A look at the world of magazine media - Issue #9
Is it just me, or does July feel like an incredibly long month?
Out here in the flatlands by the lake, July is a not so subtle prequel to the roasting, humid hot mess that is August. This year things have felt very different as the temperatures have cycled all over the place. We've seen everything from cool, blue sky mornings to roasting hot evenings that end with torrential downpours. We're wrapping up the month with quite the flourish: High 90's, high humidity. It feels like if you breath, you will drown.
So close the blinds, crank up the AC. Let's log in and see what's new.
#1 How many t-shirts did you sell off your site?Nice! Future PLC did nearly $1Billion in affiliate sales in 2020
Future PLC drove nearly $1 billion in e-commerce sales in 2020 — digiday.com Future PLC’s 2020 e-commerce business boom drove nearly a billion dollars of e-commerce revenue for its affiliate partners in 2020.
Just when you were starting to feel confident in your e-commerce capabilities, Digiday chimes in with this jaw-dropping stat!
I've watched the growth of Future off and on over the years and recall first coming across their titles in my local B&N store. My impression of them has clearly changed. I used to think of Future as this off-beat publisher of interesting niche magazines. But clearly now, they are so much more.
Check out their corporate site and you'll see what I mean...
Future Plc - Connectors, Creators, Experience Makers — www.futureplc.com We are Future plc, a global multi-platform media company. Every day, we connect over 120 million people worldwide with their passions.
#2 Further evidence that there is a magazine for every niche interest. A Pickleball lifestyle magazine is on it's way
Pickleball craze inspires new lifestyle magazine — nypost.com Publishing veteran Dick Porter of Meredith has teamed up with magazine designer J. Armus to launch In Pickleball, a new sports-lifestyle magazine aimed at fans of the fast-growing game.
Back in the day when I worked at a big sports publisher, we used to say "First to market wins." I wonder if that works now as we wind our way through the third decade of this century. That's a great cover and I wish Dick Porter well. But I wonder what will happen should his former employer or one of the other big guns out there decide to hop into the Pickleball niche?
#3 Substack pivots to podcasts. When will you? Pivot to podcasts, that is.
Exclusive: Substack makes first major podcast investment — www.axios.com The platform is providing strategic backing for a new podcast network.
I mean, it's not like your company isn't doing enough already with the writing, editing, producing print, producing digital, producing video, producing live events, selling advertising, selling print copies and subscriptions, mentoring, managing traffic...
#4 The future of local journalism. The relationship between local journalists and their public
Journalists & the people. Social Spider CIC’s Managing Director… | by Start Spreading the News | Jul, 2021 | Medium — startspreadingnews.medium.com Social Spider CIC’s Managing Director, David Floyd, with the fourth in a series of blogs on the future of local journalism — and how it doesn’t have to be rubbish The fourth of these blogs moves from…
While not directly magazine related, this is a fascinating blog on Medium from UK based Social Spider CIC, a community newspaper and research firm.
I don't know if there's a direct answer to the question. How do you close the gap between the resources needed to report local news, and the desire (if it actually exists) by the community to read about their community. But it's a question we need to answer. Especially if we wish to be governed wisely.
Do regional magazines fill the gap created by the local news vacuum?
#5 Let's end with a smile: Alabama bookstore starts "Pen Pal" program with Mississippi bookstore.
Wetumpka bookstore starts pen pal program with Laurel, Mississippi residents | News | thewetumpkaherald.com — www.thewetumpkaherald.com Downtown Wetumpka's Sweet Home Books is teaming up with a Laurel, Mississippi bookstore to offer a pen pal program to area residents.
I mean, how can you not smile when you read this! How can you not want to go down to your local indie bookstore (You know how to find one, right?) and ask them to start something like this?
Your moment of Magazine Zen, and your moment of Magazine Agita
