Sunday, January 25, 2009

Newspaper Opinions

I've been trying to find out what's going on at the Seattle P-I lately, and it appears from their Facebook group the P-I Pirates, which I'm a part of, that the tone is optimistic. Not much news to report on the actual subject, but I'll keep my ear out. I think it's a facinating saga, myself.

Whatever the outcome, there has been an enormous amount of outreach, well-wishers, and supporters from the Seattle community and all over the country. Some people are ready for the P-I to fail, and many people believe print meda is dead or don't trust it. After searching around Seattle websites, I found a comment by someone who obviously works in the paper industry, or has a fantastic working knowledge of it. This was in response to The Stranger's coverage of the P-I sale. I simply can't summarize. It makes very valid points about writing, reporting, and editing.

"Where are all you dillwads going to get your news? From your precious blogs? From your navel? Print or online makes no difference -- if you don't have a newsroom full of dedicated reporters, then you get s%@#. Who do you think is going to investigate the corruption in the King County Police Department? Remember that? Should we just "get Jesse" over at King 5. Not. In the real world, outside our Puget oasis, reporters get killed and stuff. Do you really think some blogger sitting around in his jammies is going to get the real dirt on gang violence? Or corruption in the mental health system? You need a team of hard workers with lots of support. The Stranger is great, but journalistically, it reads like the staffers' shoe leather takes them as far as Cafe Presse and back.



Daily papers usually make it to your door during earthquakes and storms and power outages. They usually have high standards (commerce secretary, anyone?). And they let you happen upon stories you might not otherwise see. (Is there a term for blogosphere blinders? Screeching to the choir?) Just because papers are old media doesn't mean we shouldn't all have a stake in bringing them into the "new" world. All this hipster arrogance about how the papers "asked for it" doesn't really help democracy keep rolling. You all owe a lot to the news crews of the world who crank out the copy you link to and bitch about.



Why don't we all pull together our trust funds, buy some of this cheap office space, stick the P-I globe on top and call it the People's Independent. Then everyone can take turns working there, covering the glitz and the tedium and putting out an awesome daily (or hourly, if you prefer). Then, when you take the bus to a new spa in Tacoma, or an art opening in Georgetown, you can do a little news gathering along the way. But you'll have to answer to an editor and to readers who know your name.



(That said, I think the Stranger should make like big media and buy a helicopter. Call it "Sky Queen.")"


One more thing: on the P-I staff's FB page, there have been postings about new jobs, and links to workshops to learn new online skills. Here's the thing about the whole "The internet made me lose my job!" complaint that keeps swirling around: Writers and reporters write about and cover this stuff every day; did they not see the industry swinging in that direction? It seems sometimes that we aren't as savvy as we should be in this business.

Friday, January 23, 2009

The Goliath vs. The Rest of the World

I am in utter awe of Amazon's dominance. I believe they have the most successful business model going right now...obviously. That isn't saying I agree with them, or even like them as a company.

As a complete force in the marketplace, for authors, this is a fantastic time to get published, and get your book out there. It may not sell, it may have no market, and only go so far as the author's mum, but it's out there. It's relatively cheap! The sparkle and dreams of their name on a book is something any author drools over while typing. There are some very successful books that have been self-published, like Kremmer's 1001 Ways to Market Your Book, and many from the list Marty gave us at the beginning of the quarter, including Age of Engage, which had many powerful endorsers. Both of these titles have a very specific niche, though. Again, the long tail of marketing has proven it can be done.

For readers, this is also a dream come true. It's like the Fred Meyer of the Internet: one stop shopping. Want a Kindle? Done. Need a vacuum? Check. Oh, wait, have use for a print book? Well, they can take care of that, too. They have figured out that if you have everything on one site, people will scroll around and then say to themselves, "Hey! I can get a sweet baby stroller and a book on where to take said stroller!" They take retail goods at wholesale rates, add a percentage plus postage and handling, and there you have a significant profit margin. And around the holidays, they were offering free shipping. No wonder the Christmas season went so well.

For publishers, unfortunately, I feel this is perhaps a good thing as well as a bad thing. First, I don't like that any schmuck from Nowhere, USA can write his memoir that no idiot would even try to read. It seems to undermine the hard work that professional publishers have been doing for years. Manuscripts may be poorly edited, have no marketability, and therefore, will sit in a pile of wasted paper in someones basement. It is also driving quality authors who may have an online following, to believe they could publish themselves. But it isn't all bad for small publishers. If you have a good relationship with Amazon, you could build a little marketing army online, and write several reviews, have people read them and respond, and work that way.


I think of the movie, Idiocracy sometimes when I think about Amazon and their stranglehold on American literacy. Offering anyone the means to publish themselves seems to assault the nature of literature. Editors have a specific role. The Chicago Manual of Style exists for a reason. People in America value quality writing, and well-written prose. Without those people in the industry trying to keep grammar, syntax, and style valued, what happens to the nature of literacy? Will the English language start comprising of usages like "lol," "omfg," and "ttyl"?

I shudder at the thought.

Monday, January 19, 2009

A Kiss Goodbye to a Missed Magazine

When I was 16, all the cool girls read the teen mag, Sassy. Unfortunately, I was not among this group, and didn't find out how amazing it was until a couple years later and found it shut down operations. Yes, the Sassy generation had grown up , leaving room for something a bit more mature. What I did fall in love with was Jane Pratt's next magazine, Jane. I was a subscriber of Jane for 5 years. Jane was geared toward an 18-34 crowd, and included style, music, fashion, and just the best, most engaging writing I had ever encountered in a magazine. The writers were encouraged to use their own voice, experiences, and opinions when writing, so the work always had an element of personality and interest. They reviewed good music, and the music editor Jeff Johnson has to be one of the most funny writers I've ever read. He was always right on in his reviews, and I always looked forward to reading his section. They'd even compile playlists, based around things like, "music to break up to" and "getting ready to go out."

I have stacks of this magazine; under my bed, in boxes. I found the covers cool, and the style portrayed was usually pretty trendy, but always had a realistic vibe if you wanted to attempt and mimic their suggestions. They walked you through the makeup process, and offered tutorials in the magazine and online.

They also understood that their readers weren't just fashion-obsessed trustifarians. There was a "Tech" section where they would review new cell phones, computers, and software. Also, there was a "Drive" section where they reviewed and wrote about cars, and near the end of its life, began a series of help sidebars, when they would walk you through how to change your own oil, and how to find good insurance. Sure, the features section included people like Lindsay Lohan by the end of its life, but that's how money is generated and what moves magazines off the shelf: celebrities!

I knew something was going on when they started putting Jane in plastic wrap, and slapping said Lohan on the cover. I imagine this began occuring because that's when Fairchild Publications merged with Conde Nast, the same company who pubishes Vogue, GQ, etc. I also knew something was going wrong when Jane Pratt, Founder of Sassy and Jane left the publication in 2005. The new editor was Brandon Holly, and it just wasn't the same. But the other troupe of writers I loved were still going strong. I thought I would take solace in that fact, and all would be well.

Then one day I came home from work to find a letter from Conde Nast telling me they would no longer publish Jane magazine, and a replacement magazine would fulfill my remaining subscription. I nearly cried. I had relied on Jane and her staff to tell me what books were cool, what music I'd like, and what fashion risks were worth trying. Never have I come upon a publication that had as communicative a relationship with its reader as Jane did. They published a section written by the reader called, "It Happened to Me." They published the worst of the worst letters to the editor, and always asked for more. Their home and design section even featured a lucky reader's cool apartment to get inspired from.

I miss it today with every bone in my body. Down to the very core of me.

You know what I got the next week? Glamour. I took personal offense to this replacement, and never opened any of the three I recieved. I've tried looking for a real replacement, and sometimes I find a good article in Elle, and Bust is always pretty cool. But I gave up hope in having a good, psuedo-alternative fashion magazine that doesn't think I'm a vapid source of income. I've settled with Nylon, which is as close as I can find to Jane (Although I hate that dumb Cory Kennedy! I wish she'd go away. She's one of those people who is famous for being famous. Annoying...). But sometimes, it's almost too hip for me. The style is too edgy, although their spreads are very nice.

I just miss my trusty Jane. *sigh*

Friday, January 16, 2009

Winners and Losers on the Web

In my search around the web for publishers sites, two stood out. Tin House Books, and, surprisingly, The Mountaineers Books. I tried to find sites that encapsulated the following criteria: navigational ease, number of audiences addressed, home page layout, and if I were a book buyer, would I keep searching past the homepage?

I thought Tin House did a great job of addressing pretty much everyone except children. The site was well laid out, they had a good sampling of books to sell, and it seemed authors would have an easy time finding what they needed in the General Info button. They're holding a writing workshop in July, which was easy to find, not buried under seven links. Everything is at the top of the page, not near the bottom. I think the site accomplished the task of addressing each audience well due to the nature of the way it was laid out. Sometimes publishers are tab-happy, and have everything on their site, like Chronicle Books, although I LOVE their stuff. Chronicle's site is great, but there is so much going on that it's almost overwhelming. The message on their site is so BUY, BUY, BUY, that for authors and writers trying to find information may not get to that portion of the page, because they push products, gifts, and calendars so aggressively.

So, I stumbled upon The Mountaineers Books, which is a run through The Mountaineers Club. What a fantastic job they did defining and addressing their niche market! It may not have all the flash plug-in software like 'ol Chronicle, but they did a better job addressing their customers through easy to find tabs, interesting related topics, and a cool book on the homepage (I have a thing for all things owl-y). There's an interesting video, product purchasing information, and links to Facebook and other nature-oriented organizations that have similar markets. I really think linking to other pages is important.

Then Jen told me to check out the atrocity that is Future Tense Books, which is having a launch party tomorrow for a pretty cool book, that got a pretty rad review in the Portland Mercury. Yet, I have no idea who the #@%! they are trying to address. The site is all black and has juvenile-looking graphics, and looks like it's built for buying books, but the book page is one huge list of author, after author, after author. There has to be a better way. Like, perhaps, organizing the books link under genre, or a link to your mission statement, or NOT USING BLACK AS A HOMEPAGE COLOR!!! I didn't get the sense that they cared who their audience was, as long as they had a website up so they could sell to this mystery market. The site was an overall turn-off and therefore, a loser.

N.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Up For Sale

The newspaper industry is a scary place to be these days. With the announcement by the Hearst Corporation of the 146 year-old Seattle Post-Intelligencer being put up for sale Friday, the fate of print newspapers appears sealed. The Pulitzer Prize winning paper San Juan Star closed its doors in August, The Chicago Tribune filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December, and The San Diego Union-Tribune cut nearly 30 newsroom positions and explored selling the paper earlier this year. Major consolidation of editing, design, and production offices within parent company papers are also on the rise. Then there's the unprecedented, massive layoffs and job cuts.

Scared, yet, journalists??

At the PI, if after 60 days they don't sell it, they will either close their doors, or become a web-only publication. If someone does buy the PI, one thing is certain: it will only exist online. The broker for the sale, who is based in New York City said, "It's clear that right now the overall marketplace for media is very challenging. The financing climate is very bad, and there have not been a lot of transactions recently."

Even if PI stays an online publication, it seems generating enough online advertising revenue to sustain costs is the biggest concern. The PI lost $14 million in 2008, and online ad revenue doesn't add up to much.

What's sad is the people who love their jobs and are fantastic journalists, like my friend Levi, who's a reporter there for the next 60 days. Even if a miracle did occur, of the 170 newsroom staff, far less would actually stay on.

PI Online blogger Monica Guzman said, "It doesn't feel real," she said. "You hear about the problems in the industry all over the country and you start to think, 'Well, nothing that bad has happened to us yet, so maybe it won't.' You know it's naïve. You know it's stupid. And then it happens."

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Welcome to Marketing Shenanigans!

Welcome to the crazy-awesome adventures involving Ooligan Press marketing! I look forward to posting mind blowing content soon.