Can Bookazines Save Magazines?
When something you love morphs into something else...Issue #126
What do you do when something you love becomes something else? Maybe you loved the frog, but now it’s a prince. Or that job you really enjoy doing has changed because there’s new management, new procedures, a new owner? Nostalgia is a very powerful and distorting emotion. It’s a big part of our entertainment universe. It’s a powerful motivator in politics and religion.
I found myself confronting this question a month ago when I was contacted by Slate journalist Willa Paskin, who asked me to provide some background information on the world of newsstand distribution, how retail magazine sales works, and the rise of bookazines. Willa’s a lifelong magazine enthusiast and had a lot of questions about what bookazines were, how they came about, and what the future of newsstands in America looked like.
While newsstands are no longer the only thing I do in my consulting practice, it does take up a nice piece of my day. It’s what I originally trained for and because I loved it so, I originally thought it was what I would do, like, forever. I may have some nostalgia for the “old days,” but I’m also pretty clear eyed about them. Yeah, the old way of working was a lot of fun, but sometimes it was pretty, well, weird. Like really weird. If I feel any nostalgia for the “good old days”, it’s usually for the people who aren’t with us any more.
I think I feel comfortable saying this: Bookazines won’t save magazines or the newsstand. That’s because while they may look like magazines, they are not magazines. While they use newsstands, they won’t sustain the newsstand. They don’t have frequency. Their audience may be enthusiasts, but only for the topic. Magazines are created for enthusiasts of a topic AND the magazine. The bookazine financial model is to squat on the fragile bones of the old newsstand industry. The original newsstand business was pick and pack mass merchandising. It relied on a lot of local knowledge and local connections. The newsstand industry of 2024 is essentially a business run for and by a small handful of national publishers: Some are legacy, some are conglomerations of other legacy publishers. Smaller regular frequency magazines publishers that are still on the newsstand are but a tiny fraction of what’s left.
The Bookazine business isn’t bad, or immoral. How it developed isn’t terrible or some sort of odd corruption of something that was once upon a time pure or wonderful. It’s just the end result of capitalisms’ remorseless need to consolidate and monetize. You can either deal with that and find a way to make it work. Or, don’t. We always have choices. I’m kind of a practical person and years ago I personally chose to reinvent, readjust and make it work.
Take a listen to Willa’s podcast. It’s time well spent, but you won’t hear my voice. She took the topic in a really interesting direction for the episode and I am glad she did. It was fun to talk with her, but it’s even more fun to listen.
Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, work has continually reimagined itself. Maybe your grandfather worked on the line punching out bumpers at the GM plant, and your dad followed him into the factory and took over his spot. Maybe you’re working at the GM plant now. But I bet the line and the tech you’re using and the way you do your work it is far, far different. In 1995, the year the newsstand business began to mass consolidate, GM was the number one US company according to Fortune. In 2023 the number one company was Walmart. They don’t exactly punch out bumpers now, do they?
It’s the same for me. What I do in one day is incredibly different from what I did in one day five years ago, ten years ago, twenty years ago. I still work on the business side of magazine publishing. But it’s a different magazine publishing world and my responsibilities are dramatically different.
So, if you come to the realization that something you really love is now very different, ask yourself: Do you still love it? Is your time spent with it precious? Or, are you just killing time? Is there anything about it that you can still love?
In the world of magazine publishing, there’s always been the big powerhouse publishers who sucked up all the attention: Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith (now Dotdash Meredith) along with a few others who are now defunct or something else. Then there’s the smaller enthusiasts titles. The companies are smaller. Sometimes run by a single person and a handful of freelancers.
I may have always admired publishers like Hearst and Condé Nast, but my heart has always been elsewhere. And that elsewhere? It’s pretty different these days.
one__Karlie Kloss will reboot…Life Magazine?
Speaking of bookazines… Life Magazine has not been in existence as a regular frequency magazine since Time, Inc. killed its monthly version in 2000. Since then it only pops up on the newsstand as a bookazine.
Model, actor and influencer Karlie Kloss and her husband, investor Josh Kushner have purchased the publishing rights from current owner, Dotdash Meredith. Their media company, Bedford Media plans to bring the title back in print along with a digital and video component.
In 2023, Kloss’ Bedford Media acquired i-D Magazine from the collapsing Vice Media. Kloss is also an investor in BDG Media, the group that acquired W Magazine.
I’m fascinated to see what Bedford can actually come up with in a rebooted Life Magazine. Skeptical, but fascinated.
two__A happy ending for the SI saga? Or just more weirdness…
The current owner of the Sports Illustrated “brand”, Authentic Brands Group, struck a new deal last month with Minute Media to license Sports Illustrated to their company. The new publisher, Minute Media is a somewhat different animal than the previous license holder, Arena Group. While Minute Media is an amalgamation of several brands under one umbrella (Like Arena), the company has their own publishing technology which it provides to third parties.
Meanwhile, ABG has filed a suit against the former license holder, Arena Group for its allegedly “gangster” tactics which included reneging on paying their licensing fees. Not surprisingly, most of the articles that I’ve found about the current “investor” in Arena Group seem to portray management as mostly interested in cutting labor and publishing costs and inexperienced in how to actually run a publishing company.
Editor’s Note: Throughout my career, I’ve had the rare privilege of helping fledgling publishers launch their magazines. I’ve also counseled other publishers who launched a year or two earlier and now find themselves in trouble.
My advice to all of them: First, if this is a passion project, you probably won’t get rich. And, secondly, for the love of all that is righteous and holy, please read and understand your contracts.
three___Governing Magazine returns to print
When I was a Senate intern a very long time ago, I was obsessed with Governing Magazine. All these states, all these people, all trying to make things work. It does make you wonder why we spend so much time yelling at each other when all we really want is for things to actually work as advertised.
In 2019, Governing Magazine ceased their print edition as a response to the economics of print publishing. In a letter to readers posted both on their website and in the newly re-launched Spring issue, Governing’s Publisher, Cathilea Robinett acknowledges that their readers really want a print edition. The new print version will be released four times a year.
four__People Magazine is 50 Years Old
It’s a pretty big deal when a magazine reaches the mid point of middle age. When it was launched, People was something of a unicorn. There were “celebrity” magazines out there, but they didn’t have the “feel” of actual journalism. They were more like fanzines. And then there were the tabloids and I never really want to talk about those titles.
In 2010, People Magazine had a circulation of 3.5 million copies and two audited spin off titles: People En Espanol and People Stylewatch. In the most recent audit report, People claimed a circulation of 2.54 million. Considering the decline many magazines are having in circulation, that’s not a terrible story.
five__Student newspapers are alive and well? Apparently
Once upon a time I was a beat reporter and “Annex Urchin” columnist for the Classical High School Recorder. Later I served as a reporter and Advertising Manager for the Hartwick College Hilltops newspaper. So, learning that even in 2020, 70% of all high schools still had print editions was a happy statistic.
I found this quote telling:
But the idea that people are drawn to something that’s free, relevant to their community, and put right in front of them holds true. “Every issue, we all get together and take a stack of copies and pass them out,” Fella said. “Our launch day becomes this whole community event, and that’s really important and something that could never come out of a website.”
Your moment of magazine zen…
I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. Please “Like” and subscribe. You’ll get a brand new release in your email in-box most Tuesdays (Or sometimes Wednesday if things get a little hectic around here).
Want to find me on the social sites?
My Instagram link is here.
If you’re looking for me at Post.News and you can find me here on the app.
I’ve been known to put on a suit and tie and comb my hair. Here’s my LinkedInprofile if you want to see me looking all professional.
I’ve been checking out BlueSky. If you’re there and want to look me up, here’s where you might find me.
Did you get to see the eclipse last week? Did you skip out of the office (home or corporate) for a few minutes to witness the sun and moon line up? Let’s check in with, our favorite stressed out magazine media marketing team. They were hoping to get outside to see the eclipse but their new PE owners hired a new Chief Experience Officer and she had other plans for the team…
So that’s all for now. May your work week be filled with short meetings, comprehensible emails, some great PTO suggestions in your Trips Slack and drinkable coffee in the break room.
Wow, I'm old! My college boyfriend's dad worked for People here in Detroit. He was in advertising. I went to People's 'Sweet 16' party. Can't recall where it was but B.B. King was the headliner for entertainment. Several years later I started the best job I every had, working at Borders Books. I miss working with magazines! I hope you're well - Jenny Weed