The Magazine Rack

Conde Nast Portfolio Marcom Material Ad Supported

2007-03-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

So I get in the mail a dm piece from Conde Nast Portfolio that has an insert for Visa Signature credit cards smack in the middle of the dm piece pitching me as a 'charter subscriber' a special preview of the upcoming Portfolio title. Even the back cover of the marcom piece had a FP ad for Visa.

Ballsy or boneheaded? I am not sure. I do know that I spent more time evaulating that sales piece than I did any of the so called 'preview' information.

The only take away worth anything more than a puff was John Grimwade's brief article on Infographics.

Either CN is holding a lot back for their launch or there is not going to be much there-there...

FHM closes its pages in the U.S.

2006-12-13T09:55:00.000-08:00

Emap has announced that FHM will be shuttered in the U.S. To see a seven year old magazine earning 1.25 Million circ give up the race is surprising. Perhaps not as surprising considering that Mediaweek is reporting that their circ fell 3% overall and over 6% at the stand. Even more so when considering that their ad sales were down 22% in 2006. Still, how badly was this title being managed where you can't make it enough into the black on those kinds of numbers? An all or nothing strategy? Obviously there is a ton of me-tooism going on in the once hot 'laddie space'.

The Future of Mag Dispensing?

2006-11-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

It's just a mock design but nice ... in secure areas, you could buy up entire blocks to display and dispense mags ...

Astounding ... From 1930 - Now ... That's Really Astounding!

2006-11-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

Apparently while JAGWAG is all about the future of publishing (Condé Nast's PORTFOLIO is not coming out next May!), for me, apparently, it's the week of internet collection of old science fiction magazines ... This will astound you, ASTOUND has been publishing since 1930 and here is nearly every cover ...

Psst! Hey Buddy...Wanna Be An Editor At Fortune?

2006-11-01T20:28:00.000-08:00

Good grief...so Fortune has another new Managing Editor...the third top editor within six years. Andy Serwer, a Senior Editor at Large at Fortune and resident talking head at CNN, is slated to take over the helm at Fortune in a surprising move due to its low buzz prior to its announcement.

With Conde Nast poaching a lot of talent to fill their stable with experienced biz writers for the upcoming launch of Portfolio, it will be fun to watch the category slugging it out in 2007. With the relative low growth (and decline for some) among the category, which title will give up the ghost? Fast Company? Inc? BizWeek? Forbes is looking skinny and acting a bit desperate with their buying of keywords over at Google against a search like "Fortune mag"...blood in the water folks and the sharks are already circling...

How Large of a Portfolio of advertising will it have...

2006-10-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

I have received at least three "it's coming soon" notices in the mail for the biz mag due from Conde Nast...Portfolio. While it doesn't launch until May 2007 (look for it in April), the high profile of this beast is sure to make its first issue a must read. They have a video up of Eric Schmidt talking about Google's future. Find it here.

The interview by the E.I.C. disappoints in my opinion. It is pretty clear that the era of fawning over CEOs is not over if Conde Nast has anything to do with it. Throw virtual rocks at Joanne Lipman, not me, if you agree.

Amazing Cool Database of Magazines From Another Era

2006-10-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

Amazing in scope and amazing that some survived to this day ... obscure, fun, cool, bizarre ... you'll spend hours perusing ...

From the Author's "About Us."

"The idea behind the magazine lists started many years ago when I started writing bibliographies for sf authors (such as James Blish and Clifford Simak) who had published extensively outside the genre and realised that, while the world of sf/fantasy/horror magazines was fairly well documented, things were very different in the outside world. Not only were there typically no indexes for other genres (such as westerns or sports magazines), but nobody even seemed to know quite which issues of which magazines existed."

MacAddict to Become Mac | Life

2006-10-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

Future - clearly knee deep in meetings have also announced that MacAddict will become Mac | Life - yes, with bar in the title - perhaps becoming the first mainstream magazine in America with a "bar" in the title. MacObserver reports readership is down 10,000 - and we're not talking Good Housekeeping numbers to begin with so ... MacAddict was getting a big tired and very thin so hopefully, they will wake up deliver for readers and advertisers MacAddict 2.0 ... a competitor MacHome also closed earlier this year as a magazine - website still lives on ... so while Mac sales themselves are blazing ... it's that damn pesky internet again ...

Ad Age Selects 41 Worst Covers Last 41 Years

2006-10-23T23:08:00.000-07:00

Hard to argue with the choices so far.

Will Future Need To Stop Wearing Shades?

2006-10-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

The future at Future US is not as bright as it once was. They recently announced to pull the plug on four magazines - two shelter mags that couldn't hang with the big dogs, one women's sports pub, and a new launch that just hit the one year mark - are all on the midden heap.

While this pullback is not as dramatic as the one seen in late 2000 when their golden teat known as Business 2.0 shriveled and shrank (prompting the closing of 10 titles and pink slipped hundreds worldwide), it is curious to this observer whether this is a trend we can expect to see from them every five years?

Their video game titles, such as PC Gamer and PSM, continue to shrink and their recent ad page counts in the November 2006 issues are slim considering two new platforms are launching. Indicative of the aging gamer demographic? Or something else?

[KC] They are keeping PREGNANCY - maybe if they changed it to VIRTUAL PREGNANCY or SECOND LIFE PREGNANCY, gamers would get it.

Radar Online Takes on the Masthead Pics

2006-10-05T15:17:00.000-07:00

Damn - they beat me to it - From RADAR ONLINE. I thought about doing such a piece but I'm lazy ... nice feature on those soft glow editor/publisher/ chief "casual-seemingly off the cuff" photo that represents all that I am hard on facts but soft on life ... that I'm rakish, glamorous and all egghead sexy but really, I'm all about being your advocate ... and never mind it took 40 rolls, 7 stylists and 8 filters to make me look like Clooney's brother or Rachel McAdams slightly older sister.

Harvard: We're Fun Also!

2006-10-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

Harvard (the school ;-) is not all just about Business or rowing, it's about keeping it real with "fans." (they already have an alumni mag)

They're launching a new Harvard lifestyle mag called 02138 - not quite as catchy as 90210 and apparently technically, most of the colleges are not really in zip code 02138 but who's going to argue with an endowment larger than some countries GNP.

The first issue features the Harvard 100 - not by income but by Harvard hotness ... whatever that may be ... though shocker, Peggy Lipton's daughter (first issue cover) is attractive - without or without a shirt :-)

On the Newsstands - Who's Hot

2006-09-16T22:35:00.000-07:00

See, when you sell a subscription for $400 a year and you're not peddling medical studies, the upside is people who used to read People now read you also ... do we need a new word for "reading' when all you do is look at pictures and no words have more than 2 syllables (celeb kids names excepted?).

IN TOUCH is #2 on the newsstands in the battle of celeb mags.

MEN'S HEALTH (the shirtless mag) is claiming they have usurped MAXIM as #1 on the newsstand - MAXIM says, "We have not been surped and for God's sake, put your shirt back on!"

MySpace: We Need to Kill Some Trees

2006-09-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

As someone who welcomes any new magazine on any subject ... well, almost anything ... I can only hope that whomever is the throw-bleach-in-our-eyes- creative-designer behind MySpace does not go anywhere near the proposed magazine ...

From AdAge:

"MySpace is actively considering whether to launch an ink-on-paper magazine to complement its insanely popular and remarkably valued online property. The editorial mix would likely cover standout MySpace members and their interests, from music to their social scenes. ..."

Hummina, hummina, hummina...SOLD!

2006-09-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

So Time Inc. is going to sell off 18 titles. And some of the old standys are in this group: Field & Stream, Parenting, even Popular Science.

We think this is good for the magazine business. Out of 18 titles at least one senior manager is going to say, "Screw it! I am going to get a sugar daddy and launch my own magazine!"

Granted one or two new launches might come of this and while they won't be on the scale of Conde's Portfolio, we could use something cool like Make or Paste.

It's Cool, It's So Hip It Hurts ... It's Only Online

2006-09-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

Fashion156.com is another trust-fund way too cool Euro fashion mag - only it's only online...

The Future of Print News

2006-09-09T23:38:00.000-07:00

Maybe when ePaper is perfected along with WiFi Max, here's what your newspaper will look like ...

NEWSMAP

Not A Bad Idea, Just Bizarro Choices

2006-09-09T23:23:00.000-07:00

From the NY Times, some publishers are trying to get college student hooked on their books by offering them free PDF/Digital versions ... not a terrible idea but instead of actually giving students a real choices, clearly whomever made these choices is a marketing genius who graduated from the School of Obvious Marketing ... sometime in the 1930's ...

"The School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California will get Premiere; the Parsons School of Design, Elle; the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies, Foreign Policy; the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University BusinessWeek; and Notre Dame’s college of engineering, Popular Mechanics."

What no farming mags for people at A&M schools or Bass Fishing for Gulf Coast students ...

Damn, Is It September Already?

2006-09-04T23:04:00.000-07:00

Like the other coast friends, I prefer to take August off.

It's all very civilized - even if it means being stripped search at Teterborough, and your evening ends trying to read the If-I'm-passed-out directions tattooed on Lohan's back ... now, the fun & games are over and it's back to the blog.

Relaunch Cracked? Are they Mad?

2006-08-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

An investor group that bought out the assets of Cracked is releasing their first issue on the stands today for $3.99. This appears to not be your daddy's Cracked of half baked cartoons and satire. This has some money behind it and from what they are sharing on their web site, they have some talent lined up to write for it too including one of my favorites from MST3K - Mike Nelson!

Launched ... 2006. So Far ...

2006-07-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

Here are the notable launches so far for 2006 - only listed if there's a website, frankly if you launch a magazine in 2006 without a website, step away from mimeograph machine, get back on your donkey and ride back into the 20th century ...

Most of the launches seems to have a point which is a good thing - during the last internet boom, there were plenty of vanity projects that had no real point ... there are still some just in it for launch parties and to have ego boost photos on the masthead but most are legit and interesting enough ... in this day and age, that might not be enough to make a go of it but we could use all the idiosyncratic launches we can get our hands on ...

Looks Pretty Good:

108 - Baseball Nostalgia
Adorn - Crafting (cool looking design)
Atlanta Peach - Atlanta style/fashion (from the geniuses of OCEAN DRIVE)
Atlantan - Atlanta style/fashion (apparently, it is Hotlanta)
Arts & Crafts Homes - Architecture Art & Crafts (classy looking)
Beckett Elite - High End Sports Memorabilia
Beckett Massive Online Gamer - Online Multiplayer Video Games
Bene - Italian Design & Style (very cool looking!)
Blueprint - Martha Stewart's Architecture/Design
Chicago LifeStyle - city mag, not quite world class yet
Delicious - UK foodie
Fair Game - Women Soccer
Fairways & Greens - West Coast Golf & Travel
Form & Style - Plus Size Women Fashion & Style
Hallmark - If you have a cable network, you have to have a print companion
HouseDIY - Somewhere between REAL SIMPLE and THIS OLD HOUSE
ID3 Podcast Magazine - Podcast
Illiterate - Art/Poetry
Imbibe - Mixed Drinks
ImagineFX - SciFi EFX (with DVD)
Innovative Home - Architecture & Design
Conveyer - Hip Jersey City mag
Lemon - Another hip art.culture downtown mag
Massive - The other massively multiplayer online video gaming mag
Melangé - Sexy Lifestyle
MissBehave - Hip Girl's Teen Lifestyle
New York Front Desk - City Lifestyle
Ocean Home - Aspirational
Pulse - Not the defunct Tower mag, sexy fashion lifestyle
QuinceGirl - Spanish Sweet 16 Quinceanera's Celebration
Radiant - Stylish Young Women Lifestyle
Relish - Nice looking food mag - will they relish the tough competition?
SacTown - Nice classy name for Sacramento city mag
Savvy Mommy - Hip motherhood
She Knows - Cooking/recipes
Shop Smart - Consumer Reports for young women
Stone - Lifestyle, fashion
Smash - Tennis Mag Jr ... though isn't everyone in tennis underaged now?
Vox - Long Island/Hampton hip lifestyle
What's Next - High End Lifestyle & Travel
World Bride - Brides of 'Color'
You-Tu - Latino Lifestyle & Fashion

Looks Interesting Though Not My Cup of Tea:

3V - Christian GQ
A Public Space - Art & Culture
Baseball Youth - Little League/Youth Baseball
BassFan - The Sport of Professional Bass Fishing
Beer Advocate - No Beer mag has succeeded so far ...
Bella - Spanish Women's Fashion
Breath of God - Christian Young Women
Christian Professional - Christian Fast Company
Civilian Job News - Career mag for military to civilian life
CNBC Euro Business - Business Mag (Surprisingly weak design)
Crawl - Jeep mod mag
Create the Dream - Candle, Soap & Herbal crafting
Creative Techniques - A HOW magazine for design creating 'pop art.'
Crier - Art (artist designs each issue)
Draft - The better looking but will probably fail like the first 25 beer magazine ...
EAT: Exotic Adventure Travel - Attempt at Maxim Travel - not quite there
Equine Wellness - Horses
Fertility Today - No smarmy comments
Gift Shop Mag - Trade mag of notable new merchandise for Gift Shop Owners
Golf Magazine Living - Golf Real Estate Development
Green Builder - Trade mag for "Green" Developers
GreenSource - "Green" Construction
Heart Healthy Living - Food & Health mag (weak design)
Hope for Women - Christian Young Women
Hunting Camp Journal - For Hunting Property Owners
Full Size Jeep Magazine - For Cherokee owners only
Jamaican Eats - Nice looking food & travelogue mag
Journal of Christian Youth Ministry - Title pretty says it all
Junk Market Style Decorating - Is this something people really want on their coffee table?
Kitchen Mag - Is there a room without its own mag?
Kokoro - Martial Arts
LRL - Land rover Lifetstyle
Lidia's Italy Shopping - Tie in to KQED Chef
Maximum Fitness - Guess Minimum Fitness folded
MedicaLife - Lifestyle Mag for Doctors
Nine - Girl's Teen Fashion
North Virginia - America's 2000th City Mag?
Poker Life - Texas Hold 'Em
Positive Thinking - Mental/Physical Health
Real Fighter - You better be one to wear the t-shirt in public that they also sell.
Scale & RC Boat - RC Watercraft
Shattered - Women Business
Shereese Hair & Beauty - Hair & um, beauty
Shock - Most controversial launch of 2006
Sister, Inc. - African American Business Women
Standout - Gay/Lesbian
Success - CEO Business magazine
Sweet Tea - Northwest Florida ... Porches
Tapout - Ultimate Fighter (cool logo - most other mags could learn something!)
Traditional Lowriding - Website placeholder ... so far, SFW ... Next Week? :-)
TrueGirl - Christian Girl
Urban Savvy - Urban Lifestyle
WakeSurfing - Wakesurfers
Web 2.0 Journal - for Web 2.0 Designers & Webmasters
Wicked Act - Dancehall Reggae
WonderTime - Parenting

Me'h (We're Just Here for The Classifieds and Plastic Surgery Ads):

BoomNC - Retirement in North Carolina (could use a real designer)
Generations Hawaii - Hawaii Retirement (seriously needs re-design)
Golf Events - Golf Corporate Outings (weak design)
Helen - Lafayette, Indiana Women
Internet Genealogy - Was this designed on an Amiga?
Jorrest Teen - Vanity project?
iSalsa - Salsa
Movmnt - Urban Lifestyle (cheap looking)
Nightlyfe - Too hip to spell correctly - too much flash to let anyone in ...
St. Mary's - Some city somewhere ...
Texas Family - For parents in Texas
Today's Groom - So far, there's been 10 attempts to get grooms to care ...

Single Magazines For Sale

2006-07-29T21:49:00.000-07:00

If you don't live a giant news-stand, here's another place to get individual copies of mags ... though it seems to be designed in 1998 and for the life of me, I could not figure out how to actually order from this place ...

Int'l Herald Tribune: The Audio Version

2006-07-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

The International Herald Tribune is offering an interesting feature - free for its readers ... er, listeners:

Step 1: Select any news section or individual article to add it to your podcast. You can even create custom filters for your favorite topics.

Step 2: When you're finished AudioNews will create a custom podcast URL based on your selections.

Step 3: Use iTunes, Juice, or your favorite podcast software to download AudioNews directly to your PC or portable media player.

BabyTalk Controversy

2006-07-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

Babytalk scares readers with photo of giant baby and a curved portion of our largest organ ...

MySpaced Out: ElleGirl & TeenPeople Drop Out

2006-07-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, ElleGirl announced it was dropping out of the teen rat race - today surprisingly Time Inc decided to close up TeenPeople - only two months after hiring a new editor and "looking forward."

Both will live on as websites.