The annual PBAA member meeting was held on June 12, 2012 at the Retail Marketplace Conference in Baltimore. At that time, the results of the election for three board seats were announced by PBAA Executive Director, Lisa Scott.

Rich Alleger (Rodale, Inc.), Bruce Sherbow (Penny Publications) and Irwin Billman (Billman Media/MCC) were elected to the board for 2 year terms 2012 - 2014.

One of the best parts of what I do for a living is that I get to go a multitude of magazine/media trade shows to meet people and listen to lectures from absolutely every part of the magazine food chain.  I go to writers associations, editors associations, production, distribution and circulation, digital workshops, libraries, regional magazine associations, and countless other types of publishing events. These events cover in great detail everything from the initial concept stage of developing a magazine through the entire process to the final sale of our work.

Recently magazine covers pushed outside politics, foreign policy, and the economy to become lead stories in the national media- broadcast, print, and online. (For example, Time magazine’s “Attachment Parenting” cover had a tremendous effect on consumer awareness, issue sales, and new subscriptions.)  In February 2012, PBAA called for submissions from our publishers for a report on how great covers drive sales. The covers featured were chosen from regular frequency issues by their own newsstand managers or consultants, and included comments on why the selected cover drove sales and some indexed measurements of the issues’ strengths.   And remember, GREAT COVERS DO DRIVE SALES!  Continue reading

The new value-driven consumer and changing retailer strategies pose challenges for many retail product categories, including magazines.

The upside: They also open new opportunities for magazines to partner with retailers to achieve specific chain objectives, as well as boost magazine sales.  

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Special Message from PBAA President, Jay Annis:

“I am pleased to announce that as a result of the PBAA Canada meeting last August, an initiative was commenced to bring various factions of the Canadian magazine industry together to prepare a comprehensive report on Magazines at Retail Canada (MARC) to be used to help sell our category to both retailers and the public.

March 26, 2012 - UPDATED WITH PRESENTATIONS April, 10, 2012

The Periodical and Book Association of America (PBAA) and the Press Distributors Association of Russia (PDA) today announced a joint forum on press to be held in New York from March 30 to April 6, 2012.

If you are in the magazine business today and you are not excited about all the changes taking place, you should get out of the business. This is the simple and direct advice Chris Keyes, Outside’s magazine VP and editor, offers folks working in the magazine industry today. “I’m really excited about the opportunities of the future,” Keyes told me in this latest Mr. Magazine™ Interviews series of interviews with magazine industry leaders. Continue reading

Magazine media publishing today is more complicated than ever. The options are unlimited and the choices are endless. The world of technology has added more possibilities to the world of publishing, whether ink on paper or pixels on a screen. The latest count of the number of Apps available for the general public is over one billion… yes, you’ve read that right: 1,000,000,000 Apps. And the number of magazines available for the general public is over ten thousand… yes: 10,000 magazines. Continue reading

Information may want to be free, but New Yorker editor David Remnick has no interest in giving away his magazine. If he had his way, each issue would be behind an online paywall. Continue reading