May 2009

Connecting Print Pages to the Online World

Ever heard of QR codes? If you’re in publishing, you might be familiar with them very soon. It’s a new technology that’s being used in Japanese and European publications and is making its way to the U.S. How does it work? Get ready for this: a two-dimensional barcode-like image (like the one seen here) is [...]

Another Publishing Revenue Stream: The iPhone App

With advertising revenues down, publishers are increasingly investigating non-advertising ways to bring in additional revenue, such as raising subscription and newsstand pricing and cutting rate bases, like New York just did this week. Another small light at the end of the tunnel comes in the form of the iPhone, as iPhone applications created by – [...]

Cover Art Created On … An iPhone?

Check this out. Artist Jorge Colombo drew this week’s New Yorker magazine cover on his iPhone, using a $5 application called Brushes. He simply stood outside Madame Tussaud’s in Times Square and cranked it out in an hour. Check out the video of the cover being created, step by step, here. People passing him in [...]

Launch: Get Married Magazine

Get Married, a wedding planning resource company that encompasses a website and shows on Lifetime Television, just announced the launch of a third platform: a semi-annual glossy national magazine. The first issue, scheduled to publish in October, is tagged as a “new shopping and trend guide for the savvy bride.” The first several issues will [...]

Kindle me This, Kindle me That

Thumbnail image for Kindle me This, Kindle me That

In the last few weeks, a lot questions have been raised about Amazon’s new big-screen Kindle, the DX. Will it really change the magazine industry, as we know it? Will people really pay $489 for an e-reader with no color? How will it compare to the adorable but not-a-major-brand Plastic Logic? Will Amazon really be [...]

Magazines Go 3-D

Who wouldn’t love a magazine you can wear? Or hang on your wall? Or Frisbee around in a park? Well, now you can get all those things, as publishers are pushing the print boundaries more and more and turning their magazines into useful, beautiful new 3-D manifestations. A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted a [...]

Launch: Modern

The art world is in distress. Galleries are going months without selling anything. But Brant Publications is still launching a new quarterly print magazine about modern art, design and collecting, called Modern. The publisher of Interview magazine told FOLIO that the new pub will be mailed to subscribers of Brant’s two art magazines: The Magazine [...]

Study: Online Video Ad Spending in the US will Pass the $1 Billion Mark in 2011.

This is BIG news for publishers who have professionally produced video content online. According to MAGNA Global, a research division of the Interpublic Group, online video ad spending in the US will pass the $1 billion mark in 2011. MAGNA estimates that the market for online video ads will reach $699 million this year, a [...]

Martha Stewart Will Test Paid Online Video Downloads

Martha Stewart Omnimedia announced yesterday that the company will test a new model and start charging for online video downloads of Stewart’s archived TV show episodes and segments. An MSLO rep added that the paid video downloads will be an addition to its revenue stream and that the company is still committed to its free, [...]

Launch: LAetcetera

The Los Angeles Times Media Group is launching LAetcetera, a new weekly spin-off from the team that produces LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine. Debuting this Sunday, LAetcetera will offer readers original LA-style cover stories and exclusive versions of select popular features in a weekly format. The magazine will also introduce the “Private Party” page with [...]

This Month's FOLIO: "Give Print a Chance"

This month’s issue of FOLIO magazine features a column by TMG’s very own Jane Ottenberg. Titled “Give Print a Chance,” the piece explains how hype, not reality, is hurting the print business. Take a look, and tell us your thoughts. Jane also used the space in FOLIO to launch a campaign to fight back against [...]

Nielson Study: Online Video Ups Engagement

According to a new Neilson study, the leading online categories (shopping, directories, guides and services) are taking a backseat to social media and online video as users now treat the internet differently. “Time spent on social networks and video sites has increased astronomically,” says Charles Buchwalter, SVP, research and analytics, Nielsen Online. According to Nielson, [...]

Launch: Mamaista

In the spirit of Daily Candy, every girl’s favorite e-newsletter, comes Mamaista, a national e-daily for style-conscious moms that helps “savvy, recessionista mamaistas” find products and services for babies, tykes, and tots. A team of mothers from across the country road-tests new products and services, and Mamaista delivers one a day directly to the inboxes [...]

Magazine Subscription Prices Are Rising

With ad revenues sinking lower and lower, what’s going to save the freebie magazines that have solely relied on that cash flow? According to an article in this week’s Newsweek, the answer might no longer be found in the price of ad space, but it perhaps it can be found in the price of the [...]

Magazines’ Valuable Content is Becoming, Well, Valuable

There’s little doubt that times are tough in magazine publishing right now. With ad revenues sinking lower and lower, what’s going to save the freebie magazines that have solely relied on that cash flow? According to an article in this week’s Newsweek, the answer might no longer be found in the price of ad space, [...]