Today’s news briefs are both magazine-related, as a lot of scrapbooking news seems to be lately:
No Replacement for Melissa Inman at Scrapbooks Etc
Last week Melissa Inman announced that she was moving from her position at the top of Meredith Corp’s industry-leading publication Scrapbooks Etc. to a position heading up editorial content for the company at Parents.com. This of course raised the question of who would succeed her in the high-profile editorial position at Scrapbooks Etc, a very important position in the scrapbook industry and potentially the most sought-after position in the struggling world of scrapbook editorial.
According to a statement issued to Scrapbook Update by a representative of Scrapbooks Etc. and Meredith Corp., the company is reorganizing their Crafts Group publications. Melissa Inman will not be replaced as the Executive Editor of Scrapbooks Etc. Instead, Michelle Rubin (who held the title of Editor under Inman) will report directly to an Executive Editor who is responsible now for the entire Meredith Crafts Group, Jennifer Keltner.
Keltner provided a vote of confidence in Rubin’s taking on of her new responsibilities:
“As editor of Scrapbooks etc. for the past four years, Michelle has shown remarkable passion for scrapbooking, developed an outstanding reputation in the industry, and demonstrated a keen eye for delivering content that is both inspirational and attainable. I look forward to working with Michelle to grow the business and am excited to watch her expand the scope of her responsibilities to achieve even greater success across multiple platforms.”
For her part, Rubin hints that the changes at Scrapbooks Etc. aren’t finished yet. She says that, while her title and the staff working for her remain the same, “an exciting refresh of the magazine’s look—to deliver more of what scrapbookers want—is under way.”
Scrapbook Trends Offering Digital Issues
One of the biggest complaints about Scrapbook Trends is the cost of $14.95/issue. Northridge Media has just introduced a new way for readers to still enjoy Scrapbook Trends and the other beautiful Northridge publications (Cards, Simply Handmade, Bead Trends and their idea books) at a lower price by subscribing to digital versions for as little as $4.99/issue. There is also an option to subscribe to all of the Northridge publications and idea books for a $9.99/month subscription price.
Northridge is marketing the digital edition as environmentally friendly, and pointing out that it is printer-friendly for subscribers who like to archive their favorite ideas for later use. The issues also feature clickable navigation – readers can go directly to an article from the table of contents, or to an advertiser’s website from an ad. It also features a keyword search that includes supply lists for finding all projects created with certain products, etc.
Scrapbook magazine subscribers have always been notoriously resistant to the concept of digital publications in the past. But the significant price discount on a magazine that they already enjoy but can’t afford on a regular basis may be enough to overcome the built-in resistance to the digital format for some people.
Subscribe to Scrapbook Update in a Reader
Interesting. I started my SBE subscription well after my CK and SS subs, but now I realize that if I had to choose one I would choose SBE. And if I were to give a gift of a subscription to a beginning scrapbooker it would definitely be SBE.
I do like CK and will keep my subscription, but SBE seems to have a wider appeal and to somehow be less… conservative? religious? Christian? Mormon? I can’t quite put my finger on it.
And I was so turned off by their anachronistic website (as I’ve written to you about before.) I know they’ve improved it recently, but they lost me to Two Peas, Studio Calico and SBE’s websites ages ago.
Anyway, I just hope that whatever SBE changes, it makes it better, because I am very satisfied with their magazine just as it is.
I’ve been subscribing to the digital edition of Scrapbook Trends for a few months now, and I have to say that I love it!! When the August issues became available on the 2nd or 3rd of July (don’t remember which) I was able to download them immediately- no waiting for them to come in the mail.
One item I wanted to comment on- I listened to the PCNB broadcast where you discussed this (I’m a little behind on listening, so I know that episode was several weeks ago) and you said that there was not a free trial or free issue or anything they were offering as an incentive to try it. Actually, if you go to the Scrapbook Trends web site, you can get a completely free digital copy of the Mini Albums issue from 2008, and it uses the same interface as the paid subscription. I just thought you readers might want to know that- it’s right on their front page.