Clare Cook

A week in the life of mags, and there's plenty of doom - and bloom.

Monkey is apparently going from strength to strength. Would be good to have a think about why...

However, there's a down turn for Conde Nast. Portfolio and Men's Vogue are having staffing levels cut as well as plans to cut the number of publications. Men's Vogue will all-but disappear... When you read about Fast Company and Forbes merging their magazine and digital staffs, it's going to be the norm very soon.

But there's always a new 'release' to lighten the mood.

After a substantial PR effort, PMc, the first magazine designed only for the iPhone, is now available in the iTunes store. Rather than a brand extension of an existing title, instead it’s a brand-new fashion and style magazine from photographer Patrick McMullan. How this will pan out is anyone's guess but there's meant to be a new issue every two weeks.

Publisher Michael Prenez-Isbell’s said it was “the first browser ever built that incorporates advertising into the browser model from the start.”

“There’s no scrolling because we think that interferes with reading the magazine. Books and magazines don’t scroll… Starting soon we’ll have new interactive content, new kinds of ads and we’ll be mixing daily and static content - every week day (sic), two sections will be refreshed: PMc Social… and PMc Daily, our fresh feed of beauty, health, fashion and events.”

Anyone got one? Anyone planning the same or doing the same for the Nokia?

 

Welcome in - magazines open up

Building community. It is what my research with Haymarket is all about. And it is the debate that is on everyone's minds: content was king but community and communication are now queen.

And there are plenty of good examples where the barriers are coming down.

Hello dipping their toe in the UGC ocean with user generated blogs.

And Marie Claire in America looking at a behind the scenes documentary called Running In Heels is another.

Editor-in-chief Joanna Coles said it

" would offer unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to Marie Claire and the stylish, smart women who put the magazine together each month. There's sure to be lots of drama to interest viewers."

But my favourite this week has to be Ammunition putting the chance to be a cover star on eBay, according to Magforum. Why not? This isn't just a stunt but is a mightly old size ten step on the road to users and the 'audience' becoming part of this coveted world everyone has secretly been glamourising for years. The Devil Wears Prada proved its popularity.

The only down side to the gravy train of reality insight is the price tag.

Want to be on the cover of a magazine? The catch? The starting bid is £7,000!

Magazines are art not paper

The major shift in media right now always has one thing at its heart: digital capacities mean that 'paper' as we know it as a publishing tool is becoming increasingly less popular.

Local newspapers are heading over to mobile phones if you follow the examples of Trinity Mirror and the like.

Publishers are increasingly interested in readers: there are too many to mention but Sony Reader and Kindle spring to mind.

So how now brown cow if we focus on making the paper we do use in print all the more interesting and special.

The latest offering from the Brooklyn-based Journal of Popular Noise is a project that makes the most of both print and of that much maligned other ‘disappearing’ technology, the vinyl record.

Published twice a year, it comprises a fold out poster/magazine that holds three 45rpm records.

Edgy and interesting it is a lesson to everyone in publishing to not only think out of the box but thinik whether there does indeed have to be a box.

Praise goes to the designers who are also doing wonderful things with the classic format.

Anyone who got their mits on the e-ink edition of Esquire: the display is the same technology used in the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader.

This was the first time it has been used in a magazine cover, however.

It's exciting to think about what is out there for the taking...

Magazines as an experience

I've long believed that magazines are well placed to have a long and celebrated future, in print and online, thanks to the simple fact that they already play out to the long tail.

Tim Holmes wrote a post on it a while back and it really struck a note with me: Chris Anderson was absolutely right and fragmented media means that anyone appealing to smaller audiences will surely thrive.

So it stands to reason that retailers who are prepared to tap into what they are and not what they could be will stand out.

Step forward Mag Nation.

mag nation is the world’s first and only magazine superstore. With a growing number of bricks and mortar retail stores in Australia and New Zealand stocking over 4,000 magazine titles, they have the largest range of mainstream and special interest magazines in the galaxy.

No need to get into copyright issues like mygazines. Just plain, old-fashioned marketing: right product at the right place.

The mag nation Land of Mags website allows you to subscribe to both popular and special interest magazine titles. Magazine subscriptions can also be bought over the counter at our retail stores. The Land of Mags is also creating a magazine community centred around magazine culture. Members can sign up to our newsletter, and best of all, create their own coffee table to store their favourite mags, share them with friends, and invite comment.

They've won too many awards for me to argue.

Find me a store this side of the ocean.