Local magazines are piling up

Without a doubt.

Four new publications have begun penetrating the Springfield market in the last year, and at least two more are around the corner.

Will the market sustain the growing number of locally produced publications vying for advertising dollars?

Two city publishers on the front end of the curve think so. Springfield News-Leader and Whitaker Publishing both have plans to increase the frequency of their existing “niche” products – magazines and tabloids demographically engineered to help advertisers hit their target audience.

The niche formula has worked well for Whitaker Publishing, the Springfield-based company that publishes 417 Magazine. The regional magazine has a circulation of 17,000, which includes roughly 10,000 subscribers, said Gary Whitaker, co-owner of Whitaker Publishing.

Two years ago, the company launched its first magazine spinoff, 417 Bride, which now publishes in January and June.

Then came 417 Home – a biannual supplement predicated on the Ozarks homebuilding boom – and 417 Encore for retirees. Last year, Whitaker also started publishing GO, a bimonthly tabloid geared toward college students and young professionals.

Revenue from the various publications will hit $2.1 million this year, Whitaker said.

Springfield News-Leader owner Gannett Co. added to the magazine mix this year with two niche products, Ozarks Signature and Ozarks Spaces.

“The more, the merrier,” Whitaker said, dismissing the notion that there aren’t enough advertisers to keep the publications afloat. “I think we’ve just scratched the surface of what’s available in the landscape.”

Targeting ad dollars

In April, Springfield-area households in a certain income bracket began receiving Signature, a magazine signaling the News-Leader’s foray into the world of upscale niche products. Virginia-based parent Gannett Co., the country’s largest newspaper chain, now circulates free weekly publications to young readers in 11 of its newspaper markets. As of October 2005, Gannett had 909 nondaily publications, with 695 containing editorial content and 214 based solely on advertising, according to the company’s Web site.

News-Leader Publisher Tom Bookstaver said the decision to launch Signature, a magazine aimed at affluent readers, and Spaces, a home-decor magazine that debuted last month, was based on “changing media usage” and a desire among advertisers to more effectively reach customers.

Niche publications typically benefit advertisers trying to hone in on a certain demographic, said Susan Waters, an assistant professor of communication at Missouri State University. The Springfield market is no different.

Whitaker said advertisers are attracted to the “favorable editorial environment” of 417 and its counterparts, and Bookstaver said the News-Leader polled its advertisers before launching Signature and Spaces.

“Advertisers are always working to target their dollars … to reach audiences that will shop at their store,” Bookstaver said. “That’s what Signature did for certain types of businesses.”

The third issue of Signature, which publishes quarterly, will land in mailboxes and on newsstands this week. Starting next year, Bookstaver hopes to publish the magazine every other month.

The potential for niche magazines in the Springfield market appears limitless, said Bookstaver, who declined to discuss operating costs or revenue associated with Signature or Spaces.

“We’ll continue to start more publications if we see people are interested in more choices,” he said. “The days of saying two publications of this type are enough are past.”

Planning for survival

Another Springfield-based magazine – Boomer – is looking to distinguish itself from would-be competitors with national ads and a broader circulation base when it debuts in December.

The first issue of the quarterly magazine is complimentary and will reach 90,000 households of middle-aged adults and seniors in Missouri and metropolitan areas in surrounding states, said Editor Todd Yearack. Each quarter, 20,000 randomly selected households will stop receiving the magazine in hopes they will subscribe, he said.

Yearack founded Boomer Publishing LLC with Publisher Larry D. Renken and Publicist Debby Gilmore. The trio raised the necessary capital to start the magazine, which they plan to operate debt-free. Each issue will cost an estimated $100,000 to print, Yearack said.

National advertisers, such as automobile manufacturers and home improvement stores, will anchor the magazine, which Yearack said is offering special long-term rates to grow its advertising roster.

“We know that national advertising is vital to us,” said Yearack, who counts himself among those who have wondered how many magazines Springfield can support.

Research indicates that half of all magazines survive, said MSU professor Waters.

She said the Internet and other technological advances have made it easier for marketing firms and data-mining companies to gather personal information, which publishers use to formulate specialized products.

“You better know your area,” she said, noting that successful niche magazines exude expertise. “You want to be an insider, not an outsider.”

Publisher Dianne Elizabeth Osis started Springfield Business Journal, a business-to-business niche publication, 25 years ago and added a bimonthly sister publication, Joplin Tri-State Business, in April. Osis said the explosion of business publications is a testament to targeted marketing.

“It wasn’t how many – but whom – the readers would be,” she said.

Last year, 350 new magazines publishing at least quarterly were launched in the United States, according to the American Society of Magazine Editors. Almost 60 were magazines serving a metropolitan area, region or state, and 19 fell into the home category.

Companies that sell home furnishings and supplies spent $1.7 billion advertising in magazines last year, according to ASME.

Emphasizing content

Slick niche magazines popping up in Springfield have sparked an undercurrent of criticism from smaller publishers who think the public deserves stronger, more thought-provoking journalism.

In December 2003, Breck Langsford launched Community Free Press Midweek, an independently owned newsweekly that has struggled to define itself. CFP, which is undergoing a redesign, was originally conceived as an alternative weekly for sophisticated readers – a publication akin to the St. Louis Riverfront Times, Langsford said.

“But this town isn’t made for that,” he said, explaining his decision to convert CFP into a consumer publication with wider appeal. “This is a good, progressive community, but there is a void.”

Langsford, whose family has a 30-year history of automotive trade journal publishing, called Springfield a “ripe little territory” for publishers, but he criticized local niche magazines for devoting too much ink to mundane topics.

“You’ve got to be content-driven,” he said. “There’s a lot more going on in this town than buying a home.”

MSU journalism student Colin Wright said he was likewise concerned about the amount of “fluff” in the local market. That’s why he started Stim, an arts and literature magazine coming out this month.

“Part of the reason I thought this was going to be successful is because people are generally unhappy with the niche publications,” he said. “No one reads the content. What they should be doing is working … to connect their product with their audience.”

Stim aims to set itself apart from standard coffee table fare with its 5-by-7-inch design and abstract cover art. Stim will feature photos, poetry and creative writing, and its full-page ads – sold for $500 apiece – have been designed to reflect the magazine’s artistic theme, Wright said.

Publishing Profiles

2and2is5design LLC

Owner: Colin Wright

Publications: Stim (due out this month)

Boomer Publishing LLC

Owners: Larry Renken, Todd Yearack and Debby Gilmore

Publications: Boomer (due out in December)

B Publishing Group Inc.

Owner: Breck Langsford

Publications: Community Free Press Midweek

Downtown Now Magazine

Owners: Michael and Anita Crowder

Publication: Downtown Now

Springfield Business Journal Inc.

Owner: Dianne Elizabeth Osis

Publications: Springfield Business Journal, Joplin Tri-State Business

Springfield News-Leader

Owner: Gannett Co. Inc., McLean, Va.

Publications: Ozarks Signature, Ozarks Spaces, Parent & Family

Whitaker Publishing Co.

Owners: Gary and Joan Whitaker

Publications: 417, 417 Home, 417 Bride, 417 Encore, GO