It's Tuesday: And we're OOO
This time, there's nothing placed in front of the magazine rack - Issue #97
Summer is finally here and I’m out of the office, for a little while. No subs to manage, no newsstand print orders to wrangle, no comp lists to send back with the query “Did you really mean to do this?” (Don’t ask).
Truth be told, this was written a few days before publication day, so I’ve been out of the office and won’t be back for a little while longer (Maybe you are too?). So, instead of sharing some stories and articles, let’s take a look at the picture I took below. It was on our first full day of vacation and we were shopping for some groceries for a camping trip.
This is the mainline rack in a Safeway store in a pretty large, diverse neighborhood far away from my home in the flatlands. In case you were ever wondering what the impact of “Bookazines” (aka Special Interest Publications, aka SIPS) were on the print side of the newsstand? Well here’s one way to view it.
There are somewhere between 90-100 unique magazines on this smaller sized mainline rack. At best there are maybe seven regular frequency (Released four times or more) titles.
All the links in the chain that make up the newsstand side of the business (Publisher, national distributor, wholesaler, retailer) are in an interesting Catch-22 position. How do you replace the lost revenue from the major mass market titles that no longer sell like major mass market titles? One solution: Produce low frequency, high cover price, single editorial focus SIPS. What happens when you publish a lot of SIPS? Regular frequency, niche and general interest magazines that have lower cover prices and sell fewer copies get pushed out of the small and medium sized mainline racks and into the fewer in number larger mainline racks. Even in those roomier yet less numerous retailers, the regular frequency magazines may find themselves in the second or third row, bottom tier.
I’ve seen similar at check out racks where the SIPs are pushing the regular frequency titles out.
This is not the end of the world. But it is a brave new, somewhat diminished one. The challenges for the remaining mid-level titles from smaller publishers is immense and often intense. Does this “new” system work? That depends on who you are. Is it terrible? That also depends on who you are. Is it worth the effort? Yep, that depends on who you are.
I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. If you did, please give it a boost by clicking on the like button. You can subscribe, too. You’ll get a brand new release in your email in-box every Tuesday (Or sometimes Wednesday if things get a little hectic around here).
Want to find me on the social sites?
My Instagram link is here.
I’m now hanging out at Post.News and you can find me here on this new app.
Every now and then I get to put on a suit and tie and comb my hair. Here’s my LinkedIn profile if you want to see me looking all well-groomed and professional.
I’m still on Twitter. You can find me here, but I’m not spending much time there.
That’s all I’ve got for you this week. Welcome back after a long weekend! Maybe? Don’t forget to block off some time on your calendar to avoid those long meetings. Guess what? I hear Jenny from Accounting has some really great pics on the Trips Slack. Check out the breakroom. I hear there’s pizza.
