iPad Magazines Doomed To Fail?

From PC Magazine:


"When the iPad debuted last April, it was hailed as the knight in shining armor for the print industry. But magazines haven't exactly been rescued just yet, and a recent report from Women's Wear Daily (WWD) showed a steep drop in iPad magazine sales. While most major consumer magazines now have an app for the iPad, the whole concept has yet to take off.


"The main obstacle: No subscription model exists, which is the chief roadblock in the developing relationship.

"Everyone has to agree on what they want to share, pricing models, and revenue models," says Sara Öhrvall, head of research and development for Bonnier. "We're eager to launch subscriptions because if we look at consumer feedback, one of the most common complaints is that they have to pay every time they buy an issue."

"Öhrvall says magazine apps from Bonnier, which publishes such titles as TransWorld Snowboarding, Popular Science, and Parenting, have been well-received, but would benefit from a subscription model."

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YumSugar Announces Favorite Food Magazines

YumSugar, a web site featuring news and information on recipes, menus, food and wine, has announced the results of a poll they conducted to determine their readers' favorite food magazines.

Congratulations go to Food Network Magazine for taking the top honors from YumSugar by claiming 29% of overall votes.  Runners up to the top spot include Food & Wine and Bon Apetit.

Food Network magazine has grown in popularity, and according to the readers at YumSugar, in quality since its debut in 2008.  Featuring articles and recipes from the chefs that viewers love to learn from on the Food Network, the magazine has become popular amongst foodies who are looking for more information about the food that interests them, as well as the style of cooking they prefer.

Food Network Magazine serves as a compliment to the shows that air on the popular cable network, providing more information on the recipes the celebrity chefs display, as well as providing a chance to interact with the chefs through the magazine's web site.  Chefs like Bobby Flay, Sandra Lee and other Food Network stars are featured regularly in the Food Network Magazine.

Time Inc. Installs New Senior Management

From: Media Decoder:

The young tenure of Jack Griffin as chief executive of Time Inc. continued to take shape on Wednesday as Mr. Griffin appointed several new senior deputies and split two of the company’s largest magazine segments into separate divisions.

Time Inc. has spun off its lucrative sports unit, which publishes Sports Illustrated, from its news division and created two new entities to be led by executives who will report directly to Mr. Griffin.

“I believe that in the media business today, organizing around market segments and audiences is the right way to do things,” Mr. Griffin said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “So the formation of a discrete sports group and a discrete news group essentially cements that.”

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Sergio Aragonés: The method behind MAD Magazine

One day in late 1962, Sergio Aragonés showed up at the offices of MAD magazine, portfolio in hand. He wanted the editors of the hallowed humour magazine to look at his work. Taking pity on the young cartoonist, an associate editor thumbed through Aragonés” clippings, expecting to find nothing worth publishing. But, impressed by what he saw, the editor took Aragonés” work to the art director, who in turn took it to the editor-in-chief, Al Feldstein. Before he’d left the office, Aragonés had a cheque from publisher Bill Gaines in his pocket.

His first cartoon, “A MAD Look at the U.S. Space Effort,” appeared in the January 1963 issue, and over the subsequent five decades thousands of Aragonés’ drawings, sketches, cartoons and comics have appeared in its pages, from his regular “A MAD Look at …” commentary on modern life, to his small “marginals,” which exist on the periphery of the page.

Read more: http://arts.nationalpost.com/2010/12/21/sergio-aragones-the-method-behind-mad/#ixzz18lzfOeTp

Mags4Cheap $5 Off Special Ends Soon!

Mags4Cheap has offered a special coupon deal for several months, but it is now coming to an end.  On January 1st, 2011 (1/1/11), the coupon code special will expire.

Hundreds of customers have taken advantage of the coupon special, featured on the web site:

http://www.mags4cheap.com/magazines/specials.php

By simply choosing a magazine from the specials page, and using the coupon code 5off during the checkout process, customers have been able to save 50% on their magazine order.

Holiday shoppers have welcomed the ability to shop for their friends and relatives far from home, and save money in the process.  With Mags4Cheap, they can order a magazine subscription for the people on their Gift List, and send a free gift e-card to announce it.   Using the coupon, they are able to select popular magazine titles such as Parents, Weight Watchers and Redbook.

On January 1st, 2011 the coupon code will no longer be valid. Holiday shoppers have only a few days left to take advantage of this special deal!

Mark Zuckerburg is Time Magazine’s Person of the Year

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg has been named as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. Time Magazine awards this honor to anyone who made a huge influence to the year’s events.

Do you think Mark Zuckerburg was able to have that kind of influence to this year’s occurrences? I definitely think so! His social networking site he developed affects the lives of millions of people everyday ever since it came into existence.

During his announcement of the Person of the Year award on the “Today” show, Time editor Richard Stengel said, “The scale of Facebook is something that this transforming our lives. It’s not just a new technology. It’s social engineering. It’s changing the way we relate to each other. I actually think it’s affecting human nature in a way that we have never even seen before.”

There’s no doubt Mark Zuckerburg has come so far since 2004 when he first developed his web service in his dorm. Now at 26 years old, he is one of the youngest billionaire in the world.

http://www.waleg.com/archives/021652.html

Mags4Cheap Has Relaunched!

The Mags4Cheap web site has been relaunched under new management and staff, and is dedicated to providing the best pricing and customer service for magazine subscriptions.  Part of this relaunch is a new fulfillment center, which submits subscription orders to the publishers quickly, guaranteeing the fastest delivery possible in the industry.

The new management is dedicated to earning the business of repeat customers.  There are no automatic renewals of magazine subscriptions, and customer inquiries are responded to within one business day.

Welcome to the new Mags4Cheap!

Magazine Industry Uses Google To Gang Up On Apple

The magazine publishing industry wants Apple to open up its famously closed-off iTunes store, creating features to sell magazines in different ways, and providing more information about magazine app buyers than Apple does today.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/magazine-industry-uses-google-to-gang-up-on-apple-2010-11#ixzz17esbyIyt