Port City Life Relaunches as Maine
Maine to be ‘trendier, more modern’ regional.
Another title hit the crowded regional space today. Kevin Thomas, publisher of Maine Home & Design, which launched in 2006, partnered with editor Susan Grisanti Kelley to create new regional title Maine.
Maine’s September launch will be the result of Thomas and Kelly repositioning Port City Life, a title they acquired this April from lifestyle publisher Laurie Hyndman.
“Port City Life had a Portland focus, so this relaunch give us the opportunity to broaden the scope,” Thomas told FOLIO:. Port City Life’s last issue was June/July, with Maine retaining a number of former Port City Life staffers.
Other Maine-area regional magazine titles include Down East and Portland.
The 112-page glossy will publish 10 times annually, with issues wrapped with Maine Home & Design’s (30,000 circ.) September issue; it will also be sent to the shelter magazine subscribers and former Port City Life (21,000 circ.) subscribers and be available at more than 900 newsstands state-wide. An annual subscription is $19.95, with newsstand copies priced at $4.95.
Thomas believes Maine's content is different from any other regional state magazine, and will tell a “fresher, trendier, more modern story.”
Despite the current climate, he expects it to take 12 months or less for Maine to be profitable. (Maine Home & Design turned a profit after a year and a half, he said.)
“We learned a number of lessons with Maine Home & Design. To thrive, we need as much community involvement as possible, which includes events and social networking, as well as connecting with people face-to-face.” After only three months, Maine has 1,300 Facebook fans and more than 400 Twitter followers. Maine will also kick off its launch with a sold-out “old school magazine party” event for 700-plus guests tonight.
Maine will offer departments dedicated to profiles on Maine businesses, features on unique places or events, extensive calendar listings, style observations and restaurant and lodging reviews.
Where Maine will draw its ad-edit line may be questionable. Thomas told Mainebiz that there will be "more affinity between editorial and advertising" than is customary for print titles. Per its Web site, a full-page ad can run between $1,800 and $2,200.
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No editorial integrity
Submitted by Matt on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 12:43.Why anyone would read--much less pay money for--a publication with "more affinity between editorial and advertising" is beyond me. That might work for a homer/shelter mag, but a general interest book? Either the publisher and editor are clueless or they have no interest in publishing a compelling publication.
Either way, it is doomed before it even gets off the ground.
Free distribution.
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 08:57.So far 80% (or more) of their magazines seem to be give-away. I see stacks of their magazines distributed at bakeries, business offices, and tire shops here in Portland Maine.
I often wonder how many magazine's are actually purchased by readers. I'm in the newspaper industry and "Paid Circulation" is key to setting rates. I would love to see an industry (ABC) audit published since they're claming to be "Maine's most sought-after magazine."
What maine needs
Submitted by Jake on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 14:39.This magazine is full of energy, confidence and passion for Maine. It is compelling if you want to know about things that are worth paying attention to Now. The attention is on the efforts of Mainers that are worth knowing about. Understandably, and well exemplified by the 2 previous comments, most Mainers, especially older Mainers, are skeptical of anything new and over protective of "the way life should be" - I believe The Maine magazine will show the way life is.
Port City Life Subscribers?
Submitted by djake on Fri, 08/28/2009 - 16:47.And what about us "Port City Life" subscribers who subscribed less than a year ago?
Glossy, but thin in content
Submitted by Edie on Sat, 08/29/2009 - 11:20.A question for the previous commentator: What does lowering the wall between editorial and advertising have to do with being protective of the way life should be? This is about journalistic integrity -- or rather, the lack there of. Trading advertising for content may make the advertisers happy, but the result is bland, untrustworthy content.
The debut issue of Maine magazine is slick, but thin in content. Where's the beef?
Conflicting Concept
Submitted by Mark on Sat, 08/29/2009 - 11:43.I'm confused. As a young business owner that sells fresh and stylish products (www.local-ink.com) I'm always looking for exposure and I’m very interested in where my target market is placing its attention. Based on this article I'm not sure how Maine Magazine can tell it's audience what vibe it will bring to the market if it’s content will be dictated by advertisers dollars. Either the editors focus their attention and stories on hot community events, businesses and happenings that are relevant to the "fresher, trendier, more modern story" which is what they claim to want to cover, or they allow a greater “affinity between editorial and advertising than is customary for print titles.” and have their editorials purchasable by the older more established businesses with greater budgets. But I don’t understand how they can do both. Thoughts?
Good quesions
Submitted by Thea O. on Sat, 08/29/2009 - 13:50.My fellow commentators pose good questions about the line between editorial and advertising. I can't help but wonder whether the magazine's writers get free accommodation at the inns to be featured in the lodging column, for example. I also agree that the content in the debut issue is superficial. Nothing to sink my teeth into here. Finally, I hate the magazine's motto: "life in the now Maine." "Now" is an adverb, not an adjective.
Seems like editorial integrity to me...
Submitted by Jess on Sat, 08/29/2009 - 15:28.Looking through the issue, I notice quite a few people/places covered that are not advertisers. I highly doubt the advertising determines the content at all. If I had a business though, and happened to be covered in a particular issue, I would ask about advertising because it seems smart to advertise if you are being covered, does it not? So maybe the businesses that happened to be covered also wanted to advertise as well, did you think of that?
Also, to the person who quoted "80%" due to what they saw, I would like to see factual evidence, sources, seems they are spouting numbers to seem like they know what they are talking about. The magazines are in Hannafords and Whole Foods, not being given away. A lot of magazines (Portland, Downeast) I see in offices all over the place, they are giving their magazine away, if they want advertising dollars, that seems like a smart idea. If they don't rely financially entirely on subscribers, then getting the issue into many hands as possible is a very good thing.
The way I see it, a PRINT business this successful in Maine during this economy is a testament to the strength of this company. We should support more like it. It is not easy being in print at this time...
Some answers for Jess
Submitted by Edie on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 08:12.Hi Jess -
According to the a Maine magazine's media kit for advertisers (you can find it at their website), the magazine's total circulation: is 30,000. Of that, 7,500 are paid subscriptions and 15,000 are newstand sales. Another 5,000 are "demographic mailings" -- free magazines to people in a certain demographic -- and 2,500 are "hospitality," which are the the issues distributed free to offices, etc. The magazine's figures are not verified by the Audit Bureau of Circulation as it is not a member. For the sake of comparison, Down East, which is audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulaton, has a paid circulation of 105,000 -- presumably this combine subscriber and newstand sales; I could not find the breakdown. Its total distribution (again, presumably this includes freebies) is 130,000,
As to editorial integrity: It would be nice to know exactly what "more affinity between editorial and advertising" means. To me, it sounds like advertisers' interests come before readers' interests. To paraphrase Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute, readers need to be confident that what they are reading is the result of independent journalistic judgment, not a piece influenced by an advertiser with an ulterior motive.
NY Times Article about Monocle
Submitted by Thomas on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 10:02.Check out the following link. It provides current perspective about the blurring line between editorial and advertising. Magazines stay afloat because of advertising dollars. It seems appropriate to me that advertisers are respected as such, as readers, and often as interesting story ideas. At the end of the day, the integrity of a magazine is evident (or not) in the stories they present. The old publishing models have clearly not worked. I hope we see more Monocle's and Maine Maghazines that are courageous enough to try a new approach.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/business/media/24carr.html
Welcoming Maine magazine to the fold
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 15:41.Just wanted to point out that despite being a small state, population-wise, Maine is lucky enough to have several regional magazines. We all have our own points of view and our own fans--it will be fun to have another voice in the mix.
In addition to those you mention, there is Bangor Metro, which serves that city very nicely, while we at Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors magazine have been covering life along the entire coast since 1987 with our 5x magazine, website, and annual show.
Gretchen Ogden--Managing Editor, Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors, Inc.
Circulation, Paid versus Free
Submitted by Susan on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 17:15.Edie has some interesting analytics. Wow, took me awhile to wrap my arms around them all. But I'm really not sure that advertisers or readers care anymore about this. If the list of stats for Down East is important, why did they need to reduce their staff by 30% recently? Why is their ad revenue off? I'll let others ponder that. I'm more intrigued by what's happening in the current world. Free content is a pretty big deal lately. I heard a great clip on NPR recently where a young singer was giving his music away on line. His response to the criticism he received was something to the effect that, otherwise, he would be lost to obscurity. Seemed to make sense to me. I think it most important to deliver the RIGHT content and make sure the RIGHT people read it so that the RIGHT advertisers get noticed. Paid circ, big circ feels more like the old, tired publishing model. Did we decide that was broken?
Responding to djake, Port City Life Subscribers
Submitted by Kevin Thomas on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 21:11.djake, Please give us a try. If you don't like what you see, I'll reimburse your subscription. As an added bonus, you will be receiving Maine Home+Design with Maine magazine for the first 3 months. Contact me through our website, themainemag.com, with any comments or concerns. Kevin Thomas, Publisher
hmmm
Submitted by Chris on Tue, 09/01/2009 - 13:30.I do find it very interesting that there is so much criticism of a new magazine that is working hard to find its way ... to find its voice in a state I have been happy to call home for more than 20 years. During that time I can count on one hand the number of times I have read Downeast (usually an old issue in my Doctor's office) and was always struck with the same thought: "who reads this?" That is not a dig at DE but rather a commentary on my perspective on the Maine I choose to call home, that was never really covered the way I wanted to see it. We are a diverse state and there is room for coverage of things that are new and now.
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