You might say I cut my teeth on magazines. Like so many in my generation – and in those preceding – I experienced the world’s culture in the glossy pages of weekly and monthly publications. I learned to love learning by reading Highlights for Children and Ranger Rick.
Later, I religiously read YM to learn all the latest beauty tips and style trends, as well as how to find a keep a boyfriend, how to identify abuse and a whole host of other information every teenage girl of the last century needed to know. Eventually, I graduated to Cosmo and People, where I learned about sex and celebrity. I honestly can’t imagine the person I might be today without my magazine subscriptions of yesteryear.
It was by reading magazines, not newspapers, that I was inspired to become a journalist (that and my odd admiration of Brandon Walsh, but that’s a story for another day). Features, rather than breaking news, were my forte, and this preference shaped my career decisions.
But much like the dying print newspaper industry, my magazine reading declined when I suddenly had the world’s worth of information at my fingertips. Why spend sacred dollars on a subscription when I could follow all the same topics on my computer and later my smartphone? Even the quizzes we all loved so much can now be found throughout social media.
Still, there’s something about those crisp, glossy pages that just can’t be replicated by clicking a link. And I imagine my attention span was longer when I got my information off the page instead of the screen. But can print media survive in this digital age? Even New York’s iconic Village Voice recently published its last print issue after more than 40 years in circulation.
One way to keep people flipping through those glossy pages is competitive pricing. Most digital magazines are free, and even those that charge often offer a certain number of free articles per month before requiring a subscription fee that is generally significantly less than its print counterpart. But how many readers still might choose to receive their favorite publications in their mailboxes if the cost was comparable?
Enter ValueMags. Yes, the company is technically a marketing agency for magazine publishers. But its benefits to consumers might very well help save portions of the print-media industry. Founder Andrew Degenholtz started the company more than a decade ago to help publishers increase their revenue and forge partnerships with partners.
The website offers consumers an enormous assortment of titles at the lowest prices available. So, if you’re hesitant to pay for a subscription rather than surfing the net, ValueMags just might make that decision easier. Plus, there are no automatic renewals, so you never have to worry that forgotten renewal date will sneak up on you and clear your bank account.
ValueMags even offers a variety of subscriptions absolutely free. So, if you feel like you’re missing out on Better Homes and Gardens, Men’s Fitness or Bridal Guide arriving in your mailbox, there’s no longer any need to fret. And free really means free. Subscribers to such titles are never asked to enter credit card information and are never billed – no strings attached!
Plus, popular titles such as Sports Illustrated, Popular Science and Car and Driver are also available from 60- to more than 80-percent off their normal prices.
Being the savvy entrepreneur that he is, however, Degenholz isn’t naïve of the industry’s future. ValueMags recently announced its digital-edition reader program, a service that “will improve the user experience,” according to Degenholz. The Digital Replica Edition Program will not only cater to readers who prefer online editions, but also help publishers improve profits by protecting their published content from being shared with non-subscribers.
“The program is designed to maximize unique opens per digital issue,” Degenholtz said. “This is accomplished by providing a universal replica edition that can be viewed on any device. It works on all mobile platforms and does not require Adobe Flash.”
Do we still need print magazines? Maybe not. Sure, we can probably use Google to find much of the same information, but doesn’t it then become more work than leisure?
Kurt Andersen, former editor of New York and founder of Spy magazine may have said it best when he told the New York Times that print magazines are still breathing, and that someday they may carry with them the same sense of nostalgia that vinyl records now offer.
“Eventually, they’ll become like sailboats,” he said. “They don’t need to exist anymore. But people will still love them, and make them and buy them.”
I, for one, hope Anderson is right. And fortunately, ValueMags will be there to keep my reading affordable.