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Hottest Digital Launches
Jeremy Greenfield & Courtney Barnes

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Automotive Traveler

Publisher: BCT Publishing
Frequency: Monthly
Concept: An online magazine based on “driving great cars over challenging roads while meeting interesting people on our way to fantastic destinations”
Target Audience: Travel and car enthusiasts

Questions with Automotive Traveler editorial director: Richard Truesdell

① What is your magazine's most significant achievement?
Automotive Traveler is an online publication, but our readers describe us as a magazine, not a Web site. This confirms our belief that the magazine reading experience is not defined by paper and print.

② What was the most important hurdle you were able to overcome?
Getting out the first issue. Moving forward, it’s the fact that potential advertisers are having a difficult time getting their collective arms around what we offer. We are producing all the elements of a traditional magazine but with a difference: We're delivering Automotive Traveler digitally. The challenges and opportunities we face are very different from the world of print.

③ What was the biggest pleasant surprise?
From readers, the fact that they are "reading" the magazine online; in a Web world, where the time on a particular site is normally measured in seconds, our visitors are spending 10 minutes or more. From my standpoint as editor, this has been very rewarding.

④ What is the biggest challenge you are facing today?
Getting advertisers to understand exactly what we offer, and getting a reader that is engaged with our content.
We also know that we must continue the process of educating readers, writers, and advertisers as to the “new” world of online publishing. Once they have given it a test drive, they’re hooked.

⑤ Imagine you have a magic wand and you can strike the magazine and make it human? Describe that human being.
I think that we've already put a human face on the magazine; our columnists and contributors have a dialog with our readers.

⑥ What advice do you offer to someone wanting to start a new magazine?
There’s an old saying, “How do you make a million dollars in publishing? Start with five million.” It’s really important, on the business side, that even in the online world, your investors are prepared for a long struggle to reach critical mass. On the editorial side, make sure your content strikes a responsive chord with your core audiences—readers and advertisers. Deliver a product that is compelling and programs that are competitive. You have to be relentless.

⑦ In 2011, your magazine will be…
…The leading source, online or in print, for those for whom the journey is just as important as the destination.

JPG

Publisher: 8020 Publishing
Frequency: Bi-monthly
Concept: A photography magazine with a strong partner Web site that allows photographers to become members, upload photos and submit work for the magazine Target Audience: Tech-savvy photographers

Questions with JPG Publisher: Paul Cloutier

① What do you consider the single most important achievement your magazine has accomplished in today's marketplace?
It has given a audience with a great amount of expertise a voice in publishing, helping to make a an incredibly vibrant magazine.

② What was the most important hurdle you were able to overcome?
Proving that you could in fact make a high quality magazine with the submissions of a diverse online community.

③ What was the biggest pleasant surprise?
The array of contributors. We have people from all over the world. Magazines should inspire and surprise you, and we are constantly surprised by the range and diversity of the submissions.

④ What is the biggest challenge you are facing today?
Sustainable circulation growth. We are always looking for smarter ways to have a sustainable way to grow our circulation without falling into the trap of cut-rate subscriptions or over-saturated newsstands. Our current approach is to develop better viral strategies to enable the community to help.

⑤ Imagine you have a magic wand and you can strike the magazine and make it human? Describe that human being.
JPG would be an enthusiastic college student who has just discovered their passion in life. This person would be joyful and constantly inspired to discover new ideas about photography. They are very approachable and obliging to help the people around them; their passion is contagious.

⑥ What advice do you have to someone wanting to start a new magazine?
To a certain extent every magazine is a community, so in starting a new magazine think about how that community can participate in giving your magazine a vibrance and a pulse. Secondly don't think about Web vs. print. They are both part of the equation.

⑦ Finish this sentence: In 2011 your magazine will be...
...The magazine industry is in such incredible flux right now that any real prediction that far out is purely fantasy, however our goal is for JPG to continue its growth and to become a window into the lives of the community, using its bottom up editorial mentality to foster a shift in the power of how visual trends are dictated.

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