Digital publishing news for January 13, 2014
Romanian-based PHOTOgraphia is taking digital magazine publishing to the next level, not because they want to, but because they need to. Talking New Media’s D.B. Hebbard writes, “It turns out that there is no Romanian Newsstand inside the Apple App Store. Because of this, the app has to reside with Book apps inside the Romanian App Store, but appears in the Newsstand in other stores.” This has forced PHOTOgraphia to create Mac and Windows apps of their magazine. Hebbard adds, “The app will be charging an annual subscription fee, as well as offering individual issues for free. But for now one can Preview the new digital magazine from with the app. But maybe the best way to approach this would be to visit the website instead, where one can download the Mac or Windows app.”
Kudo’s to PHOTOgraphia for making its publication available to everyone. How many other magazines have Mac and Windows apps? I can’t think of any others.
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Forbes Sales to be Completed in a Few Weeks
The NY Post caught up with Steve Forbes and prodded him for details of Forbes Media sale. Keith J Kelly writes, “Forbes chairman Steve Forbes bumped into Media Ink Thursday morning after finishing up an appearance on the Fox Business Network, so naturally we inquired as to how the sale of Forbes Media was proceeding. The executive said he expected to hear news “in the next several weeks.”Asked if he was happy with the price, since Ink had heard that it might be having a hard time fetching top dollar, Forbes responded rather cryptically, “Price? I like the price. I’m Scottish, so I like the price.”
Is Publishing to the Nook a Waste of Time?
Barnes & Nobles announced a 60% decline in digital sales during the holidays. Giga Om’s Alex Colon writes, “The company’s Nook division, which includes digital content and devices, reported $125 million in revenue, a 60.5 percent decline from the year before. Nook devices and accessories took an even harder hit, dropping 66.7 percent over the same period. Digital content sales, on the other hand, were down 27.3 percent from the year prior. The news isn’t terribly surprising, given that Barnes & Noble didn’t release any completely new Nook tablets in 2013.”
Realty One Launches Magazine
Realty One Group hopes its new magazine launch will help with its brand awareness while they go up against Re/Max and Keller Williams Realty. Paul Hagey for In Mann News writes, “The marketing move is an effort to raise the brand’s visibility with consumers in an already crowded real estate franchising space, which now includes Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand.”
The company is currently serving California, Nevada, and Arizona but hopes the magazine will broaden its reach. Hagey adds, “A digital version of the first issue of the magazine features embedded videos and hyperlinks, and is organized into three sections that mirror the firm’s “Homes Lives Dreams” tagline. The first issue, focused on highlighting the agents, brokers and people behind the firm, was emailed to approximately 250,000 clients and industry contacts, Jewgieniew said. An additional 2,000 print copies were sent to the firm’s branch offices.”
