The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews screenwriter Ronald Harwood about The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

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The year in Canadian magazines

Canadian Magazines is taking a brief holiday, back on January 2 with a whole new year of news, notes and comments on the industry. To wrap up this year, here's an almost completely arbitrary listing of some of the things that we posted about this year, with links to the actual stories.Best of the season to you and yours.Make a new year's resolution to send us a tip in 2008.JanuaryThe big dogs

Where names top 10 new Canadian restaurants

Visitor magazine chain Where has published its list of Canada's Top 10 new restaurants. Interestingly, three of the 10 are in Alberta and none of them are in Quebec. [UPDATE: Where apparently only names restaurants in areas where it circulates a magazine.] They areniche - VictoriaFuel Restaurant - VancouverThe Trough Dining Co. - Canmore, AlbertaBolero - CalgaryChop - EdmontonFresh Café -

Toronto Life's "little red books" discontinued

Toronto Life's "little red books", an innovation of outgoing editor John Macfarlane, are being discontinued. The content will be posted online and some of it will be incorporated into the ROP pages of the magazine, according to a story in mastheadonline (sub req'd).The so-called monthly "outsert" magazines, which were polybagged with subscribers' copies, were something that readers valued highly

Convergence selling? Fuggedaboutit

Scott Karp over at Publishing 2.0 challenges the whole concept of "convergence selling", where online jockeys with print for the time and attention of sales people. He says it is simply wrong: Now, as print publishers confront the reality that their center of gravity needs to shift to digital (let’s leave aside for a moment the critical question of how long it will take),the overwhelming evidence

Kayak grows up, from digest to comic book-size

Kayak, the children's history magazine from the publishers of The Beaver, is growing up. Starting with its January-February issue (#19) that should be landing in mailboxes in the next week or so, the digest is increasing to more of a "comic book" size 6-1/4” x 9-3/8.The publishers, Canada's National History Society, have always had a warm relationship with the Hudson's Bay Company (Hbc), which

Edmonton's Hub Cigar and Newsstand sold to employees

Western Canada's oldest independent newsstand (and, arguably, one of the best in Canada), Hub Cigar and Newsstand in the Strathcona district of Edmonton has been sold to three loyal employees who plan to sell even more magazines there.A story in the Edmonton Journal reports that owner Ken Knowles is retiring at the age of 75 after 44 years working there. The new owners are Steve Tsang, Don Kung

Canadians tend to trust traditional media more than online, study says

According to a new study commissioned by the Information Technology Association of Canada, readers in Canada tend to trust traditional media more even though their eyeballs are frequently and increasingly straying online. A report on the study appeared on IT Business.ca"The message is clear for marketers. Don't forget about TV, radio, newspapers and magazines when you consider advertising," said

Transcon might be interested in the right pieces of Quebecor World

Transcontinental Inc. might be interested in parts of troubled Quebecor World, but only if it fits with the company's "niche" strategy. CEO Luc Desjardins told The Canadian Press that the company is always interested in opportunity, but while it wants to continue to grow, it plans to focus on very specific niches that have proven successful. These include direct marketing, digital media and

Jewish Living named a most notable launch of 2007

Jewish Living, the startup run by former Toronto Life art director Carol Moskot and her husband, former ad agency exec Daniel Zimmerman, has been dubbed one of the most notable launches of 2007 by min, the media industry newsletter.Min is an deceptively plain little weekly publication that commands a premium price ($895/yr) and respect among leaders in magazine management for its inside view of

Vogue competes with its own in-house ad agency

Vogue magazine not only dominates fashion, now it is seriously vying to dominate fashion advertising with the success of its three-year-old in-house advertising agency, according to a story in Women's Wear Daily. Vogue Studio has already worked with 29 brands, including Valentino, Montblanc, Cartier and Lancôme, and is the agency of record for Via Spiga and Adrienne Vittadini.The in-house agency

Ad Age looks with favour on 10 great covers

Advertising Age magazine has published an entertaining look at great U.S. magazine covers of 2007, plus a look back at magazines that -- at least in print -- are no longer with us.

Wounded Quebecor World being circled by possible buyers

Speculation is rife that troubled printing giant Quebecor World, owned by Quebecor Inc., may be a takeover target, as its chief executive was shown the door yesterday and the company's share price plunged another 10% to $1.57 (it was more than $17 last February). According to a story in the Globe and Mail, quoting anonymous sources, U.S. printing giant R. R. Donnelly and takeover specialist funds

Wish magazine reader forum hacked by Turkish nationalists

[UPDATE: Wish has removed the forums altogether.]If you were to name a less likely place to promote radical, Turkish politics, it would be the forum of the fashion, home and lifestyle magazine Wish, published by St. Joseph Media. But a group of hackers have hijacked the forums of the Wish website with an ominous black page that says Hacked by Turkish Nationalist and Republican Group.While the

Slow pay or no pay; freelancers are seriously cheesed off at The Walrus

The Walrus magazine was, at one time, considered a godsend to freelance writers, with public promises of a huge premium over usual per-word fees. Some even intervened and wrote to Revenue Canada on the magazine's behalf when it was struggling to get charitable status.But the bloom is most definitely off the rose, as evidenced by a posting on the Toronto Freelance Editors and Writers list by

The Beaver publishes in both official languages for Quebec's 400th anniversary

The Beaver magazine, which a few scant years ago counted itself lucky to sell a few hundred newsstand copies, has gone from strength to strength in single copy sales, with the help of circulation specialist Scott Bullock.This is certainly true of the forthcoming issue in which, for the first time, the magazine is being published in both French and English editions to celebrate the 400th

Grace Is Gone Q&A

Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews writer-director James C. Strouse about Grace Is Gone

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Trouble stirring at the Toronto Small Press Book Fair

The mags and books may be small but the controversy is certainly getting fierce surrounding the Toronto Small Press Book Fair. The fair featured a number of small magazine presses.According to Quillblog, one of the fair's exhibitors, Stuart Ross, who is also a co-founder of the fair, has made his displeasure with the fair's organization and organizers known on his blog and the organizers, Halli

Hearst : wholesalers asked us to remove U.S. cover price & keep higher Canadian

A major U.S. publisher is removing the U.S. pricing from their its covers and keeping the higher Canadian prices at the request of their Canadian wholesalers, according the a story in the Toronto Star. This confirms a posting here a month ago that some publishers were doing split runs to remove U.S. pricing and keeping the higher Canadian price.Hearst Magazines, which publishes such popular

Quebecor World's sale of European business falls through

Worse and worse. Giant multinational printer Quebecor World, controlled by Quebecor Inc., which is also is the largest magazine publisher in Quebec, saw its shares plunge more than 30 per cent on Thursday when it announced that its sale of its European printing business to a Dutch company had fallen through. Quebecor World shares dropped 79 cents to $1.47 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. A year ago

Transcon opts for bio-degradable plastic bag

One of Canada's largest printers and its largest consumer magazine publisher has announced that its Publi-Sac, which is used to distribute its community newspapers and flyers to the doorstep, has opted for a certified biodegradable plastic bag to deliver its materials in Quebec and eastern Ontario. It will begin using the bags in early 2008, according to a release.Doubtless the company hears the

389 new magazines launched in the U.S. in 2007

In 2007, 389 new magazines were launched in the U.S., according to online directory publisher MediaFinder.com. Regional magazines topped the list (42 new titles) with such titles as Miami, Edible Jersey and Garden & Gun, according to a press release. Luxury was the next largest category with 36 new magazines, cutting across many different subject classifications. There were 24 new business

Enter early, enter often: National Magazine Awards deadline looms

Submissions are now being received for the National Magazine Awards, with a deadline of January 9, 2008. The National Magazine Awards Foundation (NMAF) is searching for the best in Canadian magazine journalism for the 2007 National Magazine Awards. The Foundation will present Gold, Silver and Honourable Mention Awards in 39 categories at the 31st annual gala on June 6, 2008 in Toronto. The

Is Quebecor cooling to the printing business?

Andrew Willis of the Globe and Mail has an interesting posting on the Streetwise blog about Quebecor World, the massive printing arm of Quebecor Inc. Essentially, he is saying that recent actions of the parent company means it is leaving its printing subsidiary to twist in the wind. (See earlier post for background)The oldest adage in business journalism is, follow the money. Doing so at Quebecor

Transcontinental needs more time to restate earnings

According to a story carried by Reuters, Transcontinental Inc. needs a bit more time to release its latest financial statements while its auditors finish their work following a restatement of historical results. (Transcon announced last week it had found $20 million in accounting errors.) The new release date is Dec. 18. They were originally expected today.

Editor of CARP magazine resigns as Znaimer consolidates control

Bonnie Baker Cowan, the editor of CARP, the magazine for the Fifty-plus, has resigned. Cowan was at one time editor of Canadian Living. Her departure comes not entirely coincidentally with the ascendancy of Moses Znaimer at the organization. His acquisition of the magazine is a substantial part of Znaimer's plan to dominate the 50-plus demographic in Canada by building a media and services

Information about undeliverable magazines will now come electronically

Starting January 14, the old system of magazines receiving a bundle of covers and address blocks torn off undeliverable magazines will be going the way of the dodo. After consultation with the industry, Canada Post is instituting an electronic reporting system.Publications currently pay for the undeliverables service as part of their publications mail agreement. Now, though they'll have to

Best connections corrections of the year

'Tis the season for lists, and few are as entertaining as the Crunks, the listing of the best corrections of the year over at Craig Silverman's Regret The Error website.

It will be a blue, blue new year as Pantone picks the colour of 2008

Pantone Inc., which last year chose a "hot" red as the colour of the year for 2007, for the coming year has chosen a cool, deep blue called Blue Iris (Pantone 18-3943) as the colour for 2008. This is expected to show up in part in fashion, home decor and cosmetics, according to a story in Design Edge Canada magazine.Pantone cited the colour's calming and mystical qualities, combining blue and

Life after magazines is sweet; Wired co-founder invests in organic chocolate

Wired magazine co-founder Louis Rossetto has started a company making organic chocolate, according to a post on Boing-Boing. So there is life after magazines (particularly after starting, and making a killing on, one of the iconic magazines of the 1990s).

Worldwide magazine adspend projected to be $60 billion in 2009

Zenith Optimedia has released its projections for future advertising share worldwide and magazines are expected to increase modestly to about $61 billion in 2009, although this represents a marginal decline in the share of total advertising spending in all media.Adspend (%) for various media in 2009 is expected to be Newspapers 26.2,Magazines 12.1, Television 38.1, Radio 7.8, Cinema 0.5, Outoor

Martha Stewart kills startup Blueprint

It's worth remembering that even the big guys make mistakes, sometimes. Martha Stewart Omnimedia is folding its startup, Blueprint, rolling its print edition into Martha Stewart Weddings. According to a story in mediabistro, staffers were told that the company had "misjudged the market" for the "fresh, fun guide to personal style." The final issue will be January/February 2008.Bluelines, the

Insider trading, from inside a magazine printing plant

According to Reuters, a young worker at a printing plant in Wisconsin that produced Business Week magazine, apparently used his privileged previews of the weekly issues to indulge in insider trading that netted more than $6.7 million. Juan Renteria, 22, who worked at a Wisconsin printing plant, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and insider trading charges during a hearing before Magistrate Judge

Western Standard staff to try and make a go of it as an online publication

[This post has been updated.]Former staffers of the Western Standard magazine -- although not Publisher Ezra Levant -- are intent on making a go of publishing the magazine online. This was revealed in a e-letter from Levant who says he is "moving on to other projects" but wishes Matthew Johnston (one of the founders of the magazine and its associate publisher) and others well in their

Disticor Direct increases fuel surcharge for single copies by 20%

According to Magazines Canada, Disticor Direct, the distributor through whom Magazines Canada access Chapter/Indigo stores, has raised its fuel surcharge by 20%, to 12 cents from 10 cents per copy served. There was no advance warning; the increase was effective October 1 but MC is only finding out about it now. It has warned affected members that it cannot absorb the extra cost and will be

TV and web favoured sources for health information, says CTV poll

Only a small minority of Canadians get their health and science news information from magazines. Most get it from television and the Internet, according to a poll conducted for CTV by Angus Reid Strategies, with 36 per cent saying they prefer TV and 32 per cent saying they prefer the Web. The rest divided their loyalties between newspapers, magazine and radio. The survey also found that Canadians

Transcon to restate financials after finding $20 million in errors

Printer and media company Transcontinental Inc. is restating its financial statements for prior years to correct $20 million in accounting errors. The Canadian Press reported that the errors involved $10 million in accounting provisions for income tax liabilities in fiscal 2006 and $10 million in overstatement of the value of assets in the far-flung company's Mexican properties in several prior

Pay up, said Spacing blogger, and the Toronto Sun did

Magazine bloggers sticking up for themselves department:When the Toronto Sun recently appropriated the entire contents of a blog posting, plus the accompanying picture, from Spacing magazine's blog, the writer took a firm but unequivocal stance: pay me the standard rate for this. And you know what? They did.Blogger Sean Marshall wrote an item about and posted a picture of an old TTC subway car

Publishers need to cope with the plummeting value of distribution

Digital publishing is threatening traditional print publishing because it severs the link between content and distribution, according to an article by Scott Karp at Publishing 2.0. The value of distribution has changed radically, he says and the value of content and the value of distibution -- until now deeply intertwined -- are made separable by digital means.Print publishing won’t be dead until

Rogers pullout costs CBP 20% of membership revenue

The president of Canadian Business Press, Phil Boyd, says the impact of Rogers Publishing's departure from the Canadian Business Press is about 20% of membership revenue, not 40% as reported here in a recent post. He also says the amount represents a loss of just 9% of total CBP revenue.

Want chips with that? RFID transponders tested for magazine readership

Mediamark Research and Intelligence, a well-known U.S. magazine audience measurement firm is partnering with DJG Marketing's Waiting Room Subscription Services to put radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in magazines in waiting rooms to determine just how many customers actually read them, according to a story MediaDaily News. It marks the first external test of the small transponders. The

Quote, unquote: readers need to know what to pay for and how to do it

The digital revolution is no different from any of the other new, unprecedented so-called threats to hit us. Everything’s new the first time it happens. Of course it’s faster, bigger, slicker, more efficient and encompasses the globe in a way we’ve never seen before. That’s the way the world works. It’s called progress. But not everything changes. Most people won’t knowingly break the law and

Why are magazines such liars? Because it works

Readers, such as the ones who routinely mail back business reply cards and postage paid forms blank to "get even", often wonder why magazines insist on sending them. And the answer is invariably that blow-in cards and direct mail work, that's why.In a post on his blog, Wired magazine editor-in-chief Chris Anderson asks the question why magazine circulation departments are such liars. I love

Lush magazine acquired by digital signage company

Bassett Publishing, a newly formed division of a company whose principal business is in digital signage, has acquired Lush magazine (and says it plans to launch a second title this spring called Argyle aimed at "elite corporate executives.")The parent company, the Bassett Media Group specializes in out-of-home digital advertising and its group includes Impulse Media (40 screens in Rexall Pharama

CBP prez says trade publishing association should stay independent

[This post has been updated.]Canadian Business Press president Phil Boyd has told Masthead magazine (sub req'd) that he is firmly in favour of maintaining an independent trade publishing organization. This comes on the heels of Rogers Media Publishing withdrawing its membership in CBP and announcing that it was in talks with Magazines Canada about a possible alliance.Boyd said that the two

Best of B.C. newsstand promotion increased sales seven times

Single copy sales of participating British Columbia magazines increased by 13.9% during a special 6-month promotion organized by the Periodical Marketers of Canada in cooperation with the British Association of Magazine Publishers (BCAMP). (During the same period, magazine newsstand sales in BC generally went up 2.1%). About 30 magazines and 2,600 retailers participated.The pilot project was

Quebecor's TVA joins Magazines Canada

By signing up to membership 21 of the 45 French and English language titles from Quebecor Inc.'s consumer magazine division, TVA Publications Inc., Magazines Canada has consolidated its position as the dominant voice of the Canadian magazine industry.For too long, Quebecor's magazine division, the largest in Quebec, has not been at the table with the other players, big and small. And now, after

West coast magazine and TV cook James Barber dies

James Barber, the cook and raconteur who was a regular contributor to Western Living magazine and Vancouver magazine in the '80s and '90s, has died of natural causes at his home on Vancouver Island at the age of 84, according to CBC.ca.Although he was a magazine writer and author of a dozen cookbooks, he was perhaps best known as a chef on television and his program The Urban Peasant appeared on

Hard-won settlement for freelancers in U.S. thrown out by appeals court

The wheels of the courts grind exceeding slow and fine for freelancers; a decision by the U.S. federal appeals court late last week threw out an agreement reached in a class-action suit between publishers and freelance writers over payment for electronic reproduction of their work. This, according to a story in the New York Times.The agreement had been a way for publishers and writers to deal

Dine magazine thumps in with all advertorial flags flying

Last July we posted an item about plans for Dine, an annual restaurant guide that was being backed by Jay Mandarino of Toronto's CJ Graphics, and fronted by perennial foodie Sara Waxman who is publisher and editor-in-chief. At the time, we nervously quoted Mandarino extolling Dine's unabashedly advertorial mission. Well, little did we know.Dine dropped out of the Globe and Mail in Toronto last