Flower is but one of 202 magazines that were born in the first trimester of 2007. Two trends appear to go hand in hand for the first four months of 2007 when it comes to new magazine launches: the first is the drop in the number of special issues and one time publications (almost 33% drop from last year); and the second is the drop of the number of magazines with a frequency of four times or higher (almost 20% drop from last year). As I mentioned earlier on this blog, this is NOT an unnatural occurrence in the field of magazine publishing. Every few years we see a market correction and the numbers drop. It is not new. This market correction has happened every few years, both before and after the birth of the internet. However, the silver lining in all of this is that the number of magazines with four times frequency or more is closing the gap with the numbers of the specials and one-time titles. So, here goes the numbers (at least for now as we keep on updating the numbers as we receive titles we’ve missed) for this year compared to the numbers of last year. In the first trimester (Jan. through April 2007) at least 202 new magazines were launched with the following frequencies: Four times or more, 79 titles (100 in 2006), Specials, 104 titles (155 in 2006), Annuals, 12 titles (25 in 2006) and the remaining seven titles were published either two or three times a year. For a complete list of all the titles of the first trimester click here. To send us a first issue that we’ve missed from the first trimester click here for address.
Archive for the ‘New Launches’ Category
New Magazines: The numbers for the first trimester
May 8, 2007Alef magazine or the Middle East like you’ve never seen…
May 6, 2007
Alef is the name of the new quarterly magazine that aims to “showcase a progressive vision of the Middle East and to spotlight the cultural contribution of people of Middle East origin.” For those of you not familiar with the Arabic language, Alef is the first letter of the alphabet; same as the A in English and the Alpha is in Greek. What the editors promise, the editors deliver. It is indeed one of the best showcases of the Middle East and is unlike any showcase you may have seen from the Middle East. No war pictures, no killings and no stereotypical content, but rather art, fashion, lifestyle, travel, music and architecture spreads that will stop you every turn of the page. It is a stunning reversal of the image you see on your daily television shows or in the movies when it comes to the Middle East. The second issue of the magazine (Spring 2007) is now out and available for your “indulgence and pleasure” about an area of the world that you’ve never seen presented this way. Check Alef magazine here or pick up a copy at your nearest bookstore or newsstand.
“Heal”ing after the Cure: a great role for magazines
May 2, 2007
First there was Cure the magazine for Cancer Updates, Research and Education. Cure launched in 2002 as a “quarterly magazine that combines the science and humanity of cancer for those who have to deal with it on a daily basis. CURE provides scientific information in easy-to-understand language with equally understandable illustrations.” Now comes Heal: Living Well After Cancer, a magazine “for cancer survivors from the day treatment ends, and for the rest of their lives.” For anyone who doubts the power of magazines in creating communities that can be felt, connected and shared, those two magazines are the prime example for that. My friend Eija Ailasmaa, CEO of Sanoma Magazines recently sent me a copy of Magazine, a book celebrating Sanoma’s Magazines fifth anniversary. In it I found this wonderful quote that best describes Heal and Cure among many other magazines. “Today, lifestyle magazines answer the question of how people can realize the potential in themselves and overcome all anxiety. How they can handle their human relationships, how to show to others a favorable picture of themselves; and how to set and achieve their life goals. People read these magazines with great enthusiasm. The chaotic richness of the problems described and their suggested therapies by magazines is astonishing. There are a wide variety of questions which arise with answers provided for all.” I guess the comments of Elemér Hankis, a Hungarian sociologist and philosopher, will more than suffice as a comment on both Heal and Cure.
Bag it, fish it and live it (Hot and new this week… take 4)
April 30, 2007Once a week, I highlight three new magazines on my web site www.mrmagazine.com. This week the three new magazines are American Bagger, Destination Fish and The Journal of Life Sciences. Read here about these new launches. To be considered for review on my web site, please send a copy of your first issue to Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, Department of Journalism, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677.
Loft Bookazine… Living, Travel and Architecture
April 25, 2007
From Sweden comes this new quarterly “Bookazine” part book, part magazine. Yet, the whole is much larger than the sum of the two parts. The magazine is bilingual, Swedish and English, and is aimed at the cream of the crop of audiences worldwide. The price tag is a hefty one: 22 Euros in Europe and $28 in the USA. I picked up the first issue on the stands in Helsinki where I am keynoting today the Finnish Periodical Publishers Association conference. Loft’s founder Mikael Becker is a mutli-tasker. He writes in the first issue, “I created the Loft concept, which currently consists of Loft Bookazine, loftcard, the Loft television series and the Loft website. Right now I feel proud, happy and exhausted.” And can you blame him? It took him a year to get the whole concept of Loft refined “like polishing a diamond.” This boutique magazine continues in the latest trend of other boutique magazines from the Nordic countries using their own language and English as a second language in the magazine to create that instant international flavor and flair to the magazine. Loft has been able to do so ever so graciously. The picture above is from the loftcard web site. A very good example of what some like to call “publishing 360.”
Eco-friendly Weddings…
April 23, 2007
It is the season to be eco friendly…everywhere you look Green is the color of the day. Now comes another eco-friendly magazine…just for weddings (thanks Emily for the hint). Portovert, “the first and only eco-savvy magazine for brides and grooms” has published two digital issues so far that can be seen here. I remember when they used to teach us in school that the sky is the limit, now, I guess your web browser is the limit…the only problem is unlike print, it is a little, well make that a lot, harder to be discovered on the web than in print (unless, your name starts with Condé Nast… then it is no problem.) Do not be quick to misunderstand me, I am NOT saying it is easy to be discovered in print… it is just a little bit easier than the web…
Can you be ahead of the times?
April 22, 2007
So it seems. When Reader’s Digest published Families magazine back in the early 80s, they were able to produce a very high class, good looking magazine. However advertisers were slow to come and the magazine folded. Years later Family Fun, Wonder Time and Cookie are doing what Families did and indeed succeeding where Families failed. The same is true with Rodale’s Organic Style, they were ahead of the times and died before organic became the in thing. Although Rodale continues to publish Organic Gardening, but it fails to offer something to write home about today. Now enter Organic Spa, take two growing categories and merge them in one magazine and you get a magazine that hopes to capture the times, not behind nor ahead, just in time. Hoping to combine Spirit, Sustainability and Soul the new magazine launched to “serve the growing number of consumers committed to integrating personal wellbeing with an environmentally sustainable lifestyle.” The quarterly is published by Oceans Publishing Company and is available year round through a web-based digital edition that you can see here. The magazine follows the latest trend of splash pages to introduce its different sections and to help the readers navigate easier through the content. The four main sections of the magazine are At Home, At Work, At Play and At Rest. Pick up a copy and enjoy it at home, or at work, or at play or even at rest. Have some organic fun today.
Hot and New this week…take 3
April 20, 2007Once a week, I highlight three new magazines on my web site http://www.mrmagazine.com. This week the three new magazines are Road Bike Action Magazine, Toddler and The World of Rods. Read here about these new launches. To be considered for review on my web site, please send a copy of your first issue to Samir “Mr. Magazine™” Husni, Department of Journalism, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677.
Thank God Condé Nast Portfolio is a monthly…
April 17, 2007What was I thinking when I wrote earlier that I will be reviewing the first issue of Condé Nast Portfolio as soon as I find a quiet place to sit down and read the “whole glowing issue.” Well, little I knew that the magazine is so addictive, the articles are so captivating, and the photography will freeze your flipping movement for a long long time… there is no way I can finish this issue today or tomorrow or even the day after. I am so glad it is a monthly and so glad that the information in it is timely yet timeless…I am going to take my time and sip it like that great glass of wine that ought to be drunk one slow, very slow sip at a time.
Remember those black boxes…
April 16, 2007
If you recall those black boxes in the picture of the Condé Nast Portfolio’s staff two days ago, well I received one this morning, and let me tell you it was worth the wait. First impression, wow… second impression more wow… I know I am not going to have time to actually sit down and read the whole issue now, (For those of you who do not know me, I am the chair of the Journalism Department at The University of Mississippi and they really pay me to do other things beside reading magazines). The funny thing is that media critics are issuing their verdicts without even giving the magazine the chance to hit the newsstands (a week from today)… If it were up to the print (funny to say that) media “Some analysts question whether Condé Nast’s new Portfolio magazine will fare better than other business magazines,” read the caption accompanying the picture of the cover of the new magazine in the New York Times Business Day section this morning. Some even went as far to state “I don’t think they (Condé Nast) would make the same decision to launch a business magazine now because the climate ahs changed since they announced.” The sad part those analysts have forgotten the history of the magazine industry plus they did not even see the magazine or any of its content. Just as a quick reminder about launching a magazine in the worst of times, Fortune was launched by Henry Luce in the midst of the Great Depression with a dollar cover price (think one dollar in 1930). There will more on the first issue of Portfolio as soon as I can leave my office and find a quite corner and read the whole “glowing” package.
Mr. Magazine 