The upcoming May / June issue of InPublishing magazine (which you can register to receive here) will be our 100th issue. Hooray! Being a bi-monthly, it has taken us almost seventeen years to get here.
Issue # 1 (Nov / Dec 2003) of InCirculation (as we were then known; we changed the name in 2008) had the following cover story, written by Dominic Jacquesson, ‘Unlocking the potential of online subs: 10 ways of generating new revenue streams from your publications’ internet presence’.
It also featured advertising from a number of industry partners who are still valued customers today: Air Business, Atex, Circdata, Gordon & Gotch, PCS Publishing, Publishing Software Company, Quadrant Subscription Services (now part of Air Business) and UKP Worldwide.
Some of the things we’ve learnt along the way:
- A magazine on its own is not enough. In 2003, we thought it might be! Since then, like other publishers, we've made the print magazine the heart of a much wider offering, including website, newsletter, webinars, guides and events.
- Advertising alone is not enough. You’ve got to explore ways of building reader revenues, like, in our case, selling expert guides.
- Avoid a box ticking approach. Launching a new service simply because everyone else is doing it, but without giving it the due care and consideration it needs, is a recipe for under-achievement.
- Mobile-optimisation is now a minimum design requirement. We used to have one of those websites which required you to “pinch-out” to be able to read it properly on your smartphone.
- Digital is a large part of our future, but not the only part. Print retains a magic that is hard to beat. I recall a contributor to the magazine saying, not too long ago, that “nothing beats a print byline”.
By my calculation, issue # 200 should start hitting desks on Monday 2 February 2037. Who knows what the publishing world, indeed the world, will look like then?
