Letters to the Reaper: "Why be such a hater?"

Hey Grim,

 

I recently came across your blog, have to admit I've become both obsessed and intrigued.  Your insights are constantly on target and you appear to have quite the impressive insider information... Are you still in the industry?  I have to ask, why be such a hater?

 

Although I love magazines... I understand and accept the uphill battles the print world has been facing.  Yes, while I do think some pubs shelf life will be cut short soon (O at Home, Life and Style, US News/World Report, Town & Country to name a few...) I also feel some publications are doing an excellent job adjusting to the tough climate by leveraging their equity and consumer loyalty.  Several books are proactively expanding the print product to other touchpoints to help generate revenue and stay relevant: improving their websites, podcasts, broadcast integrations, sirius satellite stations, licensing their name for retail endorsements, clothing lines, nightclubs/restaurants, event marketing, etc.  Magazines are brands, a trusted source of information that a consumer specifically chooses to have in his/her life.  Of course I agree it's not all about buying a page in a magazine, those outdated business models will die quickly... but the smart media teams and publishing houses that can create customized, integrated solutions... those books aren't going anywhere.

 

Additionally, although we all love knowing the inside juice on which pubs are about to bite the dust... people are losing their jobs, a lot of them.  With so many of our respected colleagues out of work right now, just think a little more sensitivity would be appreciated.

 

Keep up the great work,

Print Nerd

Comments

[bone collector]

Dismiss this mans rantings. Eat the weak Reaper.

[The X]

I actually think the letter writer makes perfect sense. The information is top notch and great to know, but relishing in others unemployment sounds like the ranting of someone who probably doesn't have a real job in the first place. I also think Print Nerd sounsd like the writing of a female...

[Still employed]

Well said!!

[vanderleun]

Writing of a female....

Precisely so. One of the great unsaid truths of the death of magazines is that more and more the industry has been handed over to women. And, pace, they just can't get it together.

[plumerai]

I'm new to the site, and newly unemployed because my magazine recently "won" this pool. And when a colleague mentioned the site to me, I imagined gleeful vitriol--but that's not what I've found. Reaper, you're not exactly here with hands outstretched in Compassion, Love, and Beauty, but I don't think you've been discompassionate. (Unlike certain sites featuring hateful commenters who seem to be dancing on my colleagues' and my financial graves, or sites that publish the names of people who have lost their jobs--not top dogs, either, but the normal folks in the middle.)

[plumerai]

Also, Vandeleun: What a disgusting sentiment.

[The X]

I have the fortune of working at a very succesful magazine, at one of the biggest Publishing Houses, that wont be on this site any time soon. And as a man, I have to say that most of the women at this company can sell with any man out there... They may also be willing to eat their young, but they can sell.

[Still employed]

Vandeleun, get real, stop being jealous of their success and feeling threatened by talented women. I'd like to point out the majority of the publications folding had male publishers, the women I come across in this business tend to be extremely buttoned up, creative, and detail oriented. Like Mr X said, success is contingent on their drive, not their gender.

[Jermo]

I've been a long time follower of Grim. I find Grim's humor, honesty, and opinions to be refreshing. Grim calls it as Grim sees it. These magazines die because no one wants to buy them. Its not like Grim is the reason for people losing their jobs.

[tangerinedream]

I understand the concept is not politically correct in the era of Obama and financial sector meltdown and mass layoffs and all. But magazines are entirely creatures of the free market system. And it's perfectly clear- the vast majority of those who have met Reaper's blade- to use an Imus cliche- couldn't get it done. I have been an obsessive reader since a wee lad. Started with cereal boxes, extended to the sports section of the local paper, proceeded from there. Except for our local city magazine- Philadelphia, by the way, take a look, parochial New Yorkers on how to get it done- I will rarely spend dime one on any magazine. Of any topic. Anywhere. I see what new victims have reached the Reaper and I go too bad, tut tut, life goes on. A magazine, like a TV show or sports team, is only as good as its last issue. Oh- now Oprah's home type magazine has hit the blade. Happens to the best among us.

[cobaltsd]

[...]a trusted source of information that a consumer specifically chooses to have in his/her life.[...]

Well, that's a slight exageration. Most magazines come to the people because the %10.00/year subscription have de-valued the product to an extent that it is perceived as something for free, not a consumer product. That and an issue with 30% editorial content, the rest promotional and clear advertising, doesn't really help to appreciate that 'trusted source'. Most of the magazines nowadays are only good for a 10 minute session on the throne and then you're done with the editorial part already. Not worth to save.

One point I support though: There are people losing their jobs. And those people are usually not responsible for the magazine going down. So, yeah, I feel for them. But then again, it's the "Reaper". it's not his nature to care that much for the fit and healthy.

[jocko]

"Touchpoints?" You're not on the edit side, I can tell that.

[Julie]

Lighten up! You work in a dying industry, you might expect to die sometime soon.
Thanks Grim, reality checks much-needed in the dead tree press.

[Wayne]

Print Nerd wrote: "Several books are proactively expanding the print product to other touchpoints to help generate revenue and stay relevant: improving their websites, podcasts, broadcast integrations, sirius satellite stations, licensing their name for retail endorsements, clothing lines, nightclubs/restaurants, event marketing, etc. Magazines are brands, a trusted source of information that a consumer specifically chooses to have in his/her life."

Wayne says:

As any brand manager worth their salt will tell you - if your brand has to start launching line extensions and licensing their name to unrelated business categories, your days are numbered. Yes, it does make sense for magazine brands to foray into books, websites, podcasts and other content distribution channels. But clothing lines, nightclubs and restaurants? Come on, what do they have to do with the core business? At that point, you're desperate and probably should consider other opportunities.