Mr. Magazine

For all the talk about the death of print media, there seems to be new magazines cropping up all the time and existing magazines keep reinventing themselves. I know that's not just wishful thinking. Anyone who passes by the magazines racks at Borders or Barnes & Noble has to notice that there are magazines devoted to smart phones (and even broken down to brand) as well as every new must-have gadget. If you're really addicted to your smart phone, you can surf to one of my favorite sites, www.mrmagazine.com.

Mr. Magazine is Professor Samir Husni of Ole Miss. He has been observing magazine trends for at least two decades and is the go to person for anyone who is considering launching a new magazine. That's not my plan, but I do love his blog, which is on his website. You won't find industry gossip on his blog, but you will read interviews and reports about conferences and new magazine launches. You will also find some great soundbites such as graphic designer Erica Endicott's tweet about his speaking at CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) on March 24, 2010: "It's like a tent revival in here with Samir Husni. People are almost shouting 'amen'!"

Please don't take offense, but here's another great soundbite, this one from George Lois, former art director of Esquire Magazine on reading a magazine on an iPad: "It's O.K., I guess. But magazines will never die because there is a visceral feeling of having that thing in your hands and turning the pages. It's so different on the screen. It's the difference between looking at a woman and having sex with her."

No doubt a lot of people were shouting "amen" to that.

Posted by Sherry Shameer Cohen.

Print vs. Digital Reading

At last evening's program with literary agents Alexandra Machinist, Bob Diforio and Michelle Brower, people at our table discussed the pros and cons of e-readers. We realize that e-readers are not going away, especially since the innovative, albeit pricey iPad is expected to change the way we read. Or will it? All of us love the printed page. You just can't snuggle in bed with a Kindle. You can't read it in the bathtub without wondering if you're going to hear a sizzle if it falls into the water. Toddlers, although able to discriminate between real electronics and toys, love to turn pages.

In my humble opinion, the success of the iPad will depend on the following: 1) that there will be an economic turnaround in the foreseeable future because Apple's pricing is much higher than that of competitors and 2) that it will live up to its promises.

The most positive thing we heard about the iPad, besides the color graphics, is that it authors will get more money for books because Apple is willing to set the price of e-books higher than Amazon does. High time! It's hard to accept the constant downsizing of our income. The writing profession is very labor-intensive. It's not just typing our thoughts or the words we utter. It includes research, interviewing, writing, rewriting and marketing. We are far from overpaid for what we do.

As for the claims that the iPad will save newspapers and magazines, we're not sure. We have witnessed the destruction of periodicals by MBAs who are after the bottom line at, well, any cost. Sounds like a variation of the page from Amazon.com, which has lost money in an attempt to gain market share.

Posted by Sherry Shameer Cohen.

Three Authors, Three Stories

The Connecticut Press Club celebrated this holiday season with a party to honor three first-time authors. Just surviving another brutal year in our industry would have been enough reason to celebrate, but these ladies' stories restored our faith that dreams can come true.

Stacy Enyeart, a long-time Board member, wrote America's Home Front Heroes: An Oral History of World War II for Praeger. Just as the country is fighting wars on two fronts now, it was doing the same thing during the Second World War, the setting of Stacy's book. At a time when there are so many commentators and blogs on news websites, it almost takes one by surprise to get the story from the original players -- ordinary American citizens who were coping with hard times on the domestic front and knowing that the men and women who were sent overseas were relatives and neighbors, not anonymous volunteers. Years ago I was enthralled with the film, Reds, which incorporated the Hollywood narrative of the story of John Reed with interviews by his contemporaries, and with the British television series, A Family at War. Reds took place during the Russian Revolution. A Family at War was a fictionalized account of a working class family during World War II. But in my mind, I can envision a combination of these two in a film or PBS series based on Stacy's book.

It took Marina Julia Neary 16 years to write Wynfield's Kingdom, a novel reminiscent of books by Charles Dickens. Getting it published, also required a lot of work on her part, she recalled, even with an agent. She finally found a small publisher, Fireship Press, that specializes in genre fiction. Marina, a poet, playwright and screenwriter, has been busy this year with her film, Hugo in London, and play, Lady with a Lamp. Both, like Wynfield's Kingdom, take you back to a different era.

'Tis the season of gift giving and the era of going green. What perfect timing for the release of The Wrapping Scarf Revolution by Patricia Lee. I've met Patty several times and was always impressed with her style, down to a handbag. I thought that she designed the bag, but it turns out that it's just a scarf she wrapped around it. Moreover, there are a gazillion things you can do with scarves, such as wrap two wine bottles, as shown on the cover her book. What a brilliant way to wrap gifts, especially those that are challenging to wrap with paper. Patty calls her scarf wrapping ideas eco-luxe. She explained that it comes from her Korean heritage, which included a history of poverty. It's hard to believe that a generation ago, people grew up in households that didn't even earn $100.00 per year.


Posted by Sherry Shameer Cohen