For many years, Folio: and Readex Research have conducted a survey of magazine production professionals—noting their preferences and tendencies on the subject of creating a finished product. As the magazine industry struggles with technological and financial chaos, it is important to hold the proclamations of industry pundits (including this writer) at arm’s length, and look for data supporting actual change.
After more than 140 responses, what can we conclude from the answers of Media Decoder readers to the question, What magazine do you miss the most? Gourmet, which published its last issue in November 2009, was the dearest of the dearly departed—appearing in more than a quarter of the comments left, a reaction that mirrored that huge response Media Decoder received when it reported the news about the magazine’s closing.
Other top contenders for most missed magazine included Spy, Talk, George, McCall’s and House and Garden. (Bird Talk, which stopped printing this month, got a few shout-outs as well.)
The niche magazine for the performing arts community, Backstage, has redesigned its print publication and website in an effort to stay ahead of its competition and a bit ahead of the curve—a move that seems to be working, so far.
The print publication will go from a tabloid size of 11.5x15˝, to a 9x10.875˝ book. The magazine will have an increased paper quality with a glossy interior and cover stock. According to Amato, readers were asking for a smaller product so it could be easily transported to casting calls and auditions.
The print publication is also more integrated with the digital presence.
According to the American Forest & Paper Assn.’s latest report, total printing-writing paper shipments decreased 3 percent last month compared to July 2011. Shipments of coated mechanical papers posted the only year-over-year increase among the four major grades. U.S. purchases (demand) of printing-writing papers also decreased by 4 percent in July.
Reading the Bible used to mean reading a book, but increasingly, people are getting the Word on smartphones, iPads and other electronic devices. So then, what will happen to the printed Bible? The last word has not been written on that, but experts speculate that its unchallenged reign is over.
“The Bible is sort of the flagship of the printed book culture,” said Timothy Beal, author of “The Rise and Fall of the Bible.” “The printed word is losing its place as the dominant medium for reading.”
He pointed to the traditional family Bible as evidence of the decline in printed Bibles
Students don't seem to want to buy e-textbooks. So some schools are simply forcing them. Typically, students don't save much when opting to buy an e-textbook. For example, an organic chemistry e-textbook costs about $100, while the print version costs just $15 more.
Indiana University was the first college to pilot a program three years ago by making students buy the e-textbook in selected courses. Five more universities have adopted similar programs: University of California-Berkeley, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, University of Virginia and Cornell University.
For UW senior Leslie Epstein, having to buy an e-textbook only added to her expenses.
A study carried out by research company Campbell River found that people were more than three times as likely to donate after being contacted by direct mail than by email. Donors in the 40-59 categories are the most responsive to direct mail.
For a plugged-in generation, college kids have old-school tastes in textbooks. Even as more publishers offer the choice of buying eBooks for classes, students would rather lug around printed textbooks. “We have found that digital textbooks are still not as popular with students,” said Charles Schmidt, spokesman for the National Association of College Stores.
While the price of eBooks can be 60 percent to 70 percent of the paper version, a NACS poll found that 74 percent of students still want print.
That’s because most eBooks are simply PDF files of the print book, and renting the paper version is still cheaper
Brides is ratcheting back its print brand and investing more in its digital presence with a mobile-enhanced website. The 300,000-circ magazine is dropping down to a bimonthly frequency and the site will become fully mobile compatible and feature new tools and functionality to drive more engagement.
The magazine’s last monthly issue will be December.
The magazine has been struggling on the newsstand and with advertising. Single copy sales are down 28 percent in the first half compared to the same period last year, per ABC—a contributing factor to the frequency change...ad pages are down about 11 percent through July.
I contend that VDP was commoditized before it was widely adopted. In much the same way the stock market succumbed to what Greenspan famously described as “irrational exuberance,” so too did our appetite for shiny new digital objects.
