Canadian Magazine Industry News
7 March 2012, TORONTO
'Canada's first tablet-only politics and culture magazine' launches this Friday
A new electronic bi-monthly publication, that its publisher says is the first independent tablet-only politics and culture magazine in Canada, is launching this week.
The Toronto Tempest is an independent politics and culture mag launching for the iPad this Friday, March 9, and will be available on an Android tablet platform the following week, said editor and publisher Simon Wallace. In early April an iPhone app will be available. "Our goal is to expand to new devices every two months or so," noted Wallace. The publication is being marketed through Apple's App Store and Google Marketplace.
The magazine will focus on gaining subscribers [subscriptions are $2.99] before approaching advertisers, said Wallace. "Our hope is that it's going to be easier to sign up subscribers in the tablet space than it is in print."
The app itself is free, while each individual issue in the app will cost $8.99. "But since we'll come out every two months, it makes most economic sense for people to subscribe ($2.99 every two months as opposed to $8.99)," said Wallace.
Co-editor James Burrows said Toronto Tempest is a "natural development" in the world of magazines. “Until the tablet, the costs of launching an independent magazine were prohibitive," noted Burrows. "We expect to be the first of many new, young, and interesting magazines that take advantage of this space. Because we’re exclusively digital, The Tempest will feature the same high quality design consumers expect from print magazines, but will also include interactive content, audio materials, and videos.”
Until the tablet, the costs of launching an independent magazine were prohibitive."
According to Burrows, “This city doesn’t need another magazine or newspaper covering City Hall. In every issue we will publish insights into how the city’s daily life actually works. A magazine for the Occupy generation, we ask what this moment demands in terms of its politics, its journalism, its music, its art, and its humour. Our focus is the city, but readers from around the world will appreciate our perspective.”
The magazine will rely on freelancers, noted Wallace — "Most were kind enough to waive all fees for the first issue."
To see the first issue's table of contents and a video preview of Toronto Tempest, visit www.torontotempest.com.
The Toronto Tempest is an independent politics and culture mag launching for the iPad this Friday, March 9, and will be available on an Android tablet platform the following week, said editor and publisher Simon Wallace. In early April an iPhone app will be available. "Our goal is to expand to new devices every two months or so," noted Wallace. The publication is being marketed through Apple's App Store and Google Marketplace.
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The magazine will focus on gaining subscribers [subscriptions are $2.99] before approaching advertisers, said Wallace. "Our hope is that it's going to be easier to sign up subscribers in the tablet space than it is in print."
The app itself is free, while each individual issue in the app will cost $8.99. "But since we'll come out every two months, it makes most economic sense for people to subscribe ($2.99 every two months as opposed to $8.99)," said Wallace.
Co-editor James Burrows said Toronto Tempest is a "natural development" in the world of magazines. “Until the tablet, the costs of launching an independent magazine were prohibitive," noted Burrows. "We expect to be the first of many new, young, and interesting magazines that take advantage of this space. Because we’re exclusively digital, The Tempest will feature the same high quality design consumers expect from print magazines, but will also include interactive content, audio materials, and videos.”
Until the tablet, the costs of launching an independent magazine were prohibitive."
- James Burrows
According to Burrows, “This city doesn’t need another magazine or newspaper covering City Hall. In every issue we will publish insights into how the city’s daily life actually works. A magazine for the Occupy generation, we ask what this moment demands in terms of its politics, its journalism, its music, its art, and its humour. Our focus is the city, but readers from around the world will appreciate our perspective.”
The magazine will rely on freelancers, noted Wallace — "Most were kind enough to waive all fees for the first issue."
To see the first issue's table of contents and a video preview of Toronto Tempest, visit www.torontotempest.com.
— Jeff Hayward
Most Recent News Comment
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| Jaded says: | |
Wow, Torstar really seems to be on a mission to bankrupt one magazine after another.... |
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Most Recent Blog Comment
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| Lorene Shyba says: | |
Full of terrific information, Thanks!... |
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But "dead before long" for print? I dunno...my 14-year-old who admittedly thinks I'm nuts for getting a hard copy newspaper each morning, just subscribed to a print magazine called Slam. I hope there's hope for BOTH.
"Treat the people you meet as friends; shower them with compliments, offer hints for subtle improvements; celebrate their values with them; never be boring; look them in the eye when you talk to them; be as good looking and as well dressed as you can; never make people feel bad after spending time with you; turn them on; share their adversaries; suggest music, books, food, looks and activities you know they will like; be reliable, trustworthy; funny and informative and serious when need be; smart � not smarty-pants, fun, and make them proud to leave you out on their coffee table."
The coffee table part speaks to a print version of a magazine, sure, but I think that it points to something bigger. Why would I bring a magazine to the pub with me? Why would I introduce it to one of my friends?
That's always been the uniqueness of magazines, and the tablet versions will hopefully allow us to do our jobs as editors and magazine makers better.
Digital Periodical:
A digital periodical is primarily text, photography, and illustrated editorial content delivered through a Web site, download or email that is published on a regularly scheduled basis under a common title and governed by an editorial function (editor).
Here is DCH's description of "magazine":
Magazine:
A print periodical that is commonly recognized as a magazine, is paginated and bound, appears in consecutively numbered or dated issues, is published under a common title at regular intervals and may possess an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN).
Readers can find more at http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1279113698714#def11
I think it'd be better for tablet and app-based publications to own that space and lose the print connotations that come with "magazine."
In any case, all of us who write and comment on this site are old enough that we learned to read and enjoy reading long before the internet age. We hardly have an unbiased view of paper vs digital as we like paper for nostalgic and comfort reasons. Kids these days are not necessarily like that, though it depends on what their parents teach them and expose them to. Once the nostalgia factor is removed, my prediction is that most magazines will end up digital only. Printing and distribution costs aren't worth what you get for them in most cases.
Therefore, if you think "magazines" can only exist on paper (and no one responded with a definition beyond that, which surprises me), then most will be dead before long. If you define a "magazine" as a periodical of limited length created by editors around a theme or targeted group of readers - on paper or not - (which is my definition, personally), there's much more of a future.
I personally think it's sad to limit the definition of a magazine to something that can only be printed. It's also a negative and limiting definition of the broad skill set in our industry.
A magazine is printed on paper. An app is not a magazine, just as a television program is not a magazine. Both may be brands, with missions and identities and constituencies they serve, but they are not the same thing.
I didn't think that needed to be explained. Nor do I think "they" are going anywhere. Newspapers were supposed to disappear with the advent of radio, then TV, and that hasn't happened yet. Like newspapers, paper magazines will also be around for years to come. Some people just prefer them to squinting at a screen.
Mast Editor - I submit that if this brand exists in app form only, it is not, in fact, a magazine at all.