Magazines: Oh Comely Industry case study

Magazines: Oh Comely Industry case study


1) Why did the people behind Iceberg Press set it up?

 Iceberg press wanted to bring back independent magazines 
              
2) What is the Iceberg Press mission statement? (It's on the Why Are We Here page and is a series of statements).
  • Compromise isn't our friend 
  • It's all about the audience
  • Chase the work not the money 
3) What are the two magazines that Iceberg Press publishes?
  • The simple things
  • Oh Comely 
4) What similarities do you notice between The Simple Things magazine and Oh Comely?
  • Both magazines are very different to their mainstream counterparts 
  • very minimalist and Indie
5) What differences can you find between Hearst UK, publisher of Men's Health, and Iceberg Press?
  • Hearst communications is a conglomerate that publishes a wide range of magazines and print media while Iceberg press only have two magazines to its name.
  • Hearst magazines are heavily commercialised while Iceberg is not.
Writer's Edit journal article

Read this excellent Writer's Edit academic journal article on the independent magazine industryand answer the following questions:

1) What is the definition of an independent print magazine?
  • independent press defined as publishers that are not part of large conglomerates or multinational corporations
2) What does Hamilton (2013) suggest about independent magazines in the digital age?

 Hamilton states that:
  • That they are currently subverting the idea that print readerships are decreasing 
3) What is the aim of Kinfolk magazine and what similarities can you draw with Oh Comely?
  • To simplify the lives of the audience and to try and build relationships.
4) Why does the article suggest that independent magazines might be succeeding while global magazine publishers such as Bauer are struggling?
  • Independent magazines attract a niche while bigger magazines attempt to attract a much larger and broader audience.


5) How do independent magazines launch? Look at the example of Alphabet Family Journal.

  • Independent magazines tend to be launched through crowdfunding
  • Alphabet Family Journal used crowdfunding and the production of a short film to promote and fund the magazine


6) What does the article suggest about how independent publishers use digital media to target their niche audiences?

  • Independent publishers use Social media in attempt to garner a following for their magazines, through social media independent publishers have the ability to create relationships with their audience

7) Why is it significant that independent magazines are owned and created by the same people? How does this change the creative process and direction of the magazine?
  • They gain a significant amount of control over their work


8) What does the article suggest regarding the benefits of a 'do-it-yourself' approach to creating independent magazines?
  • Other creators working together helps to make magazines improve in quality


9) The article discusses the audience appeal of print. Why might audiences love the printed form in the digital age?
  • There is a nostalgic feel to actually turning paper, something online magazines cannot do.


10) What are the challenges in terms of funding and distributing an independent magazine?

  • garnering the views and sales can be quite difficult, along with that selling magazines within shops can be quiet expensive, thus having a subscription based distribution would be beneficial


Irish Times feature

Now read this short feature in the Irish Times on the growth of independent magazines and answer the following questions:

1) Why are independent magazines so popular?
  • They specialise in a certain niche that audiences may be passionate about
  • They can be global
  • "driven by passion"

2) Why is the magazine publishing industry set up to favour the big global conglomerates?
  • Advertisers are more likely to advertise through conglomerate magazines rather than independent magazines 


3) What does the article suggest regarding finding an audience for an independent magazine?

  • Independent magazines have to try and figure out their niche, they need to make sure that their niche is small enough to attract but have to make sure that the niche is big enough to generate sales to fund the magazine


4) What are the challenges for magazine distributors?

 Selling within shops can be quite expensive, due to that they have to distribute through a subscription method

5) The article suggests that many independent magazines only make money by diversifying into other products. What examples do they give?
  • setting up paid events 
  • selling merchandise related to the magazine 


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