It never fails, when the news is about the media, the media have a field day. Here are the covers of two magazines and their take on the phone hacking scandal that is rocking the world of News Corp. Who says we are not our “best” enemies?
Take a look at Bloomberg Businessweek and at TIME magazine covers… A great job, even if the “subject” is one of our own media folks, or should I say a great job because the “subject” is one of our own? Judge for yourself.
Yes indeed! More new consumer magazines were launched in the first half of 2011 than that of the first half of 2010. A total 438 new consumer magazines were introduced to the market place for the first time in the fist six months of 2011. The magazines were divided into 104 magazines published with an intended frequency of four times or more and an additional 334 magazines published with either an annual frequency or as a special interest publication or a book-a-zine. In comparison, the first half of 2010 witnessed the birth of 381 new consumer magazines that were divided into 99 magazines with a frequency of four times or more per year and 282 annuals, one-time and book-a-zines.
The second quarter of 2011 witnessed the birth of approximately 80 titles each month. April ushered 84 titles, May 80 and June another 86 for a total of 250 titles. From those titles 65 of them were published with the intended frequency of four times or more. Both numbers are higher than those of 2010 when 211 titles were published from which 56 were published four times or more a year.
The first quarter of 2011 witnessed the birth of 188 titles from which 39 titles were published four times or more a year. In 2010 the numbers for the first quarter were 170 new titles from which 43 of them were published with a four times or more a year frequency.
Below are pictures of a sample of ten new magazines, from the new magazines of the last three months, that illustrates the vitality, variety and value of the new magazine industry, the industry that I call the life-blood of our business. Enjoy, get inspired, walk to the newsstand and pick up a copy today… It is still the best investment you can make when it comes to the great three Es of magazines: entertaining, educating and informing. Yeah, I know, information starts with an i, but what about the three Rs of education: reading, writing and arithmetics. Well, at least I got two of three Es correct. Relax and have fun. The power of magazines can be seen on every newsstand you visit and every mailbox you open.
Two magazines out of 798 new magazine launches share more than one thing in common between the two of them: Dash and Athlon Sports. Both titles are distributed via newspapers and they are both named Mr. Magazine™ Most Notable Magazine Launch of 2011 in the latest edition of the Samir Husni’s Guide to New Magazines, Volume 26. The Guide, which has just been released, lists all 798 new titles that arrived at the nation’s newsstands or customers’ mailboxes and coffee tables for the first time in 2010.
In addition to Athlon Sports and Dash, 28 other magazines were named notable launches of 2010. The selection of the notable launches of last year is based on five questions that the Mr. Magazine™ team try to answer when reviewing all the new magazine launches of the previous year. The questions are:
1. How much publicity did the magazine generate at launch?
2. How relevant was the magazine to intended market?
3. Was the magazine notably diversified and specialized?
4. How innovative was the magazine?
5. Was the magazine so bizarre that it had to be included?
What follows are the 30 Notable Magazine Launches in 2010 starting with the two Co-Most Notable Launches of the Year:
Athlon Sports– (The Co-Most Notable Launch of the Year) From the leading publisher of Athlon annuals, here comes he first-ever monthly newspaper-distributed-magazine aimed at men with an initial circulation of seven million. Athlon Sports debuts as the largest sports magazine in the United States and the world for that purpose. This unheard-of and unprecedented launch is truly something to be noted and proud of. It’s a testament to the power of print and its incredible reach to a vast audience. Well written and illustrated this new launch, while big in print, does not limit itself to the ink on paper, but adds a hefty web presence. Athlon Sports deserves to share the most notable launch honor with Dash, yet another daring launch in that same newspaper-distributed-magazine category.
Dash– (The Co-Most Notable Launch of the Year) Sharing the top honors with Athlon Sports, Dash magazine is another manifestation of the power of ink on paper and the success of newspaper-distributed-magazines. With a launch circulation of more than 8 million copies, the monthly Dash presents itself at the front of the pack of cooking magazines. This magazine has found enormous success as an insert magazine for newspapers, finding an entirely new female audience in those who don’t subscribe to cooking magazines. From the mother of all newspaper-distributed-magazine Parade, Dash deserves the top spot in the world of new magazine launches of 2010.
Blue Canvas– is another manifestation of the coffee table approach of print that combines art and literature into one unified publication. It’s one of the best packages a publisher can offer, and provides its audience with well-constructed editorial and beautifully produced imagery. Bluecanvas brings its page to live through all kind of activities and events that bring the magazine to life and humanize the ink on paper. Talk about smart, elegant and beautiful all in one!
Bound By Ink – If there’s one phrase to describe 2010, it is the “year of ink,” and not necessarily just ink on paper, but ink on skin. Bound By Ink takes tattoo magazines to an entirely new level, providing a must-see collection of stunning tattoos rendered by today’s most skilled artists, showcased by the beautiful bodies who proudly display them. Looks more like a journal with a feel of the top glossies, this magazine sets a new standard for the tattoo magazines currently on the marketplace.
Chop Chop – The food magazine for families whose kids want to be in the kitchen, Chop Chop shares recipes, activities and ideas that require a child’s touch. Focusing on one of the largest trends in new magazines for the last three years, Chop Chop adds the children to the picture and focus on their involvement in every aspect of food, cooking and nutrition. The magazine brings a entirely new meaning for the term, “having a kid in the kitchen.” Now the children can do more than the easting in the kitchen thanks to Chop Chop.
Emerge – This magazine is like taking a page from the Harvard Business Review and adding a unique, emotional personal touch to its pages. Emerge tries to humanize the world of business interactions to help its readers understand business transactions. With a mean focus on the people behind the business, Emerge carves a niche for itself in the world of business magazines that makes useful, helpful and full of “stories” about business interactions one after the other. Humanizing print, one story at a time.
Equanimity – “Diversity meets specialization.” This is a new breed of magazines we are going to see much more of in the future. A single magazine can be a better reflection of our society offering a multitude of diverse topics covered in one, single publication, instead of multiple magazines covering multiple targets. A good attempt in achieving a new breed of magazines and a lot of credit for being the leader of the pack. Sill, editorially speaking, the magazine needs more meat to provide its readers of a full meal of Equanimity.
@Gamer – When a major magazine publisher meets a major electronic retailer, the product has the potential to be nothing short of pure success. That’s entirely what @Gamer has proven itself to be. A great magazine with a very specific audience, @Gamer is the result of UK based Future publishers and Best Buy, who has the exclusivity of selling the magazine solely in its stores. A must have for the gamer and a must inclusion in the most notable launches of 2010.
Guy Harvey – This magazine is an extension of the world-famous Guy Harvey brand that takes the dictionary definition of the word “magazine” (meaning a storehouse) and moves it from the brick and mortar to the ink on paper of the enterprise. This lifestyle magazine brings the world of Guy Harvey into a single publication, offering editorial content and beautiful photography, while allowing readers to purchase a diverse selection of products. Well designed and written the magazine is good for both window shopping and actual shopping. Guy Harvey is waiting for you to interact with the store. Welcome inside.
Harmony – Another foray into women’s lifestyle and fitness magazines, Harmony captures both the body and the soul of its audience. Anyone courageous enough to start a magazine in a market already bombarded with countless publications aimed at women deserves to be noted, and what makes Harmony even more deserving of notoriety is its success in producing a valuable, well-crafted publication. Harmony magazine provides content that is as harmonious as the name of the magazine itself. A title deserving the honor of being a notable launch of 2010.
High Times Medical Marijuana – From the publishers of leading marijuana-focused (no pun intended) magazine, High Times, comes the medical version of the mother ship. Medical Marijuana capitalizes on the current status of debate and laws related to the medicinal usage of marijuana in many states of the union. The magazine, a first of its kind, deals with Mary Jane from a medical point of view, dispensing advice, ideas and pages for debate among readers, users and maybe dispensers.
Hollywood Reporter – If you’re looking for a formula on converting a trade daily publication into a consumer weekly, look no further than the Hollywood Reporter. Mixing the business side with the consumer side, this magazine presents Hollywood and its stars on a silver platter for those interested in both the business and beauty of the city. A very successful attempt into widening the reach of a trade publication into a wider consumer base without losing the narrow trade focus. A step in the right direction and a new magazine that must be noted.
Indigo – Anyone who has the guts to launch a cultural, sociological and political magazine aimed at a young audience deserves to be praised. What seemed like a “mission impossible” has been successfully brought forth on the pages of Indigo, a magazine that will undoubtedly remain at the forefront of niche publications attempting to find an ultra-specialized, fragmented audience within a broad youth audience engulfed in entertainment and celebrity culture. A noted magazine with a journal feel and a young audience who have yet to be introduced to the world of journals.
Inked Girls – A spinoff of what is probably the best tattoo magazine in the marketplace, Inked Girls combines the beauty of ink and the women who wear it. This magazine is a must have for anyone in love with the art of tattoos and beautiful women. Building upon the success of Inked magazine, this female counter-part provides page after page of beautiful inks and beautiful women making it a must for both men and women. The first will definitely enjoy the women and their ink and the second will enjoy, the women and the ink also! What else did you expect me to write? I always believed that beauty is a two-way street.
Knitting Today! – Ten years ago in the aftermath of 9/11, women’s craft and how-to magazines went through an enormous resurgence due to the national cocooning and isolation movement in today’s mainstream culture. Capitalizing on this trend, Knitting Today has found success by bringing back the timeless art of knitting to the forefront of craft publications. Well-crafted (no pun intended) Knitting Today proudly takes its place on the newsstand’s shelves next to the many craft and hobbies titles that for three years in a row have been in the top three categories of new magazine launches.
LAVA – Lava is riding the wave of recent popularity in the world of triathlon competitions. Combining photography, how-to articles and great editorial content, this magazine brings the excitement of triathlons to the masses who enjoy the sport. With an oversized pages, big pictures and a step by step approach to tri-athletics, Lava is a beauty to look at, a joy to read, and a lot of hard work to exercise. There is no need for any volcanic eruptions to get this Lava. Just take a stroll through the pages of Lava and find out why we think Lava deserves to be one of the most noted new titles of 2010.
Military Chronicles – From the makers of North And South magazine, Military Chronicles expands far beyond the era of the Civil War. Following the example of its mother publication, Military Chronicles presents a wide range of historical content, connecting a 21st-century audience with valuable information and warfare accounts. From the days of Mosses leading the Hebrews through Egypt and the dessert, this magazine takes you through one historical battle after the other. If you are a military history buff, this magazine is for you. A great companion to the civil war magazine. With the two titles, your military history is complete.
MyHome MyStyle – My Home My Style inspires individual ideas, practical projects and simple solutions to home life and décor. A circulation customer-centric publication that focuses on the need of individual home owner regardless of the marketing and advertising world surrounding the home and home market field. The magazine gives service a true road map so that folks can depend and follow the instructions one page at time without an hidden agendas or sales pitches. A must have guide for anyone interested in shedding some light (no pun intended) on their home or home plans.
New You – Adding to an already crowded market that deals with beauty and self-improvement, New You attempts to give the individual a complete makeover, all through plastic surgery. The magazine, through page after page, feels and looks more than the yellow pages of plastic surgery all done in the name of providing the reader with a better option for a better you. New You gives a new meaning to the phrase, beauty is more than skin deep. It this case it is just the skin.
Peloton – A bicycling magazine that differentiates itself from all other cycling publications due to its literary-journal feel, Peloton takes bicycling to a higher level, not just celebrating the sport as a hobby, but as a state of mind. A ground breaker in this crowded field, the combination of photos and essays opens the gates to future imitators who, with no doubts, will “bike” their way into other sports publications using the same approach Peloton is using with bicycling. A must have for those who rides bicycles and enjoy reading and viewing the “hobby” at the same time.
Qlix – Qlix focuses on emerging fashion in a very innovative way. Thinking outside the box and produced in a box (well, for that matter an envelope), Qlix provides its readers with fashion spreads all folded inside a nice envelope that makes the reader feel that they are opening one gift after the other as they remove the pages from the envelope. All credit should be given for such a magazine that enters an extremely crowded field, but has the guts to think and present differently than the rest of the fashion crowd. Innovation in print at its best.
Rebel – A new revolution regarding society, culture and social lift, Rebel holds a unique twist: it focuses and targets men. This magazine presents a new style of publication for men in that it aims at a man’s brains, instead of his drains. Rebel, with its social conscience, tries to create a new genre of magazines that goes beyond the politically correct genres of magazines, and offers its readers a wealth of well-thought, well-written essays combined with great easy to follow design. All in all this Rebel comes well packaged for the new century and the revolutions ahead for years to come.
Show-Alt – We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: tattoos are the ‘in’ thing. This spinoff of Show magazine adds the ink to the ladies – a winning combination. Enjoy the show. The customer, whether there for the ladies or the tattoos, will have a feast for the eyes and nothing but the eyes. Like its sister publications in the Show family, this magazine only “shows.” There is little in term of “says” and “talks.” More like a photo album than a magazine, Show-Alt offers what can be considered a collection of pictures “suitable for framing” on every single page of the magazine.
Social Diary Daily – If there is a magazine that needed to be included in the Most Notable Launches, it is Social Diary Daily. It epitomizes what anyone starting a magazine should not do. From its name to its design to its content, Social Diary Daily is the quarterly published poster child of a poor magazine. With very amateurish content, bad pixilated pictures and even worse design skills, Social Diary Daily is a recipe to what folks need to avoid when launching a new magazine. I applaud the founders on their desire and will to create a magazine, but I urge them to take a look at a nearby newsstand and compare their title to the rest of the magazines out there. In one word Social Diary Daily is UNIQUE!
THC Expose – A magazine focused on medical marijuana, THC Expose offers this content in a platform of great design, beautiful women and excellent editorial for those who immerse themselves in this culture. A brand extension to an event convention with the same name, this magazine surely brings the convention to life and not vice versa. It also gives customers the opportunity to go behind the scenes of such a convention without being “seen” at the convention. With medical marijuana in the news, I doubt that the two magazines in those 30 most notable launches are going to be anything but the “tip of the iceberg” to come for the “standing in line” customers.
Thriving Family – From the folks at Focus On The Family comes the revamped and mainstream publication aimed at today’s Christian family. This magazine creates a hopeful and optimistic method of improving families by showcasing families currently improving themselves, rather than families who appear to have reached their goals. Trying to reach the crowded stands in the nations’ bookstores, Thriving Family is an attempt to preach beyond the choir and hope to spread the message for a wider audience nationwide.
Trunk
– For most people, opening a trunk is like opening a treasure chest of secret, invaluable items. That’s exactly what Trunk magazine is for its audience. From great destinations to stunning photography to beautifully written editorial, Trunk captures the world and elegantly offers it to its audience in a well-crafted publication. But, what else would you expect from a magazine that the team behinds it has an excellent history of great photography, greater writing and greatest design?
Where Women Cook – The folks at Stampington Press continue to produce one great magazine after the other. This magazine combines food and culture, making the art of cooking a celebrated pastime among their country, recipe-loving audience. With its high cover and subscription prices, Where Women Cook is aimed at the heart, soul and pocket of the common foodie. If anyone ever doubts the power of reaching the “customers who count, rather than counting customers,” Where Women Cook and its sister publications are a must see and learn breed of publications that can put you on the right path for publishing in this day and age.
Whole Living – When Martha Stewart touches something, the least she can do is change it. Revamping Body and Soul magazine, a reincarnation came under the name, Whole Living, which fits perfectly with its holistic approach to combining both the intake and outtake of individuals interested in that very specific way of life. Whole Living, now more mainstreamed, provides an essential guide to this new way of life without feeling “alternative” or a “fish out of water.” Needless to say, the writing, design and photography are all now “packaged” Martha’s style, so they can’t be but good, if not better. Enjoy your new “Whole Living.”
Yum Food & Fun / Yum Food & Fun For Kids – Food, food and more food. If it is not the year of the Tattoos, than it must be the year of the food. With more than a hundred new titles launched in 2010 alone, Yum Food & Fun and Yum Food & Fun for Kids complete the circle of food magazines by leaving no one outside the family without a publication to learn, enjoy and practice the art of cooking. Adding a touch of fun to food, both titles provide a nice niche and twist to the genre of food magazines and brings them to the notable list. The concept of launching two separate magazine, right from the first year of launch is a notable event by itself, considering all the other “kids” magazines on the marketplace came years after the “mother” titles were born. Talk about a “kid” having a “kid.” Enjoy!
Samir Husni’s Guide to New Magazines is now available for sale by clicking here.
Magazines are all about emotions and magazine covers are where those emotions start. So, when I saw this bright reddish/orange magazine cover of Monster Children magazine on the newsstand, it stirred some emotions in me forcing me to pick it up. Then, I read the cover lines, since there was nothing else on the cover except the solid reddish/orange color. The cover lines said,
I Was Feeling Nothing
I Went Shopping
I Bought This Magazine
I Still Feel Nothing
Well, I bought the magazine. I was feeling something. I was shopping for magazines. I bought this magazine. I now feel more things.
An excellent creative idea to design a cover when you have nothing to put on the cover. Feelings, or the lack of feelings, are both emotions. Emotions trigger sales. Sales trigger higher newsstand revenues, especially when the cover price is $9.00. Maybe, after all, Monster Children meant the cover to stir those emotions so folks will buy it. Well, it worked for me. Will it work for you? Let me know.
When you want to a send a loud and clear message to your readers, the iPad copy of your magazine will not do it. Magazines are much more than the ink printed on the paper; that I know. Magazine are experience makers that reflect, initiate, educate, inform, entertain and above all demand a second look from any browsing person on the nation’s stands or friends’ coffee tables. The July issue of Runner’s World magazine does all the above and more. It reflects, initiates, educates, informs and entertains all in one stunning special issue dedicated to “outrunning cancer.”
“To dramatize the truth that cancer transcends age, race, and gender” Runner’s World July issue has seven newsstand covers of cancer survivors. I do not believe that seeing those covers on the iPad have the same “in your face” impact as picking up the magazine at the newsstand and holding and displaying all seven covers next to each other (like I did at home after buying all seven copies). The need to know the stories about each cover subject, combined with the powerful and dramatic design of each cover, initiates that curiosity in each and everyone of us to reach out and touch the magazine.
Runner’s World and its parent company Rodale Inc. put their money where their mouth is. The magazine offer readers the chance to do more to help fight cancer. Runner’s World compiled “a comprehensive list of cancer charities with running connections and made it easy to support any of them.” You can visit crowdrise.com/runnersworld and contribute to the cause. Runner’s World and Rodale Inc. already did by donating $5,000.
The man who has been selected as the innovation designer for the Milan World Expo 2015 and the professor of Innovation Design at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, is the latest addition to the list of headliners who will engage a limited number of participants in the second annual Magazine Innovation Center’s ACT Experience at The University of Mississippi’s Meek School of Journalism and New Media this coming October 26 to 28.
The internationally acclaimed innovator and futurologist joins a host of other prominent leaders in the field of magazines, media and communications in the two and half days of think and do experience that promises to be unlike any other media course or conference anyone has ever attended. Themed, “Restart Your Engines: The Future of the Printed Word,” the ACT 2 Experience promises to engage both speakers and attendees in a host of discussions leading to answers and solutions for the many of the problems facing our industry.
Industry leaders who are confirmed headliners and keynote speakers at the event are, in alphabetical order:
Frank Anton, CEO of Hanley-Wood
Scott Coopwood, Publisher, Delta Magazine
Scott Crystal, Former President, TV Guide and former Publisher, National Geographic
Phyllis Hoffman DePiano, CEO of Hoffman Media
James Elliott, President, The James G. Elliott Co., Inc.
Sid Evans, Editor in Chief, Garden & Gun magazine
John Harrington, Partner, Harrington Associates and Publisher/Editor, The New Single Copy newsletter
Nina Gerwin, Founder, Eye Capture
Kent S. Johnson, CEO of Highlights for Children, Inc.
Steven Kotok, President, The Week, Felix Dennis Publications
Jeremy Leslie, Editorial Designer and Founder, magCulture.com, The United Kingdom
David C. McDonald, CEO, True North Custom Media
Mark Pasetsky, Founder, CoverAwards and former editor OK! Weekly and Life & Style weekly
Will Pearson, President, Mental Floss Inc. and Co-Founder mental_floss magazine
Roy Reiman, Founder of Reiman Publications
Sue Roman, President of Taunton Press
Bob Sacks, President of Precision Media Group (bosacks.com)
Franska Stuy, Editor in Chief of Libelle, The Netherlands
In addition to the aforementioned industry leaders, a panel discussion will take place about the future of the printed word lead by leading industry printers and paper companies.
The ACT 2 Experience is limited to 100 attendees in addition to the speakers and sponsors. Watch this space for more information about registration and other important information regarding the ACT 2 Experience. In the meantime, save the date and if you have any questions or want to know more, please email me at samir.husni@gmail.com
Last October, the Magazine Innovation Center introduced its annual ACT Experience. ACT stands for Amplify, Clarify and Testify and the Experience, that lasts for two and a half days on the campus of The University of Mississippi’s Meek School of Journalism and New Media, teams some of the top industry leaders with magazine media folks looking for solutions for today’s publishing problems. The think-and-do-experience (neither a course or a conference) is an intimate gathering that is limited in attendee’s number but not limited in ideas and solutions. ACT 2 Experience is themed “Restart Your Engines: The Future of the Printed Word” and takes place October 26 – October 28.
Industry leaders who are confirmed headliners and keynote speakers at the event are, in alphabetical order:
Frank Anton, CEO of Hanley-Wood
Scott Coopwood, Publisher, Delta Magazine
Scott Crystal, Former President, TV Guide and former Publisher, National Geographic
Phyllis Hoffman DePiano, CEO of Hoffman Media
James Elliott, President, The James G. Elliott Co., Inc.
Sid Evans, Editor in Chief, Garden & Gun magazine
John Harrington, Partner, Harrington Associates and Publisher/Editor, The New Single Copy newsletter
Nina Gerwin, Founder, Eye Capture
Kent S. Johnson, CEO of Highlights for Children, Inc.
Steven Kotok, President, The Week, Felix Dennis Publications
Jeremy Leslie, Editorial Designer and Founder, magCulture.com, The United Kingdom
David C. McDonald, CEO, True North Custom Media
Mark Pasetsky, Founder, CoverAwards and former editor OK! Weekly and Life & Style weekly
Will Pearson, President, Mental Floss Inc. and Co-Founder mental_floss magazine
Roy Reiman, Founder of Reiman Publications
Sue Roman, President of Taunton Press
Bob Sacks, President of Precision Media Group (bosacks.com)
Franska Stuy, Editor in Chief of Libelle, The Netherlands
In addition to the aforementioned industry leaders, a panel discussion will take place about the future of the printed word lead by leading industry printers and paper companies.
The ACT 2 Experience is limited to 100 attendees in addition to the speakers and sponsors. Watch this space for more information about registration and other important information regarding the ACT 2 Experience. In the meantime, if you have any questions or want to know more, please email me at samir.husni@gmail.com
The Experience is guaranteed to be fun and exceptionally innovative and educational. You will NOT leave without answers. Stay tuned for more details, but for now save the dates: ACT 2 Experience, Oct. 26 – Oct. 28, 2011.
Time magazine is publishing three issues in one week. Talk about a weekly in a race with the news: One regular issue published last Friday, one special issue about the Royal Wedding and one special issue devoted to bin Laden. Glad to see print is still alive, well and kicking.
In a press release TIME said that “The cover image of the new issue features TIME’s iconic red “X” over bin Laden’s face, making this the fourth cover in TIME’s history to feature the red “X,” following Adolf Hilter (May 7, 1945), Saddam Hussein (April 21, 2003), and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (June 19, 2006). The cover was illustrated for TIME by Tim O’Brien, who also designed the al-Zarqawi cover.”
It is all about sensibility. That sums Jake Silverstein, editor of Texas Monthly magazine, view of what differentiates a magazine from other media entities. “Magazines right now need strategies that can spread their stories and writers and photographers and sensibility (notice I didn’t say “content”) across digital, events, social media, broadcast, etc, but if the magazine itself doesn’t remain top quality, there’s nothing to set the course of the franchise.” Those, my friends, are but a few of the many words of wisdom Mr. Silverstein shared with me in this installment of the Mr. Magazine™ Interviews.
“That monthly sensibility is divorced from the daily grind/sensibility of the web.” The monthly sensibility creates a wide world of difference between printed magazines and digital entities. “Just adding bells and whistles to the print product on the web,” Mr. Silverstein told me, “is not the answer for the digital future.” He believes that we are at least one year away from really finding out what really works on the tablets.
In a typical Mr. Magazine™ Interviews fashion, here are first the sound bites followed by the complete interview with Jake Silverstein:
The sound bites:
What every magazine needs right now is a plan.
I never stopped believing in print.
Some magazines will be more multi-platform than others. But I do believe that for a general interest magazine like ours, there is a balance of media in which print stays strong for a long, long time.
Real quality, timeless quality, the kind of quality that raises to the level of literature—that’s extremely rare. But it’s what we strive for with every single piece we publish.
After 38 years, Texas Monthly has become one of the points in the constellation of things that make Texas a unique place.
On the one hand, the digital revolution has made news the most important commodity in the world. On the other hand, it has totally stripped away its dollar value
And now for the full interview with Jake Silverstein, editor, Texas Monthly magazine:
Samir Husni: What keeps Texas Monthly, after all these years, tick, click and stick with the readers and advertisers?
Jake Silverstein: It’s pretty simple really: great storytelling that’s both relevant and surprising; gorgeous art direction and photography; an authentic perspective on a unique and fascinating place; a sincere commitment to producing journalism that has an impact; and extremely fun, clever, and useful reader service. All of this delivered in a particular voice—knowing, insidery, funny, not overly conventional, local without being parochial, sophisticated without being pretentious.
SH: In the midst of this changing media world, what are some of must-haves (anchors) that you feel a magazine like Texas Monthly should posses to survive and thrive in the future?
JS: A clear sense of identity and mission (see above) that can be transmitted across different media platforms. But you can suffer from Multi-Platform Syndrome too. It’s absolutely key that as we push forward we make decisions that reflect a commitment to and respect for the mothership. Magazines right now need strategies that can spread their stories and writers and photographers and sensibility (notice I didn’t say “content”) across digital, events, social media, broadcast, etc, but if the magazine itself doesn’t remain top quality, there’s nothing to set the course of the franchise. Most of all, what every magazine needs right now is a plan. It may not work, but as the great media theorist T. Boone Pickens once said, “A fool with a plan is better than a genius with no plan.”
SH: We are seeing a return of some editors to print after vowing “never to work in print again.” Did you ever stopped believing in print?
JS: Never. I use digital media constantly, but I still prefer print for reading long stuff.
SH: What is your view about the future of print and what are you doing to amplify such a future if you believe in it?
JS: I’m one of these people who believe that there’s a different balance of platforms that each media outlet will find—a certain percentage of your readers will be consuming your stuff in the tradition print format, another bunch will be reading it all on a tablet and smartphone, some will only interact with you on a daily basis on your website, or come to your events, or listen to your podcasts, some will do all of these. No single one of these media is going to squash the rest, and our challenge is to get the balance right in terms of resources, advertising, audience, etc. The particular breakdown of the pie chart will be different for each media brand. Obviously Texas Monthly will always have a smaller portion of its readers demanding to read the magazine on a tablet than Wired does. Some magazines will be more multi-platform than others. But I do believe that for a general interest magazine like ours, there is a balance of media in which print stays strong for a long, long time.
SH: It has been said that quality content, while still very much needed, is not enough anymore. Magazines today have to be experience makers. How is that manifested in Texas Monthly?
JS: Two things about that: the first is that, when so much of our time is spent reading short, fast stuff online, and when so many journalists are toiling under a whip and lash, expected to turn out so many stories with so many trending keywords in them, quality longform stories are more and more rare. And real quality, timeless quality, the kind of quality that raises to the level of literature—that’s extremely rare. But it’s what we strive for with every single piece we publish. The effort that goes into an 8,000-word reported magazine story is intense—months of research and writing, extensive editing, thorough copy-editing and fact-checking, expensive photography, studied design. All of this produces an extremely fine thing: a carefully considered work that an entire team of people have sweated over for months. And you get a whole bunch of these in a single issue of the magazine! I call that an experience! To be in the hands of a group of talented, well-compensated professionals with job-security and health insurance and decades of experience and expertise, leading you on a surprising, timely, inventive, funny, intelligent, and visually stunning tour through Texas every month. Wow! It’s a more distinct experience even than it was 15 years ago when that kind of reading experience was more common. So there’s that. But I do acknowledge your point, and here one of the things we do is try to find interesting ways to make our print stories relate to our website, to our events strategy, to our social media, etc. Create little campaigns around as many of them as we can. The most shining example of this is our BBQ festival, in which we bring together as many of the BBQ joints that made the magazine’s list of Top 50 (a list we do every 5 years) in one place. But we’ve also done a short film contest based on a special issue of the magazine that’s turned into an annual contest, and radio programs based on magazine stories in partnership with our local public radio station, and an author series with the Texas Book Festival that overlaps with some of our in-book books coverage, and various small Twitter stunts surrounding different stories.
SH: A recent issue of Texas Monthly celebrated the state’s 175 anniversary, can you ever see Texas without Texas Monthly anymore?
JS: Well, we’ve only been around for 38 of those 175 years, but let me put it this way: one of our followers recently tweeted, “You know you’re a Texan when finding the new @texasmonthly inside your mailbox makes you shout.” One of the reasons we could do that anniversary issue (it marked the 175th anniversary of independence from Mexico) is because Texas has such a rich history, which has created a very particular and powerful sense of cultural identity in Texas, along with an intense pride in this state, warts and all. We like to think of ourselves, in certain regards, as a nation, not a state, and we’re big enough, wealthy enough, interesting enough, and crazy enough to back it up. So we have things like our own power grid (only state in the country) and, in the case of journalism, our own national magazine (ditto). Texans like that. After 38 years, Texas Monthly has become one of the points in the constellation of things that make Texas a unique place.
SH: City, state and regional magazines have been an area of growth in the new magazine launches. What do you think is the reason behind that growth and how do you view the regional magazine market?
JS: There’s clearly a move in the direction of local. People want close-to-the-ground reporting about what’s happening in their backyards, and city and regionals provide a unique service in that they give you this reporting with the glamour and class of a glossy magazine. The question is: where’s the sweet spot? How local does a city or regional magazine need to get to fully capitalize on this trend? Do we need to be down at the neighborhood level, competing with online sources, or can we float slightly above that? Honestly, this is less of an issue for Texas Monthly than it might be for strictly city magazines. We’ve never competed very much at the hyper-local level. We are for people who live in Texas, not just one neighborhood in one city.
SH: What advice you will give someone that comes to you and say, “I would like to start a magazine…”?
JS: The deck is stacked against you, so just publish great stories and have fun. That way, even if you fold after a year it will have been worth it. And readers recognize it when a publication is having fun.
SH: As an editor of a major monthly, do you see the journalism cup half full, half empty or… ?
JS: I think you have to go entity by entity, and, frankly, journalism by journalism. Newspaper journalism is a whole topic unto itself—on the one hand, the digital revolution has made news the most important commodity in the world. On the other hand, it has totally stripped away its dollar value. But I’m not in the (intensely complicated) position of having to figure out how to rebuild some of that lost value for a commercial entity, or find a different, non-profit daily news strategy entirely. I’m in the magazine business, and there are a lot of magazines, Texas Monthly included, that are doing some of their best work ever right now, and that are reaching more people than ever before. But the game is much, much harder than it once was. There’s more to think about, more to do, less people and money to do it with, and more uncertainty about the future. Those are facts. And when you put those facts into the equation you inevitably get, in some cases, crappier journalism. Do all these factors exert a downward pressure that will someday reduce all magazines to crap? I don’t know. I hope not. I want my kids to know the glory of great American longform magazine journalism.
SH: Any final words of wisdom….
JS: Always listen to Boone.
SH: Thank you.
Bringing more treats than tricks is the key behind the launch of the new ultra glossy quarterly magazine TREATS! With a hefty $20 cover price for a single issue and “double the treats” on both front and back covers of the premiere issue, the European-styled magazine is turning heads of folks in the publishing industry including a one by the name of Hugh Hefner. “A few days after our launch party,” Rob Hill, TREATS! editor told me, “we got a call at the office form Hugh Hefner’s secretary saying she wanted to send a messenger asap for two copies for Hef. Someone at the party told him about it. He loves it; was really just raving about it.”
So, what is the secret of the new magazine that makes a legend like Hef ask for two copies. Well, I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Hill few questions about TREATS! and what makes the magazine tick and click in this day and age. His answers were candid, amazing and intriguing. In typical Mr. Magazine™ Interviews here are the sound-bites first followed by the entire interview.
Here are the sound-bites:
What I saw in TREATS! was a modern multi-platform media company with a fresh and well executed idea, that had a plan, a buzz, and a print product that was its anchor but not sole property by any means.
The marriage of photos and words on a printed page is very potent—especially put in the context of a well crafted magazine.
The (new magazine business) model will be to invest heavily in edit and content, charge a premium for it in both newsstand and subscriptions, market it smartly, find an audience, and grow slowly into it all.
Good magazines are good because of who goes up and down the elevators, not what printing press you use or who you buy your paper from.
We are trying to accomplish is introduce a brand that can thrive in many different areas, anchored by a great magazine.
And now for the full interview with Rob Hill:
Samir Husni: What is the trick behind Treats, i.e. what is the story of Treats!?
Rob Hill: TREATS! is the brainchild of Steve Shaw, the founder and publisher. Steve has been a very successful photographer for some time now. He’s one of the few photographers that really knows that fine line between taking sexy photos and sensual photos and the last few years he found that most of his assignments from magazines involved taking manufactured, parochial and pandering photos. As a lover of photography and photographers he wanted to start a publication—media company—that would give some of the best photographers, stylists, and models the platform to indulge and execute their creative fantasies without some draconian editorial edict: the only guidelines are spontaneity, sensuality, artistic and long, very long, stories; 15-20 and 25 pages. There are few magazines, mostly in London, that do aspects of this, but he really wanted it to have a L.A. point of view—the non-Hollywood one—even though it’s truly an international magazine, distributed in NYC, London, Paris, The Netherlands, Australia etc. There’s no doubt that L.A. is the city of not only the present bu the future in terms of art, inspiration, style etc. I think Tom Ford said that a few years ago. My job was to come in and find great writers and off-the-beaten-path long form articles mixed with artists, architecture, big Q&As and travel stories.
SH: The magazine is more of a treat to the eye and a meal to the brain, how is this combination of brains and beauty essential to the future of the magazine?
RH: When I first started at TREATS! most of the photo shoots were done and on the wall and I must admit I was intimidated. The shoots were so lush, original, provocative & almost dizzying. I was like, ‘Jeez, what can i bring to this?’ Then I really scoured old, vintage magazines, bathed myself in some of the great European magazines and came up with my vision of what should shoulder these amazing pictures. The article that really flipped the switch for me was the GARDEN OF ALLAH by Kirk Silsbee. Almost lost in history, the GARDEN OF ALLAH was a walled compound of villas, pools, and gardens on the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Laurel Canyon that was GROUND ZERO for some of the best parties, trysts, antics and tomfoolery of the biggest celebrities in the world—Monroe, Hemingway, Flynn, Bacall, Garbo, Marx brothers, Fitzjerald etc— from the 1920s to the 1950s; sorta the west coast Algonquin mixed with the Playboy Mansion, before there was a Playboy Mansion, with nice doses of the South of France sitting in the middle of Hollywood. That really set a nice tone and turns out to be the article that most people comment on a lot.
SH: From your launch letter, you sound like a major believer in print, you’ve never given up on print although most of the magazines you’ve worked for are no longer in print (Ray Gun, Bikini, FHM, Giant). How is Treats! different?
RH: Thanks for reminding me! Ha. But it’s true, it’s very difficult to launch a magazine, get it up and running, and keep it going and all those magazines were launches. I suppose I’ve never worked at any of the stalwarts that have been around for 30 or 40 years—maybe I have an underdog complex or something. What I saw in TREATS! was a modern multi-platform media company with a fresh and well executed idea, that had a plan, a buzz, and a print product that was its anchor but not sole property by any means. But the biggest thing for me is that I saw this as a brand—what Steve really saw it as, too, from the beginning—that could have tentacles in many different lifestyle categories. For a start our offices are next to SMUDGE PHOTO STUDIOS, which Steve founded as-well, and it’s really doing well, always booked and thriving with activity. But I would not be surprised at all that in the near future we have some sort of media or TV channel, small retail shops selling candles, apparel, prints, make-up, lipstick etc. things like that.
SH: The magazine is published with a quarterly frequency and a $20 cover price. Is this the new business model for print?
RH: Well, there is a new business model emerging in the magazine industry, just like every industry that has to reinvent itself or go extinct. We’ve seen it with the automobile industry, the banking industry, the movie industry, energy, etc. There’s gonna be lots of magazine launches happening in the near future—but they won’t be $70 million dollar launches with parties on Ellis Island and MC’d by ex-presidents; those days are over. But there will be launches for $500,000, a million, two million, even 5 to 10 million: If the idea is good and has traction across the media spectrum. The model will be to invest heavily in edit and content, charge a premium for it in both newsstand and subscriptions, market it smartly, find an audience, and grow slowly into it all. I think Tyler Brule at MONOCLE has invented the new model, really. He invested big time in edit, the product, charges $10 for it at the newsstand and $150 for a year’s subscription; I believe he has almost 20,000 subscriber’s or so…so do the math, it’s a healthy business, expanding, adding staff, creating new revenue streams; he now has half a dozen small retail MONOCLE shops around the world that sell luggage, fragrances, watches, etc. If you are an advertiser and book an ad in MONOCLE you may not be reaching 1.5 million people but the 120,000 or so you do reach you know are heavily invested in the product and most likely will be interested in YOUR product. It’s already been proven that a consumer is more likely to buy a product if they see the ad in a well-crafted, good looking magazine over, say, a radio ad, TV ad, Internet ad—especially for apparel, glasses, watches, hotels, furniture, architecture etc.
The experience of reading a magazine comes with the notion, or general acceptance, that the ads are something to be gazed at, a part of the product, where as, I think, the ads that pop up on a website are intrusive, annoying, and to be clicked off immediately. TV the same, except for the Superbowl, of course, and some other event type shows. Video ads on websites are a different story; they can be fun, provocative and engaging if done right and paired with the right kind of video content. This is where we see our website really gaining traction and the right marketing partners. But back to the business model idea: Playboy was right to up their cover price, sub price, and take their rate base down. I understand the whole rate base/ad game, I do, but look at what happened a few years ago when advertising fell of a cliff…all of a sudden all these good, greats, magazines had no revenue because they have been giving away their subs for years and just putting their magazines on the newsstand hoping people will buy them. Vanity Fair is a very well crafted, luxurious, premium product and yet it gives its subs away like it is Costco. I mean, a Vanity Fair subscriber won’t pay more than $12 a year to have THAT PRODUCT delivered to their door? It’s a bit schizophrenic, I think. But then again maybe there are army’s of people on whole floors of skyscrapers running the numbers and say they will lose hundreds of thousands readers. But then again, maybe there isn’t. Who knows.
SH: What are you trying to accomplish, prove with this latest print entity?
RH: Not out to prove anything, really. What, in the end, we are trying to accomplish is introduce a brand that can thrive in many different areas, anchored by a great magazine. My old boss always used to say, ‘Magazines are sorta like wine, people get passionate and emotional about their favorites—you can’t let them down. Ever!’ It’s true: poor, lazy, head-in-the-sand editors can bury a magazine the same way great editors can bring it alive. Good magazines are good because of who goes up and down the elevators, not what printing press you use or who you buy your paper from.
SH: As an experienced editor, who have seen it all, how is journalism and magazine editing today different than say ten years ago?
RH: You know what’s been great to see the last few years? Magazines that have been around for awhile operating on maybe their highest levels ever: Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Wired, Esquire etc. Esquire has made a very conscious effort to push the medium as far as they can being a big consumer magazine. It’s obvious that Jann Wenner has counter intuitively invested heavily in edit when everyone else was batting down the hatches and they are thriving. And to see what Bloomberg has done with Business Week is very inspiring. It’s a vital, exciting and poignant product. Very impressive. The competition and fear that the last few years have produced was maybe the best thing that ever happened to magazines—it forced them to hustle, rethink their medium, their place in the media landscape. Some were late to the game and some got there fast. And then to see all the great smaller launches like MAN ABOUT TOWN, PORT, and LULA in the UK; AFAR and TRUNK in the US; and a great magazine called ABOVE.
SH: What does the future hold to Rob Hill? What makes Rob tick and click every day in this media environment?
RH: I’ve always loved reading and working at magazines. Magazines are the most intimate and personal form of media that is out there—still. As the industry comes out of this vertiginous period of change and uncertainty, it’s very exciting. I’ve worked at a half a dozen magazines and I have never seen a response to any of them like with TREATS! A few days after our launch party we got a call at the office form Hugh Hefner’s secretary saying she wanted to send a messenger asap for two copies for Hef. Someone at the party told him about it. He loves it; was really just raving about it. He’s invited Steve up there a few times and now he is a regular! In fact, lots of those guys who hang out up there used to hang at the GARDEN OF ALLAH and were blown away by the article. What I think he—HEF—sees is that we’ve brought the medium and vision to a different level, a unique and invigorating product/brand for 2011 etc. And, well, he did it better than anyone back in 1955 so he knows it when he sees it, right? People like Ellen Von Unwerth, Donna Karan, Tom Ford, Shepard Fairey, Alessandra Ambrosio, Brett Ratner etc. have all been really supportive and excited about the brand. Everyday it’s someone new, it seems, ringing up, wanting to meet, talk etc. The manager of Book Soup in West Hollywood said she’s never seen a magazine sell 50 copies so fast. When we hear things like this we like to get up in the morning, even if we are hungover!
SH: What advice would you give someone wanting to start a new print magazine today?
RH: Invest in edit/content. Build a brand that transcends the magazine, and go slowly. Also, market, market, market. I mean when HBO has a new show, they market it. When Calvin Klein has a new line they market it. When Wrigley has a new gum they market it. When an indie film comes to town they market it. But magazines…well, they do nothing, really. I’m not saying spend millions on marketing but be creative. We’ve made a big move to market through Twitter and Facebook but also micro-marketing at newsstands, certain retail shops that makes sense for us, magazine and champagne signings at book stores, maybe some taxi cab stuff in NYC in the summer, London, too. I’ve never understood why magazines don’t market their products better. And, most importantly, don’t fall asleep at the wheel. Take note of Blockbuster, Friendster and My Space. Brands dead in the water; they drove right of the cliff in their fancy sports cars, stock options and hubris. In the 70s the NBA was Dead League Walking; look at it now. Adapt, adapt, adapt. It’s not survival of the fittest anymore, it’s survival of the adaptable!
SH: What are some of the pitfalls of launching a new magazine in this day and age?
RH: See above answer and inject it with steroids!
SH: Everyone is talking about a future where print and digital will live side by side. Your views please?
RH: It’s interesting, I went to visit my nephew in college and when I got to his Frat house there were magazines everywhere! Sports Illustrated, Maxim, US, Dwell, ESPN, GQ, Wired etc. I was like, Whoa, you guys read a lot of magazines. And they were like, ‘Uh, yes, we love magazines and magazines were not meant to be read on Blackberry’s or iPhones.’ Magazines are so much more than just vessels of information; they are accessories that help define who you are or who you want to be. My neighbor subscribes to MONOCLE but never reads it. One day I said to him, ‘Why do you pay $150 for a magazine you don’t read,’ and he said, ‘I like having it in my loft and I like knowing it’s there and I like looking at the ads!’ Pretty interesting statement. Would be hard to say about Perez Hilton, Pop Sugar or Tmz. We think magazine websites do two things really well: video and blogs. We have invested in both of those heavily. But the web doesn’t do long form writing and big, lush photography well—but magazines do. The web can’t sit on your coffee table or enhance you bookshelf. The marriage of photos and words on a printed page is very potent—especially put in the context of a well crafted magazine. My uncle fought in Vietnam and I asked him the other day, ‘How was the war really stopped? Was it the evening news? The protests? What? He said, ‘Still pictures and words. Life magazine. Esquire magazine.’ Obviously that was a different era and now revolutions are spearheaded by social media but great photos and words are still a powerful union.
I think the big problems for the magazine industry lately has been more of a perception, fear and hyperbole thing than the actual apocalypse of print. The publishers are scared they are going extinct so they don’t invest in their products, staff, marketing; the perception of media buyers that people don’t read or like magazines anymore; and the hyperbole of the media about the end of print. It was like the perfect storm… but also a bit of an illusion. Yes, the business model needed revamping but the desire for a great magazine hasn’t waned at all from what I can see. Every apartment or house I go to I see at the very minimum of 4 different brands of magazines: from married couples, to single friends to men, women, everything. And now with Zinio and the iPad the creative and financial possibilities are very exciting and make sense. As far as our website we will have some of the best and original video content—we have one of the best videographers in L.A. running this department—and a must read, exciting blog. We’ll create viral videos for our marketing partners that will be embedded by the most influential fashion and photography blogs in the world and, of course, on Vimeo, You Tube etc. The reason we are so bullish, really, is that now that people are beginning to understand that the same way sitcoms don’t work on the radio and radio shows—sans Howard—don’t work on TV, magazines aren’t meant to be read on mobile devices or websites, we can all get back to work creating exciting, envelope-pushing, multi-platform products that are fluid, appealing and circles that fit into circles. But what I am really interested to see is what happens when mobile devices become the primary way people use the Internet. Ever since I got a blackberry ninety percent of the time I spend of sites like Facebook or Huffington Post or IMDB is done through it so I never see ANY ads on those sites. And no one I know does, either. How do you solve this? I don’t know but somehow Steve Jobs will probably be involved in a solution, right?
SH: Thank you.
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