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. Saturday or no Saturday, 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 show anyone. 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.
The receipt you see to the right is the actual amount that I spent at Wal-Mart on 18 different magazines: $145.61. That’s an average of $8 per magazine. For the typical American looking to buy two of their favorites a week, adding an extra $16 to your grocery bill can cause you to sit those two inedible objects right back on the newsstands.
And we wonder why newsstand sales are declining.
Let’s take a look at what I got for my money, why I chose the issues I did and which ones were worth the price. In no particular order:
1. Oxygen 15 Minute Workouts – a very specialized magazine that focuses on 15 minute workouts and affirms the validity of such abbreviated physical activities by asserting to be ‘Your no-excuses guide to getting fit fast.’ And while I’m sure there is a great deal of truth in that statement…the price to actually find that out is $9.99. A fitness magazine that costs $10? I was expecting to see Richard Simmons leap from between the pages when I opened it, and lead me in a ‘Sweating to the Oldies’ workout.
2. Men’s Fitness – staying with the physical…the newsstand issue I bought at Wal-Mart is different from the subscriber’s issue. Different, in that it has an alternate cover and the paper the magazine is printed on is totally opposite, with the newsstand issue being much thicker and heavier than the subscriber’s copy. Why is that? Why are we not consistent between out subscribers and our single-copy sales as far as the quality of our product? Shouldn’t we be?
3. Rolling Stone – Special Collectors Edition – Bob Dylan – And of course, the title says it all. Legendary Bob Dylan is on the cover holding a harmonica a hair’s breadth away from his mouth, in preparation to play; all the while staring back at you with that brooding, stony glare that he is known for. And for $11.99 you can count yourself among the lucky ones who own this collector’s copy. His top 100 greatest songs are ranked and listed here, with Bono selecting “Like a Rolling Stone” as number one. It’s an up close and personal look at the man and his music as only RollingStone can put together. Worth every penny!
4. Nail It! – The premier issue of a magazine about nail trends – of the finger variety. A bi-monthly magazine devoted to the latest in nail polishes, decals, and tips. A must have for nail fashionistas everywhere. And for $5.99 you have to decide if it’s worthy or not. But it does prove niche publishing is vogue with the country, and in some cases profitable. It remains to be seen whether this one will be.
5. Chicken Dinners – from Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications – an entire magazine devoted to chicken. Whether it’s fried, skillet-prepared, baked, or brined with maple, this magazine will give you the recipe for preparing it. And it’ll only cost you $9.99 to read. Of course, I would imagine searching the net for few hours one may find the same chicken content for free. However, as experience makers folks, it seems OK to charge $10 for a magazine that shows us how to cook chicken.
6. 30-Minute Dinners – also from Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications. Please refer to #5.Same rules apply.
7. Family Circle – for $1.99 you get the traditional Family Circle fare at a great price. Unlike the $2.79 cover price at Kroger.
8. Family Circle + Ladies’ Home Journal – a two-magazine baggie deal that is a tremendous opportunity for fans to get both magazines for the low price of $3.29.
9. Historical – the collector’s issue celebrating Black History Month – a vast array of information on many black leaders from yesterday and today. But for $7.99 an issue, you could probably get your history lesson a lot cheaper somewhere else.
10. Flea Market Style – A magazine that for $9.95 an issue will show you how to take rummage sale and junk sale items and turn them into usable, and in some cases, extraordinary novelties. Another niche publication for just that right audience; whether the price is right for those folks, will be up to them. I bought it because of an article about a home near by in Water Valley, Miss. produced by a former student of mine.
11. Matthew Mead’s Recycled Style – Another magazine where throwaways and no-longer used items are, this time, ‘recycled’ and used again. But to read the recycling revelations from the folks over at Oxmoor House, who bring you this magazine, you’re going to have to shell out $12.99.
12. Taylor Swift – Special Collector’s Edition – this magazine is just what the title indicates – a magazine devoted to country music sensation, Taylor Swift. And for $6.99 it can be in your collectible magazine stack today. But should it be at that price? Up to you. By the way the real name of the magazine, the smallest type on the cover, is Teen Party magazine.
13. Self – a whole new look from the inside/out, Self magazine has rejuvenated and redesigned. It’s fresh, crisp and only $3.99
14. Vanity Fair – Special Collector’s Edition – chock full of stylish information and a foldout cover that not only promotes the issue with content teasers as you unfold, but also shares space with a very imaginative Calvin Klein ad. And the magazine is almost 400 pages…all for only $4.99.
15. Cosmopolitan – the March issue with the matured version of teen sensation Miley Cyrus. The magazine sells for $3.99 and my Wal-Mart issue has a $1 off coupon taped to the cover. Of course, only redeemable at Wal-Mart, but nobody’s perfect. By the way I did not use my coupon. I needed to keep it so I can show it to y’all.
16. What to Eat Now – a niche effort from the good folks’ at TIME that has two different covers. One has a more vertical slant to it (no pun intended), the other a more horizontal. For folks who just can’t decide how they want to see vegetables and fruit displayed on a magazine cover. By the way, it’s 12.99.
17. Celebrate Weddings – a bridal magazine from Hoffman Media devoted to everything matrimonially trendy. Your impending nuptials can feel the effects of the suggestions between the pages for $9.99.
18. Prevention – two different covers promoting getting back into shape by walking. The cover lines are exactly the same, other than the colors, but the pictures are totally different, yet, almost the same, other than the poses. Why the need for two different covers? It is a question I will need to address in a future blog. But for now I am happy to spend $3.99 to get cover 2 of the magazine.
Eighteen magazines for $145.61 …I think it’s a good thing for the magazine industry that Mr. Magazine™ and his love for magazines exist.
Next stop Kroger… the ticket, $95.68. Tomorrow is another day! Indeed the cost of “magazine living” is on the rise.
From American Frontiersman to the Zombie Nation (a magazine that was first published in May 2012 and re-issued its premier issue again in Dec. with a different on sale date), 2012 was the year for running the gamut on niche magazines. You could be a Modern Woman while admiring the Beautiful You, all with the flick of a page.
For those naysayers who are crying from the rooftops that print is dead, check out these facts:
There were a total of 870 new titles on the newsstands in 2012, with 242 of them publishing with a regular frequency. Not since 2007 have we seen numbers that impressive. In that illustrious year (2007) there were 715 total new magazines, with 248 publishing regularly.
The categories reflect the specificity that publishing today demands; from art to women’s interests, being a niche market was the bulls-eye to aim for. Success fairly oozed from the pointed hit almost each and every time. While the epicurean delights still ruled book-a-zine-land and special interests overall, lifestyles came in at a close second. To see new print titles exceed the numbers from 5 years ago only reinforces my mantra: You can’t keep good ink on paper down; at least, not for long.
My top 5 Most Notable Launches for 2012 could be described as eclectic and controversial as the year itself. But the criteria for a notable launch is based on so many different factors that have absolutely nothing to do with tragedy and horrific events from our world today, yet magazines can’t help being the mirror from which society’s reflections are made visual.
Take the year’s Most Notable Launch overall, there was a tie for 2012:
1. Recoil
2. Highlights Hello
These two magazines go from one end of the spectrum to the other. With Recoil, you have an artfully-done, gun-lifestyle magazine that is selling for as much as $125 an issue on e-bay. Unbelievable, you might say, nevertheless, very true. For the gun enthusiast, this magazine is the answer to a prayer and proudly promotes the Second Amendment without apology.
Controversy surrounds this publication today, in more ways than one, as Recoil’s editor, Jerry Tsai, resigned in Sept. 2012 after basically calling Recoil’s support for the Second Amendment rights into question. It was too late after Tsai said that MP7A1’s were unavailable to citizens and for good reason. No amount of retraction, or good intentions could fix it, so Tsai resigned.
Then you have the other end of the rainbow where bright colors and children’s laughter live: Highlights Hello magazine.
Highlights Hello received the Magazine Innovation Center’s inaugural award for Excellence at the 2012 ACT 3 Experience. Aimed at children aged 0-2, the magazine is filled with things very young children can grasp and grow with. It displays the hope we have for the future through our children.
3. Dujour
4. Howler
5. Cosmopolitan for Latinas
The last three are unique and engaging in their own right.
Dujour is a magazine that takes no prisoners and asks for no forgiveness. The upscale magazine targets an audience with a net worth of $5 million or more. That in and of itself, speaks volumes (no pun intended) and shows why it made the top five; for bravery alone, yes, but also because it’s a well put-together magazine that is a joy to read and to simply hold in your hand.
Howler Magazine is a new magazine about soccer, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a completely independent project that promoted itself through social media and word-of-mouth and was publicly and crowd-funded. It’s an amazing endeavor that shows initiative and courage and is a pleasure to read. It’s built on the same principals as this country: if you can dream it and you work hard; you can do it.
Cosmopolitan for Latinas is a magazine which shows how important diversity and fragmentation are in our country today. We are a melting pot of ethnicities and this magazine takes one section of that pot and works it to good advantage. It is enlightening and ingenious and a welcomed addition to our industry.
So, as we reflect upon the year 2012, and on all its joys and excitements, let’s remember that magazines exist to provide our readers with an experience they’ll never forget. And I believe we can all agree 2012 has provided that and so much more.
Say Hello to DuJour, but don’t wear a Blindfold while you Sew-It and are Cookin’ and eating Cake & Whiskey, while tending to your Babiekins!
As we approach the end of 2012, with 15 days to go, the number of new magazines appearing on the nation’s newsstands for the first time this year stands at 830, of which 235 of those magazines published with a regular frequency ( the highest number since 2007 when 245 titles appeared with a regular frequency) have also appeared for the first time.
As I mentioned in min: media industry newsletter in this week’s edition, two noteworthy points of interest:
The increase of the number of print magazines aimed at young children, including Highlights Hello – which is geared toward babies 0 – 3, and which I awarded this year’s inaugural Magazine Innovation Center’s “Innovation in Print” award for its creative use of ink and paper to reach the youngest magazine audience out there, and Ranger Rick Jr. magazine that arrived to the marketplace last month.
The degree of specialization has been on the increase and the use of digital technology to help create the printed product, such as: Howler, DuJour, Modern Cat, and Shoeholic. For more updates and information check minonline.com
What follows is a list of the 31 most notable launches of the past year in random order… and you can click here to see each and every one of the new magazines from Jan. 1 until Nov. 30, 2012. (Dec. launches will be posted Jan. 2, 2013).
Before digital ever took its first breath, in 1937, J.R.R. Tolkien published The Hobbit to critical acclaim. And with the new release today of Director Peter Jackson’s movie version, it’s proof again that print is, even 75-year-old print, the springboard for today’s media. From apps to the web, from television to radio; print has embedded its image into many different forms of media, like fossils into stone. No other medium has had such an impact on communication.
The buzz The Hobbit is generating is palpable. The British magazine, Empire, has 5 different 3-D collectible covers, all $11.99 each. Rolling Stone dedicated an entire collector’s issue to the movie, also priced at $11.99 and so did Topix Media Lab, priced at $7.99. Entertainment Weekly has 4 different collector’s covers at $4.99 each. And Harpercollins has “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” which showcases art concepts designed by the film’s art directors, priced at $39.99.
While this is not a new phenomenon, it is a simple reminder that print was, is, and will continue to be the trampoline that other media uses to attain their heights of grandeur. Notice I did not say, “delusions of grandeur,” because most certainly there are no delusions that digital and its counterparts are successful in today’s world.
However, print integrated within that success is an important variable.
So as you watch the movie, take a look at what you can bring home, display on your coffee table and relive the adventure time and time again…
At age 23 he launched his first magazine and at age 23 he knew that upscale is the only way to go. He never changed. Every magazine he published targeted an upscale audience via an upscale over-sized publication. From Ocean Drive to Aspen Peak, from Hamptons and Gotham to Los Angeles Confidential, from Michigan Avenue to Capitol File, all of Jason Binn’s magazines were glossy, super glossy ink on paper magazines. Until this year when Mr. Binn ventured into the new world of DuJour magazine, “a new national luxury magazine with targeted local content – seamlessly connecting digital and print media.” A first for Mr. Binn.
DuJour was recently named as one of the hottest launches of the year by yours truly and min: media industry newsletter. After the award presentation, I had the opportunity to visit with Mr. Binn at the Gilt Groupe’s headquarters on the 5th Floor of the 2 Park Ave. building in New York City. Gilt and Hudson News are Mr. Binn’s partners in this venture.
So, how do you successfully operate a magazine that targets an audience who maintains a net worth of $5 million? Well, with very affluent aim, of course. I asked Jason Binn, CEO and Founder of DuJour, about the size of his market, the fact that 97% of his readers don’t practice digital and print simultaneously, and his concept for DuJour’s digital edition. It’s sure to be a bull’s-eye read. So sit back, count your millions later, and enjoy Mr. Magazine’s™ interview with “Mr. Elite,” Jason Binn.
And in typical Mr. Magazine™ Interview’s style, first the sound bites, followed by the video interview and then the very lightly edited transcript with Jason Binn.
The Sound bites:
On the description of DuJour as a “glocal” magazine: It focuses on national content and keys into the top cities around the country that really moves the luxury goods, luxury products, and luxury services.
On the size of DuJour’s upscale market: We mail 250,000 magazines to cities like Miami, New York, L.A., and Chicago. We call those tier one markets. In those markets, we find upwards of around 37,000 people that we obtain accessible data for, people who maintain a $5 million net worth.
On the fact that DuJour’s readers are either print readers or digital readers, but not both: Yes, our data has shown us that a digital reader for a specific magazine either reads that magazine online, or offline. For that individual to integrate and read both, it has to be a very high, enthusiastic reader.
On DuJour’s digital edition: Basically it’s set in a way that the magazine reads like a web magazine. So you can see the style, the life, and the body. Then when you’re in the different sections, it moves. And you have Twitter feeds at the bottom that are anecdotes that hold like footers.
On what makes Jason click and tick: It’s about being challenged for me. It’s about being around people who are actually motivating me to put out a better product. The media world today is changing constantly.
And now for the video interview:
And last but not least, a lightly edited transcript for both the video and audio interview:
Samir Husni:What is DuJour?
Jason Binn: DuJour Magazine is what we call a “glocal” magazine. It focuses on national content and keys into the top cities around the country that really moves the luxury goods, luxury products, luxury services and integrates print and digital so that they work together as one.
Samir Husni: You’re known as the “Mr. Elite” of elite magazines. How big is the upscale market?
Jason Binn: We mail 250,000 magazines to cities like Miami, New York, L.A., and Chicago. We call those tier one markets. In those markets, we find upwards of around 37,000 people that we obtain accessible data for, people who maintain a $5 million net worth. Then we have tier two markets which we send around 20,000 copies to, and those range from San Francisco to Dallas, to Houston, to New York City’s metro markets, and Orange County. And then we have our sizzle markets, those markets that consist of people in the tier one and tier two categories who have second or third homes in, say, Aspen, the Hamptons, Palm Beach, Telluride, Martha’s Vineyard, or Sun Valley.
Samir Husni: You mentioned that 97% of your print readers don’t go online.
Jason Binn: Yes, our data has shown us that a digital reader for a specific magazine either reads that magazine online, or offline. For that individual to integrate and read both, it has to be a very high, enthusiastic reader. So if there’s somebody who is really passionate, let’s say, about a magazine or a newspaper, roughly only 3% of the time will they have the app or subscribe to the digital version, as well as the print. There are also some magazines out there that if you are a subscriber to the print, they’ll give you the digital for free. And there’s other companies out there that if you buy the print, you have to buy the digital.
Samir Husni: Tell me about the digital edition of DuJour Magazine.
Jason Binn: Basically it’s set in a way that the magazine reads like a web magazine. So you can see the style, the life, and the body. Then when you’re in the different sections, it moves. And you have Twitter feeds at the bottom that are anecdotes that hold like footers. I think that’s a very important feature. And we have a great use of white space. Also mostly 90% of our content is original and our stories exclusive. I believe that content is king, so that’s very important. And also, magazines aren’t as thick as they used to be. So what I did was to create a quarterly magazine in order to have a really great shelf life. I created a book that people would want to hold onto and read; one that could take two to three hours to enjoy, that has investigative reporting and great culture and arts too. But I also created a magazine that, on the digital front, is going out to an amazing audience that’s spends $24 billion a year on offline. And that goes out monthly. And people think it takes less money, but believe it or not, it costs as much editorially to put out a digital product as a print one. People now understand that digital audiences are the same, and therefore as valuable as print audiences. So writers aren’t just going to write for them like they may have four or five years ago. So it costs just as much, but of course, you are saving, obviously, in the paper, in the printing and production, which is probably to most magazines 40 to 50 % of their overhead.
Samir Husni: One final question Jason: what makes you click and tick?
Jason Binn: It’s about being challenged for me. It’s about being around people who are actually motivating me to put out a better product. The media world today is changing constantly. When people say to me, ‘Oh, this is a great model,’ there’s sometimes that I might say, ‘I’m building a model to break a model,’ because in the next 12 to 16 months what I feel I’m doing today might not be what I’m doing tomorrow. The objective today is to be fluid, it’s to be nimble. You couldn’t expect or assume that what we were doing five years ago was going to stay that way. What you can do is stay true to your mission and your message with your business model, and still move into modern times. And as much as we want to control our businesses and control our destinies, which we were able to do at one point, today that is being challenged. And today we typically are affected by what’s taking place around us. As much as we don’t like that, that is just how it is and that’s what makes this exciting to me.
The Mr. Magazine™ Launch Monitor was able to locate and purchase a total of 78 new titles arriving at the nation’s stands for the first time in the month of November. From the 78 titles, 21 were published with an intended frequency and 57 were annuals, specials or book-a-zine.
The new titles covered every topic under God’s green earth, targeted every age group and every lifestyle. Take a look at six new magazines below and check the entire gallery here.
And the next time someone tells you print is dead, take them to visit a newsstand or check the racks at a grocery store and see if they can stick to their words that print is dead. New magazines are the best indicator that print is and will continue to be well and alive and the nation’s stands are the ONLY place where the “proof is in the pudding…”
After a very healthy September, October witnessed the arrival of an even 100 new magazine titles on the nation’s newsstands. One quarter (25 titles) of the new magazines were published with an intended frequency while the remaining three quarters of the October crop (75 titles) were either annual publications or specials and book-a-zines. The October numbers are only one magazine lower than that of September.
Two notable magazines were published as a result of the crowd sourcing fundraising “platform for creative projects” site “Kickstarter:” Howler and Tomorrow. Both are but two examples how technology is used to enhance the power of print. Publishing is believing and believing is the first step to creativity.
Take a look at some of the new magazine launches below and be sure to visit the Mr. Magazine™ Launch Monitor to see each and every one of those magazines.
To all the naysayers and to all who doubt that there is a good, very good indeed, future for print in a digital age, a visit to the newsstands is all what they need to be convinced otherwise.
September has been a very hot month for new magazine launches. A total of 101 new titles, 37 from which were published with a regular frequency, were spotted, bought, scanned and displayed at the Mr. Magazine™ Launch Monitor.
Take a look at some of the new magazines below and visit the Mr. Magazine™ Launch Monitor to see every new magazine of 2012 so far.
August was a hot month for luxury and upscale magazines. From Dujour to Phoenix International, to Wrist Watch, luxury-magazine launches in August were hotter than the summer hot days of August. Jason Binn, the man behind Dujour, aptly differentiates between the ink on paper publication and its sibling in pixels on the screen. He welcomes readers to the “quarterly magazine” and “monthly experience” referring to the ink on paper as a magazine and to the pixels on the screen as an experience.
A total of 67 magazines, including 17 magazines with a regular frequency, were identified by the Mr. Magazine Launch Monitor as new launches or arrivals at the nation’s newsstands. Six of the new magazines can been seen below. To see all the titles, including one called Fifty Shades of American Women and other specials and book-a-zines, visit the Mr. Magazine™ Launch Monitor here.
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. Saturday or no Saturday, 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:
Mr. Magazine 