at night, that eventually turn to dreams.

S. H.: Thank you.

To learn more about Embrace magazine and magazine media go to http://www.embracemedia.us

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New Magazines 2022: A Status Report Including The Launch Of The Year: The Mountains Magazine.

January 3, 2023

As the shift continues at the nation’s newsstands from regularly published magazines to book-a-zines, one can see as we enter 2023 that the future of ink on paper is going to be with those single topic, high-priced publications. They are everywhere: at the checkouts and at the mainlines. They cover every conceivable topic from Inside the Mind of Your Dog to Inside the Mind of Your Cat and everything in between. The cover price of these publications ranges between a low of $9.99 to a high of $14.99. Some of these publications are second, third and even fourth printing. All returning to the newsstands by “popular demand.”

So can the aforementioned be the reason for the drop in the total of new magazines published with a regular frequency? Well, the simple and short answer is YES. A crowded marketplace combined with the three headwinds (paper shortage, printing cost, and postage rates) publishers had to deal with in 2022, kept the major remaining publishers from entering the new magazine field (in fact just the opposite happened for the major publishers, they folded some of the existing magazines that they have), and those publishers focused more on the book-a-zine market.

My sources tell me that the two major publishers Dotdash Meredith and a360 media now control 60% of the book-a-zine marketplace. Well, for those of us who recall the “golden age of magazines” in the 1980s and 1990s, you will remember that Meredith used to be a leader in publishing what was called back then SIPs or special interest publications. Those SIPs were used as a test before that SIP was changed to a regularly published magazine. Country Home comes to mind as one of those SIPs later becoming a magazine with frequency. a360 media is doing now the same with their book-a-zines such as Feel Free, Steam+ and Gold Buckle (all introduced as new magazines in 2022).

So here is a recap of what I wrote in an earlier blog late last year:

The new magazine launches of 2022 were as cold as the arctic weather that hit the nation in the last few days of December. In 2020 the number of new magazines dropped to 60 titles, but then we had COVID 19 to blame. In 2021 the number of new launches doubled and some more to 122. But in 2022 the number of the brave souls who launched new titles, or brought old ones back to life stopped at 74 new titles.

I asked Doug Olson, the president of a360 Media, about his reaction to the aforementioned news. His answer, “2022 was a year of perseverance for the magazine industry. Through hard work, leadership, and continued innovation, the industry navigated input costs, advertiser supply chain issues, labor shortages, and unprecedented consumer inflation in ways that position the industry for a successful 2023!”

Whether 2023 will see an improvement in the number of new title launches or not is yet to be seen. What is for sure is that the so called book-a-zines or special interest publications have taken over the nation’s newsstands squeezing out both the established regularly published magazines and the arriving newbies.

Never in my recent memories have I walk into a newsstand and left empty handed. Twice in 2022 that happened, to the surprise of my wife. “You mean you did not find a single new magazine,” she asked with honest surprise on her face.

But, enough of the doom and gloom, let us concentrate on the bright side of the new magazine world and on the brave souls who still believe in ink on paper in addition to all things digital. Those brave souls were led by Alan Katz and his The Mountains magazine. The Mountains is an example of how a print magazine is and should be done. High quality writing, photography and design, The Mountains: From The Catskills To The Berkshires, deserves to be the 2022 Launch of the Year. Although it is a regional magazine, its content is one of the best I have seen in some time. Whether you live in the mountains or in the valleys, The Mountains and its team is the magazine for those who enjoy a lean back and relax kind of read with pages of experiences and not mere content.

As for the rest of the new magazines of 2022, here is the breakdown of the categories of the new magazine launches of last year:

Total US Print Magazines Launched By Category In 2022*

16 Special Interest

10 Sex

08 Women’s

07 Arts & Literary

05 Metro & Regional

05 Home

05 Crafts/Games/Hobbies

05 Black/Ethnic

04 Auto, Motorcycle, & Bikes

03 Food

02 Children’s

01 Travel

01 Music

01 Men’s

01 Hunting & Fishing

*A total of 74 new magazines were launched in 2022 compared to 122 in 2021 and 60 in 2020.

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Just Released: The Magazine Century: American Magazines Since 1900 by David E. Sumner and Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni…

December 20, 2022

As most of you know, I have retired from the world of academia after 37 years of teaching. Earlier in 2021 I started the Magazine Media Center with the goal to preserve the past, present and future of the magazine media. I am delighted to announce the release of The Magazine Century, a book published by Peter Lang Publishing Inc., New York, NY. The book is the second edition of Professor David Sumner’s The Magazine Century that was published in 2010. Professor Sumner asked me to team up with him to update the book and to write the last few chapter bringing the history of the American magazines through 2020.

Here is an excerpt from the book’s introduction:

At the time of this writing, American magazines are 280 years old. Andrew

Bradford’s The American Magazine or a Monthly View of the Political State of the

British Colonies was first published in Philadelphia on February 13, 1741. Four days

later, Benjamin Franklin published The General Magazine and Historical Chronicle.

Subsequently, the number of American magazines steadily increased for the next

160 years but really began to mushroom at the beginning of the 20th century.

From 5,500 magazines at the beginning of the century, the number reached more

than 18,000 by the end. It was, indeed, a magazine century…

No current books about American magazine history cover the entire 20th

century or 21st century. We acknowledge our debt to Frank Luther Mott of the

University of Missouri, who wrote the five- volume series, A History of American

Magazines, which covered magazine history until the 1930s. Mott’s Pulitzer- Prize

winning series remains the “gold standard” for research on American magazines.

Theodore Peterson’s Magazines in the Twentieth Century covered through the early

1960s and has also been useful in our research. William H. Taft of the University

of Missouri published American Magazines for the 1980s in 1982. Tebbel and

Zuckerman’s work, The Magazine in America 1741 to 1990 was an overview of

250 years of magazine history but limited in detail…

The editors at Peter Lang Publishing in New York invited me to write a

second edition of The Magazine Century, and I invited Professor Samir Husni at

the Magazine Media Center to be a co- author. For 44 years, he has tracked and

published annual books about new magazine launches.

He is the best- known magazine expert in America in the industry.

Besides new information he has written

about the years 2000 to 2020, the book contains a considerable amount of fresh

material about earlier magazines not included in the first edition…

People are generally more interesting to read about than “things.” Therefore,

we have tried to tell this story focusing on the stories of the writers, editors, and

publishers of the best- known magazines and the circumstances behind their

origins. These men and women were a colorful and controversial bunch. Some

became millionaires while many went bankrupt. Some became celebrities, others

were hated, and most were relatively obscure. They fought each other, sued each

other, and occasionally married each other. We hope you enjoy reading their stories.

You can order a copy of the book by clicking here.

Stay tuned for more news about the work of the Magazine Media Center and feel free to email me with questions and comments at samir.husni@gmail.com

Here’s to a great 2023 and beyond.

Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, Ph.D.

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The Two Page Spread: A New Auto Magazine Where Content Is A Beautiful Experience… A Mr. Magazine™ Launch Story

September 26, 2022

“In keeping with my love of print, each new feature will also include a link to a downloadable file of the Spread in a high-resolution, printable format, suitable for printing 36″ x 24″ posters. Because ‘Print Rules’.” Keith Keplinger, Publisher and Art Director

“I think that working with Keith, I have an art director who sees my editorial vision of what a print magazine can be in this age of people “reading” enthusiast content on their phones.” Richard Truesdell, Editor and Chief Contributor

Keith Keplinger and Richard Truesdell are two well known names in the circles of automotive media. You mention Keith or Rich and folks will stop and listen to see what those two are up to. Some folks at their age either retire or leave the entire industry behind, but their creative juices refuse to let them stop, and as Michael Clinton would say, they are roaring into their second act. And roar it is. Between the two of them, the ideas don’t only come, but are executed in a well curated, edited, and designed way.

What follows is the story of the launch of their latest magazine The Two Page Spread (T2PS). Founded by Keith in 2020 and later teamed with Rich the magazine is a beauty to look at and a welcomed addition to the world of print.

In a typical Mr. Magazine™ format, I asked Keith and Rich my seven questions about the launch of The Two Page Spread and the plans for the future.

Without any further ado, here is The Mr. Magazine™ Interview with Keith Keplinger, publisher and art director, and Richard Truesdell, editor and chief contributor.

Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni: Tell me the story behind the launch of The Two Page Spread and what role each one of you play with this new magazine?

Keith Keplinger: The story: Back In the 1980s, before the dinosaurs vanished, auto magazines were mostly black and white, with only 16 pages of color in the center. After selling a page or 2 in color to paying advertisers, a good editor/art director team could get 7 feature cars in each issue, by making the features ‘Two Page Spreads’.

I’ve designed hundreds of them, as art Director and Creative Director for Dobbs Publishing Group in the late 80s and early 90s. Loved the concise nature of them, the pure, simple story in 2 pages.

These days, the few print books still out there give six or more pages to the features – beautiful photos, with flowing stories. And the Webzines offer almost unlimited space freedoms. And I think those are great. But I miss the simplicity of my old favorite.

I launched ‘The Two Page Spread’ on Facebook on September 3, 2020, as I was beginning Cancer treatment, to help keep me busy and to give the features that I had shot but never made it into magazines after December 6, 2019, when Motor Trend Group killed 19 titles. On the Facebook page, we showcase The Two Page Spreads of cars I’ve shot and select few other editors/photographers have shot, too. In keeping with my love of print, each new feature will also include a link to a downloadable file of the Spread in a high-resolution, printable format, suitable for printing 36″ x 24″ posters. Because ‘Print Rules’.

I play dual roles as Art Director and Publisher. Richard joined in early 2021 as Editor and Chief Contributor.

His first contribution, in April 2021, was a T2PS on the famous Playboy Playmate AMC AMX.

Richard Truesdell: My story is a bit different than Keith’s as after a short academic career in which I taught high school social studies from 1976 to 1981, I launched a mobile electronics store in 1980, while I was still teaching. It ran until 1992 and during that time I started writing feature stories for trade (Autosound and Security) and then consumer titles. Because of my contributions to Autosound and Security, I was asked to write a monthly column on installation tech when Hachette launched Car Stereo Review in 1987. That led to a three-year gig producing a car electronics special section for Car and Driver. That’s when I got the magazine bug in my system. I’m sure you know that story Samir.

Ten years later, while I was still contributing to Car Stereo Review, after Primedia bought a small boutique publisher, AvCom, and the entire staff of CA&E quit, I was approached to see if I would take the EIC position at their title, Car Audio and Electronics. At the time CA&E was the category leader, circulation-wise. At the time, I was living in Albuquerque, contributing to several titles in the automotive sector while producing a monthly four-page department in Motor Trend called Autotronics. That was a huge paying gig when MT was published by Petersen, Primedia’s main rival. I accepted the offer but it lasted just 10 months as the publisher, who was technically my boss, thought I wanted his job. Nothing was further from the truth.

As it turned out, the art director at CA&E complained to the publisher that I was always late (which was true as I always strove to make each magazine the best it could be, especially when coverig industry events), which he used as the cause to fire me. It didn’t matter that during my one-year tenure as EIC, both circulation and ad pages increased more than 10%. Five years later, after three editors, Primedia shuttered the title.

In less than 90 days, I rebuilt my freelance business and was making more than I was at CS&E. Then I started self-syndicating my work around the world and except for one year, 2010 when I was the launch editor of Chevy Enthusiast at Amos Automotive (where I also had a running battle with the art director there as I was pushing the design envelope at CE compared to the other six titles), I have been an independent freelance/contract writer, photographer, photojournalist, and now editor from 1997 to the present day, I’ve produced more than 1,500 magazine articles and co-authored three automotive books with my best friend, Mark Fletcher.

I stumbled upon Keith’s The Two Page Spread on Facebook, I queried him to see if he would be interested in using content from my archives. He said yes, and we’ve been working together now for over a year. I brought my print-on-demand experience on CreateSpace/Kindle Direct Publishing where we’ve produced five titles together. I see T2PS Facebook page as a way to get my content in front of more editors around the world as I can produce PDFs of my content items.

And Keith is the only art director I’ve worked with that hasn’t tried to get me fired.

S.H.: You have a different launch model, can you explain it and elaborate on the reasoning behind it?

Keith: When I started, I had zero dollars to invest in conventional printing, so began it online only, with the downloadable print-ready poster. Mid-2021, Richard discussed his success with Kindle Direct Publishing, and we had the first two ‘Annuals’ of 100 pages each on Amazon by Black Friday. We decided to go to a 52-page quarterly model in early 2022 and currently have three quarterly issues available with a fourth on the way next month. And are now exploring newsstand options. The one stroke of brilliance I had with the first print books is that they are not dated, but rather go by volume and issue. Therefore, they have an unlimited shelf life. No wasted copies.

Rich: Just this past weekend I got the T2PS print edition placed in Autobooks-Aerobooks in Burbank, California. I’ve known owner Tina Van Curren for more than a decade as she’s hosted book signings for all three of my books. Autobooks-Aerobooks is the nation’s leading automotive and aviation bookstore. They’ve been around since the 1950s. Jay Leno is a regular and through a stroke of luck back in 2012, Tina got me and Mark a gig on Jay Leno’s Bookshelf which really helped the sales of our first book, Hurst Equipped. And Jay appeared at the book signings for 1970 Maximum Muscle and Hemi Under Glass: Bob Riggle and His Wheel-Standing Mopars in 2021.

S.H.: What are the major challenges you are facing? How do you plan to overcome it?

Keith: We’ve had intermittent success reaching people thru posting on the various Facebook Groups on a particular make/model of car (one hit over 37K impressions), but hitting long-term, consistent growth has proven elusive, partly because of the vast variety of makes/models we feature.

Rich: Because of my retail and self-publishing experience, I look at things from a different perspective. I have been kicking around the idea of a quarterly magazine that will focus on cars of the postwar era (1949-89). I think that working with Keith, I have an art director who sees my editorial vision of what a print magazine can be in this age of people “reading” enthusiast content on their phones.

I think that there needs to be a bridge that spans the print-digital divide. We’ve started experimenting with it on T2PS with Keith embedding QR codes into some of the features, mostly mine. Because with T2PS, we’re limited to just 400 words, I sometimes use QR codes linked to PDFs of the original four-to-10-page magazine features which tell a much more complete story.

S.H.: What are some of the pleasant moments that you have faced since the launch of the magazine?

Keith: I’m loving the design process! Keeps me on my toes. Hearing from the car owners that we’ve made one of their lifelong dreams come true by being featured in a print magazine always puts a smile on my face. Meeting up with Richard and having a place to share his amazing collection of vehicle features and giving them all a new look and life. Working with Richard, one of the best editors I’ve ever known, and learning the art of writing from him.

Rich: I feel the same way about Keith, who I have never met in person. While I have some design expertise, it pales in comparison to Keith’s. But when I transfer the content package (text file, 20 images, and supporting graphics) to him, he instinctively knows what I want.

A great example is a recent T2PS on a modified 1964 Chrysler 300K. Because of the space constraints of T2PS format, we don’t have the luxury of captions. Keith read my text and saw where I mentioned a concealed high-end infotainment system. For two of the five inset photos, he showed the dash with the panel closed as well as open. He knew instinctively what I wanted. From an editor’s viewpoint, that is invaluable. It’s a brilliant layout.

We do disagree on some points but always find a way to make things work.

S.H.: The automotive magazine market is definitely not as used to be five, or ten years ago. What is your take on the auto magazine media marketplace?

Keith: One of my areas of expertise while at Dobbs in the 1980s & 1990s was creating the promotions for circulation and advertising. NOTHING I LEARNED OR THAT WORKED THEN APPLIES NOW!

The marketplace is much more scattered, and people have become accustomed to getting free content online. Converting those eyeballs into print book buyers continues to be a challenge.

Rich: You have to give readers something they can’t get digitally if you are going to expect them to pay $10 to $15 per issue. But I believe that digital can complement the print product. That’s what I, we, want to do with my postwar quarterly. It’s aimed at a more mature audience—many who are suffering from failing eyesight—with larger-than-normal fonts, for those who grew up with print magazines, like Keith and I did. We’re all 55+, some more plus than others.

Here’s another example. One story we’ve done in T2PS is on a 1973 Plymouth Duster 340 that’s been in the same family since new, now five decades. In the layout for the postwar magazine, at the end of the story, you see a QR code. After you’ve finished reading that feature, you point your phone to the QR code and it brings up two television commercials for the new 1973 Duster already available on YouTube. It’s an added level of engagement that I think enhances the print reading experience.

S.H.: As you view the near future, what is in store for the magazine and the two of you?

Keith: Continuing to shoot more cars, tell more stories. Dipping our toes into the brick-and-mortar booksellers is an exciting possibility. We’re also looking at repackaging some of this year’s Spreads as 100-page annuals, each one appealing to a more targeted slice of the automotive pie. We’ll launch the annuals on Black Friday.

Rich: We can easily repackage the existing T2PS content into more targeted packages as Keith said above. Keith’s background is primarily Mustangs and Fords so one of the 100-page annuals will target that area. I’m much more of a generalist although I have a penchant for the unusual, out-of-the-mainstream marques, like American Motors and more obscure European brands. At $25 each, they will be great stocking stuffers for your favorite auto enthusiast on your list. The challenge will be how to get noticed. Social media only goes so far. Getting real-time online reviews and getting Amazon to recommend us is crucial. I’m working on that.

S.H.: My typical question is, what keeps you up at night?

Keith: I’ve been cancer-free for over a year now. I’ve been blessed with being a working artist/art director for my entire career, dating back to 1979 when I dropped out of college to take my first AD position. ‘Running out of time’ is what keeps me up at night. Literally. I have more ideas than I can put to page. Things like T2PS – Motorcycles, T2PS – Tiny Houses, T2PS Mid Century Modern. And exploring other print ideas with Richard.

My hobby is that I’m a serial remodeler, and over 40 years I’ve become so good that friends and family are now imploring me to teach them how to reimaging their houses. And with the downturn in conventional print advertising (my ad agency for the last 28 years, Keplinger Designs, is aimed at the automotive aftermarket), any revenue is welcomed.

Rich: I had a near-death experience this Spring which put the launch of the postwar magazine on hold. We had hoped to launch it (yes, I’ve been coy with its title) this Summer during Pebble Beach Week but have delayed it until January 2023, for Scottsdale Car Week.

If one looks at the auto section of the Barnes and Noble newsstand, almost half the titles are now from the UK, which to me is sad. One thing I know is unless retail is willing to buy it outright at a deep discount for the visibility—with no returns—newsstand is out. We simply can’t afford that unless we are part of a larger publishing organization.

Having an entity in the vintage automotive world, especially in the high-end auction sector, to be the cover-line sponsor, is the road we’re currently exploring for the postwar title. It allows me to leverage my of almost 30 years in the automotive editorial space, to get the title launched. And having Keith as the design partner is so exciting, seeing what he’s done with my legacy content, giving it a fresh lease on life with T2PS.

That’s the challenge we face. But T2PS does allow us to explore and test many ideas with it costing us nothing except for the time we put into producing T2PS.

S.H.: Thank you both.

Keith: Thank you for this wonderful opportunity and for your helpful insights into our little publishing concept.

Rich: Like Keith, I also want to thank you for giving us this exposure. I clearly remember how helpful you were when I launched Automotive Traveler as a digital-only online magazine back in 2007. I’m hoping that lightning strikes twice.

To view all the Facebook The Two Page Spreads, visit bit.ly/AllT2PS.

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The Man Who Sold Superman To The World (And Me)… A New Book By Howard Blue

August 16, 2022

By now, most of this blog readers, know that my career in magazines started after falling in love with the ink and paper of the Lebanese first issue of the comic book Superman. Well, until recently, I did not how Superman made it to Lebanon in the 1960s of the last century. Howard Blue, the author of the new book The Man Who Sold Superman To The World, knew and documented how Superman made it to Lebanon and the rest of the world for that matter.

The Man Who Sold Superman To The World( front cover).

After reviewing the book, here is what I wrote and Howard thankfully used my review on the back of the book:

In the same manner DeWitt Wallace introduced Reader’s Digest and Helen Gurly Brown introduced Cosmopolitan to the world, Howard Blue’s book, The Man Who Sold Superman To The World, left no stone unturned and no kryptonite unearthed detailing the story of Carroll Rheinstrom, the man who introduced DC comics to the rest of the world.

Years of reporting, researching and fact-checking summed up in an informative and entertaining prose provide us with the life story of a man who took a comic superhero like Superman and introduced him to the world in a style worthy of being a superhero himself. Justice (with the help of the league) has finally been given to Mr. Rheinstrom.

Thank you, Howard Blue, for finally telling the story of how my (and millions of other folks) superhero Superman, who started my lifelong career in magazines after buying that very first Lebanese issue in 1964, made it all over the world. A job very well done.

Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, Ph.D.

Founder and Director

Magazine Media Center

The Man Who Sold Superman To The World (back cover).

And here is part of what Mr. Blue wrote about my fascination with Superman in the book:

In Tripoli, Lebanon in 1964, ten-year old Samir Husni who became a dedicated fan of IP’s version of Superman (and who would in his professional life become known as Mr. Magazine) heard of it for the first time in a TV commercial when the famous phrase, “Look up in the air. It’s a bird it’s a plane, it’s Superman,” caught his attention. Saving up his weekly forty cents allowance, Samir crossed the street in front of his apartment and bought a copy in the neighborhood grocery store. Walking back home he had an almost magical experience, mesmerized as he read about the man from another planet…

The Man Who Sold Superman To The World is available on amazon.com by typing “Howard Blue Superman” you will land on the page to order the book. Highly recommended if you are a DC Comics fan and even more recommended if you are a Marvel Comics fan (as in know your enemy)… Enjoy

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Meet “Brainstorm Buddy”: Helping Put Your Ideas On Steroids. The Mr. Magazine™ Interview With Founder And Creator Linda Formichelli.

May 12, 2022

Remember those days when you were told ideas come by the dozen and they are worth a dime? Well, with today’s inflation, they may even be worth less than a dime. Thus, when I heard about and tried Linda Formichelli’s Brainstorm Buddy, I was quick to reach out to her and request an interview. Anyone and any tool that can help enhance an idea and help execute it better is worthy of a Mr. Magazine™ interview. Using technology and AI to help enhance the quality of writing, reporting, and journalism is what pushed Ms. Formichelli to invest time, money, and effort to create Brainstorm Buddy.

An experienced writer, reporter, editor, and educator for over a quarter century, Ms. Formichelli came up with the idea while teaching a class called “Writing for Magazines.” She did not stop with the idea, but rather decided to act upon it, and execute it in a way that others can benefit and enhance their writing and journalistic abilities. And, as you and I know, we need that today more than ever.

The tool is very simple to use, but the work behind the scenes was not as simple as the end result. So, without any further ado, join me in this conversation with Linda Formichelli, founder and creator of Brainstorm Buddy.

Linda Formichelli, founder and creator, Brainstorm Buddy

Samir Husni: In a nutshell what is Brainstorm Buddy and who is its audience?

Linda Formichelli: Brainstorm Buddy tool is tool based on journalism best-practices that tells you if your content ideas are solid…before you sink a lot of time and money into developing (or pitching) them. You answer six questions and get a score of 1 – 100, and if your topic could use some improvement, the tool offers customized advice. For example, it can tell you if your idea is too broad, not relevant enough, weak overall, etc.

On the surface it may look like your goal is “get all A’s or you lose,” but that’s actually not the case. Some elements depend on other elements, and sometimes there are ways to shore up an idea that’s weak in one area by improving a different area. Brainstorm Buddy also accounts for evergreen ideas, which are those ideas than aren’t especially unique or timely, but you almost have to publish them because people are always interested; for example, “walk off the weight” for a women’s magazine or “how to budget” for a bank brand.

The tool is meant for anyone whose job or business depends on them coming up with a fairly constant stream of content ideas. The very first iteration, which was just a list I created in 2005, was meant for freelance writers who were pitching article ideas to magazines. Over time I adjusted it to include content professionals, both on staff and freelance, and then I realized it applies to other creative professionals, like podcasters, as well. Most of the verbiage in Brainstorm Buddy is geared toward writers, but I tried to change it up a little bit to be inclusive, and you can also extrapolate the examples into any medium.

S.H.: Why did you decide to create BB?

L.F.: In short, I needed a way to codify the “rules of good ideas,” which I had internalized through years of experience, in a way that anyone could use.

S.H.: As a writer/author/journalist yourself, how do you think this tool helps?

L.F.: Brainstorm Buddy takes the knowledge that veteran writers have accumulated in their brains through many hard years of experience, and presents it in a format that anyone can take advantage of. With Brainstorm Buddy, you don’t need ten years of developing content and pitching publications and businesses under your belt to know how to develop a salable idea—you can just run it through Brainstorm Buddy, get a score, and see suggestions for improving the topic if needed.

For creatives like content writers, journalists, podcasters, and so on, ideas are the coin of the realm. I like to say, “No ideas = no money.” But it’s not just ideas they need—they need good ideas, and those are hard to come by. Brainstorm Buddy helps take away some of that stress of needing to be always coming up with engaging, interesting, useful, relevant content ideas.

It took a while, but over time the content industry collectively realized that to be authoritative and trustworthy, content needs to be based in journalism best practices. Because Brainstorm Buddy was born out of a journalism class, it helps not just magazine writers, but other types of content professionals as well.

S.H.: Can you tell me the invention/creation process of BB? It seems, as I mentioned, very simple to use, but what is behind the simplicity in use?

L.F.: Brainstorm Buddy originated from a class I started teaching around 2005 called Write for Magazines, where I taught writers how to generate salable article ideas and how to pitch them to magazines. At that time I had been earning a living writing mainly for magazines for eight years, and I had sent hundreds of pitches.

The idea generation part of the class was challenging because there was a lot of confusion around what went into a salable idea. Many people were very unclear on the concept, and when I critiqued their ideas they would often want to just throw them out and start all over again—even though my stance was always that you can take almost any idea and make it salable if you fine-tune it enough.

The first thing I did to make it easier for my students was to create a list of six criteria that every idea needed to have. I had internalized these criteria over my years of pitching and writing for magazines, but it was difficult to explain to students what a good idea was until I was able to codify these criteria on paper.

That did help, because I could then look at a student’s article idea, run it through the six criteria, explain where the idea was lacking, and offer suggestions for bolstering the areas of weakness. And a lot of my students had success! I had students with zero previous credits breaking into magazines like Woman’s Day and Reader’s Digest Canada. I still have writers emailing me to tell me that I helped them launch their career.

Then, a couple of years ago, after I had moved more into the content writing arena, I created a toolkit called the Content Calendar Playbook. This was meant for on-staff content professionals who needed be constantly creating ideas for blog posts, white papers, social media posts, guides, and so on. It included video walk-throughs where I brainstormed ideas almost in real time—I had some rough ideas ahead of time that I fine-tuned and fleshed out live on the video. I thought this would help show users that a content idea is not just a “one and done” thing, where you come up with something and it’s either 100% great or you throw it out and start over.

I also wanted to include my list of the six criteria from the Write for Magazines class in the Content Calendar Playbook guide…but I realized it needed some tweaking. I realized that some things really were more important than others, so it wasn’t fair to say you need all six of them in equal amounts—or that you really need all six of them at all.

So I created an inverted pyramid-style “filter” where the most important criterion was at the top and the less important, nice-to-have criteria were toward the bottom.

That worked out better. But as I developed the toolkit and the filter, I knew it was even more complicated than that. However, it seemed that a formula that really hit on all the right criteria in all the right amounts and combinations would be too “fiddly” to explain and use…so I decided it would be useful to create a simple app that would help users figure out if their content idea was any good.

My husband has a math degree and is a former freelance writer, so I got him to help me hash out the different scoring weights and dependencies and turn it all into a numeric formula.

The Brainstorm Buddy landing page at http://www.brainstormbuddyapp.com

S.H.: How can folks access BB and is it available for anyone?

L.F.: Brainstorm Buddy is available to anyone at www.brainstormbuddyapp.com for a monthly or annual subscription. If you go for the annual subscription, you get two months free. I plan to raise the price little by little over time as I build in more features.

S.H.: Any additional info you wish to add?

L.F.: If you plan to try out Brainstorm Buddy, I recommend first reading my article on how to ensure an accurate score. When I beta tested the tool, I saw an awful lot of very high scores, which didn’t really jibe with what I saw when I was teaching and coaching writers live. I realized that we’re all very enamored with things we create; in fact there’s a term for it: the IKEA Effect.

The article is meant to help combat the IKEA Effect; it walks users of Brainstorm Buddy through steps that will help them look at their ideas with a critical eye—just as an editor, client, or reader would. I’m also working on a video for that page in case some people would rather watch than read.

I have lots of plans for improving Brainstorm Buddy. I so appreciate the early adopters, and want to make sure they get their money’s worth and more! Right now I’m working on videos for each results page. The videos will include different examples from the written advice, so if you want you can both watch the video and read the copy, and not get the same examples twice.

As a long-time writer for service magazines, I know how useful it is to include lots of relevant examples, because you never know which one will really “land” with someone. I try to make the advice more actionable by using examples from different content areas, such as brand content, consumer magazines, trade magazines, and even podcasting.

I’m also looking into moving to a platform where Brainstorm Buddy users can get their scores and the advice emailed to them, and where they can share their scores on social media.

People’s ideas and scores will never be shared, but I plan to aggregate the data for research and education purposes. That way I can help writers and content pros even more by sharing information on, say, idea trends, average scores, the most common problems with ideas, etc.

I’d love to eventually incorporate Flip-Pay, which is a system where you can pay per use instead of having to get a subscription. A lot of publications use Flip-Pay to let people pay for access to a single article. Of course, it will be cheaper to get a Brainstorm Buddy subscription, but there will always be people who are certain they want to use it just once or twice, and who don’t want to commit. I have a proposal from Flip-Pay, but right now it’s above my pay grade.

Finally, I also started a blog that’s all about great content ideas at http://www.brainstormbuddyapp.com/blog.

S.H.: And my typical last question: what keeps Linda up at night these days?

L.F.: I hope the answer doesn’t have to be current-events related; if I even get started on that I won’t sleep for a week.

I’m always trying to balance “just being” with my natural need to be constantly creating. I retired from writing over a year ago, and somehow I ended up as busy as ever: I’m not only working on Brainstorm Buddy, but I started a referral network of freelance writers, started teaching myself to oil paint, took on a ton of home improvement jobs, and started acting. I’m also always extra-invested in whatever my 13-year-old son is into, which right now is weight training and football. So I’m often up at night worrying about one of these things, or worrying because I’m worrying about these things when I should be retired. But I just love all these creative activities!

S.H.: Thank you.

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In Magazine Publishing, There’s Nothing More Exciting Than The “Launch.” An Excerpt From Our Wisconsin Magazine. From The Mr. Magazine™ Vault.

May 3, 2022

Our Wisconsin magazine is approaching its tenth anniversary in 2023. In its second issue there was an editorial talking about the “joys of magazine publishing.” I found myself emailing my friend Roy Reiman, Publisher of the new magazine Our Wisconsin, and Mike Beno, the magazine editor, to ask their permission to reprint parts of the introduction to the second issue of the magazine. So without any further ado, here is an excerpt from the February/March issue of Our Wisconsin magazine:

In magazine publishing, there’s nothing more exciting than the “launch.” Not many other things in business come close to this kind of adrenalin rush.
You begin by coming up with an idea or concept for a magazine you feel is “entirely different”. You’re sure potential subscribers have never seen anything like this before.
So you spend months (in our case, we began last spring) planning the format, the design and mostly the content. And then you start gathering that content…which isn’t easy when you don’t have a publication to showanyone. You just have to wave your hands a lot and write lengthy descriptions of what you plan to do.
Then you pull all this together…sort through hundreds of pictures and ideas for articles (some terrific, some not even close)…write and design 68 pages…and finallyput the first issue on the press, printing enough to “test the market”….
And then you wait.
And it drives you crazy. You wait for more than a week for the first response…any response, to see what total strangers think of your “baby”.
“Inventing” a magazine is much more personal than inventing a lawn mower or a toothbrush. It’s more revealing of who you are; it’s an extension of your personality. There’s a lot of you between those pages. So the fear of rejection is greater.
After you put that sample issue in the mail, you’re like a field goal kicker with the game on the line, with its heel or hero element. So you wait as the ball sails…for a long week or more.
If, when the early responses begin trickling in, you learn readers don’t like the first issue, it hurts. To a degree, it’s as though you learned they don’t like you.
But when you learn they like it–and some people even say they love it–wow! That ball is sailing through the middle of the uprights, and every subscription is a pat on the back.

I love magazines, and I love magazine launches even more. That is no secret. So, when I acquire a new magazine or read a story about a magazine launch, the urge to share my love with the whole wide world is overwhelming.

A revised copy of the aforementioned blog was first published on March 30, 2013.

Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, Ph.D.

Founder and Director

Magazine Media Center

samir.husni@gmail.com

Posted in A Launch Story..., A Mr. Magazine™ Musing, From the Vault, Innovation in print, Magazine Power, New Launches, News and Views | Leave a Comment »

Stranger’s Guide: A Travel Magazine To Hold & To Cherish. The Mr. Magazine™ Interview With Publisher Abby Rapoport And Editor-in-Chief Kira Brunner Don.

February 27, 2022

“Between the evergreen content and the printing quality, our publication is rarely sent to the recycling bin with more cheaply-produced weekly or monthly publications that can be read just as easily online.”
“Stranger’s Guide uniquely champions these stories that are rooted in place, seeking to tell authentic stories that reveal the interplay and nuance of cultures around the world.”

You will no longer be a stranger when Stranger’s Guide magazine lands on your coffee table or in your mailbox. The name of the magazine is based on the idea that “18^th– and 19^th-century authors wrote “stranger’s guides” which were personal, eccentric and intimate portrayals of places. Stranger’s Guide is a modern version of that idea—a publication that reveals the intricacies of locales across the globe, through both local and foreign eyes.”

Founded in 2018 by publisher Abby Rapoport and editor-in-chief Kira Brunner Don, the magazine practices what it calls “place-based journalism.” The founders told me that, for them, “place-based journalism means rooting stories in their location and culture.” Beautifully crafted, Stranger’s Guide, the 2021 National Magazine Awards winner for both General Excellence and Photography (and, if I may add, nominated again this year in both categories), is a timely yet timeless publication in which the readers, once they receive it, are “eager to both display it and dive in.”

Unlike the many travel magazines out there, Stanger’s Guide focuses on a single location in every issue and does not leave a stone unturned in that location. Using both local and international writers and photographers, the magazine captures the entire essence of that place and leaves its audience with the feeling that they just stepped off the plane from a memorable visit to that location.

The locations vary from one issue to the other. From California and Tehran (Iran) to Scandinavia and Colombia, readers feel that they have an open ticket to visit the world and return with an in-depth immersive knowledge of a place no internet connection or television program can provide.

Worthy of every penny of its $20 cover price, Stranger’s Guide is a must have for those who want to see the world, whether you hop on a plane or not.

I reached out to the founders and asked them a few questions about the magazine and the role place-based journalism plays in today marketplace. The Mr. Magazine™ interview with publisher Abby Rapoport and editor-in-chief Kira Brunner Don follows.

Stranger’s Guide publisher Abby Rapoport

Stranger’s Guide editor-in-Chief Kira Brunner Don

Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni: Going back to the launch of Stranger’s Guide, would you please tell me the genesis of the idea?

In the early 2010s we had both gotten involved in trying to help a couple older publications get through some choppy waters. At some point we realized that rather than just focusing on older, existing places, we actually had the knowledge and skills to start our own publication.

The concept for Stranger’s Guide emerged as an answer to a set of problems we were both thinking about. In 2016, we were watching the rise of an “America First” mentality that dismissed other cultures and perspectives, separating countries into “good” and “bad” (or even famously “shithole”). Meanwhile the decline in foreign bureaus meant fewer and fewer writers outside the US had pathways to US audiences and US readers had fewer opportunities to encounter new voices from different parts of the world.

Finally we found that the internet had further fractured information about different places—when one reads about Cuba in The Economist it seems almost like a different place than the Cuba that’s portrayed in Conde Nast Traveler or Architecture Digest. Our goal was to create a publication centered on the work of writers and photographers from a single location, in which different subjects—sports, arts, human rights and colonialism—would live together to offer a more nuanced and idiosyncratic portrait of a place.

S. H.: With a hefty cover price ($20) and very high quality print job, what do you think print can do in this day and age that digital can’t? Why do you believe in print?

We’re highly mission driven and our biggest goal is to breakdown stereotypes and promote cultural exchange. Digital publishing is notoriously good at reaffirming what you already know—we live in filter bubbles that make it difficult to encounter new perspectives.

Our hope is that when readers receive Stranger’s Guide, they’re delighted, eager to both display it and dive in. That means they both see funny and sweet stories but also confront more challenging topics without the mediation of a search engine. Our work is also self consciously evergreen; our readers can return to a favorite piece and it won’t feel dated. Between the evergreen content and the printing quality, our publication is rarely sent to the recycling bin with more cheaply-produced weekly or monthly publications that can be read just as easily online.

Print remains the best way to offer a curated experience—although through newsletters and our website structure, we’re finding new ways to deliver that same curatorial voice.

S. H.: In addition to the print magazine you have a weekly newsletter Weekend Passport, tell me more about it and how digital and print interact (the quarterly magazine and weekly newsletter.)

We actually have two weekly newsletters. The first, Field Guide, was our first editorial product; we launched it a few months before our first issue came out. Field Guide is in some ways the inverse to the print guides—rather than focusing on a single location through a lot of different themes, it takes a single theme and traces it across numerous locations. Topics have included Chocolate, Corporate Culture, Reenactments, Whiskey and more. That newsletter is free and available to anyone. We frequently showcase print features in our Field Guide and encourage readers to consider subscribing or buying single guides.

Weekend Passport is our newer offering and it’s only available for subscribers. Each Friday, we send them a series of fun opportunities from around the world: recipes, videos, playlists and more. While we certainly love travel, our goal is always to help our community find ways to connect to new experiences from different places they might not otherwise encounter.

S. H.: What is place-based journalism? How do you choose your locations and your editorial board for each issue?

For us place-based journalism means rooting stories in their location and culture. Stranger’s Guide uniquely champions these stories that are rooted in place, seeking to tell authentic stories that reveal the interplay and nuance of cultures around the world. Our stories portray unique facets of each place, from the complex and controversial to the intimate and beautiful, together building a contemporary awareness of a location and its community.

We select locations based on making sure we’re in different parts of the world, both in terms of geography and in terms of places more and less associated with travel. For instance last year we did both Scandinavia, a top travel destination, and Tehran, a city that most US residents are not able to visit easily (alongside California and Colombia).

Once we’ve selected the location, we build our editorial board by reaching out to leaders in different areas—academics, artists, editors, writers, etc.—who help us identify key themes for the guide and connect us with their networks of authors and photographers. Our editorial boards play a crucial role in helping us ensure our stories represent a wide swath of perspectives and experiences.

For every issue we build an editorial board of advisors made up of writers, academics, and artists from the country we are covering. And, at least 80% of all of our contributors to every issue are from the country we are highlighting. Some of these contributors are internationally known (we have a piece by Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka in our Lagos issue) and others are up and coming voices. In other words, we don’t parachute in journalists to cover a place. Kira, our editor in chief, often flies to the country and sets up meetings with writers, journalists, artists and academics and commissions the pieces from them on the ground.

S. H.: What has been the most challenging moment since the launch and how did you overcome it?

Like most of the world, the pandemic challenged just about everything, for us as individuals and as a publication. Most of us are working mothers who were suddenly expected to spend our day as full-time teachers and child care workers in addition to doing our jobs. In February 2020, we were launching a supper club series, planning an event in Lagos, Nigeria and getting Kira ready to go abroad for our next issue. Suddenly all of that froze. For a couple days, we were all in a bit of a daze. But one of the best parts of Stranger’s Guide is that we are a community and we’re extremely rooted in our mission, and that mission proved clarifying in terms of how to move forward. We wrote a letter to our readers that became something of a call to arms for us:

As Coronavirus challenges many of our norms and expectations, as countries close borders and xenophobia raises its head, we are more committed than ever to bringing the world to you. Especially in this time of social distancing, it’s critical that we fight the divisions that arise with fear and distrust, and instead rededicate ourselves to the work of connecting.

S. H.: What has been the most pleasant moment since the launch?

Winning the National Magazine Awards for General Excellence and Photography was such an enormous honor for us—to be a small, independent publication not yet three years old and receive that kind of validation from journalists and editors we admire, we were elated.

S. H.: Any additional things you would like to add that I failed to ask?

In addition to our newsletters, website and print publication, we’re also growing our SG community through events.

Around the launch of our first issue in late 2018, we did an exhibition for the Apple flagship in San Francisco. We included a photo presentation by our photography editor Kike Arnal, a panel discussion moderated by Kira and readings by an acting group showcasing the “first person narratives” of deportees, all from the issue.

Our Literary Bogotá event took place on Zoom in early 2021. We used our Colombia playlist to kick things off, followed by an extraordinary performance by Julián Delgado Lopera reading his piece, followed by José Vargas reading his translation of vignettes by Gabriel García Márquez (never-before available in English). We then had a conversation about changing Colombia with José, Julian and SG contributing editor Martín Perna, the founder of the band Antibalas who has helped curate our various playlists.

Lastly, we launched a supper club series in Austin in February 2020, an unlucky time to be sure. However our first one, at African Market, sold out and was a big success. We spoke a little about the Lagos guide and also featured the restaurant, which was Nigerian-owned. We are planning to re-launch the supper clubs later this year.

S. H.: My typical last question, what keeps you up at night these days?

In 2022, waking up from time to time in a cold sweat is just part of the human condition!

We started Stranger’s Guide in response to a set of global problems—the decline of journalism, increasing polarization and increasing lack of respect for other perspectives. All of those things have continued to get worse. There are no easy fixes or quick answers but we continue to chip away with the skills we have.

S. H.: Thank you and safe travels.

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Stranger’s Guide: A Travel Magazine To Hold & To Cherish. The Mr. Magazine™ Interview With Publisher Abby Rapoport And Editor-in-Chief Kira Brunner Don.

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