„Print is in crisis!“? Yes, but that is only half the truth. Magazines – especially in the area of special interest publications – show stable or even rising circulation numbers. Yet the question how to make the production of such titles as efficient as possible remains. We offer tips for choosing the right editorial system.
The print industry – as proven by the newest IVW-statistics – must continue preparing for market breaks. And yet, special interest titles continue being true winners. Magazines such as“Living at Home,“ “Chefkoch,“ and “11 Freunde“ are registering increased readership.
Efficient Production as the Key for Success
In order to be permanently successful, magazine publishers have to support their stable or rising sales through an efficient production. Comprehensive planning tools, as used for large daily newspapers, are often overdesigned and oversized for magazine publishing. A lean and intuitive tool with a deep InDesign-integration might therefore be the better choice for magazine planners.
In addition, magazine publishers in particular often work with many freelancers that contribute from all across the globe. In order to effectively organize freelancer-workflows, it is advisable to use an editorial system that allows for images, texts, and other assets to be uploaded from all over the world using a web browser. That is why Egmont Publishing, Norway’s largest magazine publishing company, decided to implement Content-X by ppi Media and Digital Collections: The publishing house cooperates with numerous external journalists, photographers, and freelancers, who can edit and upload content into the system from anywhere – all they need is a web browser and a functioning internet connection. Freelance employees who are able to work directly in the publishing company’s system and layout save money since they do not need expensive InDesign licenses.
More time for Important Matters
Due to their weekly or monthly publication intervals, an important characteristic of magazines is the presentation of extensively researched and comprehensively presented stories. Such feature stories need special, innovative layouts in order to tie readers more closely to a certain magazine – this holds true for higher priced publications in particular. A publisher’s design department can usually only create these time intensive, creative layouts if the rest of the publication relies on standard templates, that are filled directly by the content editors. Again, Content-X would be a suitable solution in this situation and thus one of the best choices for magazine publishers: The entire process, from the creation of a page and the filling of article templates with content to the rendering of a PDF for print, is highly automated and can be completed without InDesign. Thus, more time remains for the work intensive feature story.
Conclusion
Since magazine publishing requires specific features of an editorial system, it is critical to make sure a solution truly fits those needs before implementing it. It is only when their production is efficient and lean that magazines can continue their upward trend in the future.