The State of Digital Publishing in the Scrapbooking Industry

June 1, 2011 By 22 Comments

It’s a brave new world in today’s publishing market. The advent of miniature technological marvels such as the iPad, Kindle, Nook, and the myriad of other electronic reading devices on the market today mean that publishers have more diverse and immediate options for producing and delivering content than ever before. Newspapers and magazines alike are moving from traditional print media to electronic delivery, in some cases bypassing even web site content models in favor of delivering digital media directly to subscribers’ devices.

For scrapbookers, this new media outlet can be a wonderful place to obtain new content. Digital media doesn’t require physical storage beyond your computer’s (or device’s) drive, is quick to access, and in many cases is portable on certain devices. There is no current industry standard, however, on platforms for delivery and access of digital content, so scrapbookers should educate themselves on the available options before making a purchase. I’ve collected digital publication data for several major scrapbooking magazines and compiled it all into a handy reference that should help when making purchasing decisions.

Creating Keepsakes does not offer a digital subscription to their magazine at this time, though premium members of their Club Creating Keepsakes community (currently $19.95 per year) are granted access to select digital back issues of Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, and Digital Scrapbooking magazines as well as a few special issues and books as one of the perks of membership. [Note: While this article was still in the editing process, Creating Keepsakes announced that they will be discontinuing the premium features of Club Creating Keepsakes as of December 2011 and will immediately stop selling paid memberships. No announcement has been made as to whether another form of online access to any Creating Keepsakes issues will be provided as a replacement. And that, my friends, is how quickly things are changing in this industry!] These issues are presented on the web-based based Issuu platform (using Adobe Flash) and are not downloadable for offline viewing. This also means that they are not viewable on the iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. Creating Keepsakes also offers all of their 2010 issues for purchase on CD for $14.95.

Papercrafts, a sister magazine of Creating Keepsakes, does not currently offer online access to any of their publications whether by subscription or as a catalog of back issues. Like Creating Keepsakes, though, they do offer their 2010 back issues on CD for $14.95.

Scrapbooks, Etc. recently moved their online publication wing from its previous host at Coverleaf to a new home on Zinio. The Zinio service provides applications for viewing on a number of platforms, including Windows and Macintosh computers and the iPad. A digital subscription to Scrapbooks, Etc. through Zinio is $19.97, which is actually higher than the current print subscription price of $14.95 as offered on the Scrapbooks, Etc. web site. One benefit to subscribers that was lost in the transition from Coverleaf to Zinio is access to digital versions for print subscribers. Under the Coverleaf platform, print subscribers could register to receive digital versions of the same magazine for no additional cost. This option is not available to print subscribers through Zinio.

Northridge Publishing (publisher of Scrapbook Trends magazine) offers digital subscriptions to all of their publications at a deeply discounted rate from both the cover and print subscription prices. A single-title digital subscription is $4.99 per month, and an “All-Access Pass” that provides readers with subscriptions to Scrapbook Trends, Cards, Simply Handmade, Bead Trends, and the Create Idea Book series is $9.99 per month. Subscribers have the option of adding Northridge’s Cricut magazine to the All-Access Pass for an additional $1.50 per month. Special issues and books such as Jessica Sprague’s “Stories In Hand” are also often made available to purchase in digital format, again at rates significantly less than the cover price. Northridge provides access to their digital publications either online as a download for offline viewing through the Yudu platform, which is Flash based and thus not compatible with the iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch.

F+W Media has several digital offerings for scrapbookers. Back issues of Memory Makers magazine (no longer in publication) are available to purchase on CD from their online store. Regular issues from 2006, 2007, and 2008 are all available as well as select special issues. All issues are provided in PDF format, which is viewable on any number of platforms including the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.

F+W also offers a large number of their idea books- including the popular PageMaps 2 by Becky Fleck – in eBook format on Amazon’s Kindle device. Due to limitations of the Kindle format, however, many of the visual elements that are integral to craft and hobby books such as icons, backgrounds, and complex page designs are lost in the translation to eBook format. The basic content and photos are present, but the experience for the reader is greatly diminished by the platform’s formatting limitations. A few recent F+W titles are also available through Apple’s iBook store, including Page Maps 2, but there again the format has limitations.

Canada-based Scrapbook and Cards Today has perhaps the most interesting digital publishing model of the current crop of available magazines. All issues of their magazine, both current and back catalog, are available to download in PDF format from their web site free of charge. Subscribers also have the option of paying for a traditional print subscription to this quarterly publication. iPad, iPhone, and almost all eReader owners can rejoice that this magazine is freely available in a format that is compatible with their device (though it will of course be best viewed on devices with color screens).

The lack of periodical publications for some of the most popular electronic reading devices can leave scrapbookers starved for fresh content. Several manufacturers have actually stepped in on their own to fill this void by providing free PDF newsletters on a regular (often monthly) basis. These newsletters serve the dual purpose of advertising manufacturers’ products directly to consumers and providing project ideas, page sketches, and editorial content to customers. My Mind’s Eye’s “In the Blink of an Eye,” Basic Grey’s “Just the Basics,” and Pink Paislee’s “Live Pink” are just three examples of this trend.

The portable content vacuum has also opened up a niche for independent publishers. Ella Publishing, founded by Simple Scrapbooks alums Lain Ehmann, Wendy Smedley, and Angie Lucas, sells professionally written, edited, and formatted scrapbooking eBooks through their web site. All eBooks are in PDF format and compatible with a wide array of platforms and devices. Bloggers can leverage Amazon’s Kindle store to provide their feeds as subscriptions that readers can download for later reading offline. Scrapbook Update, along with several other scrapbooking blogs, is available on Kindle.

The current fragmented state of digital publishing can be a confusing place. Scrapbookers have to keep track of which publications offer digital content at all, whether that content is available on a subscription basis or as back issues only, what platform and compatibilities are applicable to that content, and how much the digital content costs. That last one is the stickiest – under many of the offerings outlined here, scrapbookers can be left paying for digital content that they’ve already purchased in paper form, or in some cases paying more for the digital version of content than the printed version. Rules also vary widely on whether current print subscribers can convert their existing subscriptions to a digital format.

Digital publishing as a whole, not just publishing for scrapbookers and papercrafters, is without a doubt experiencing some growing pains as this new market is expanded and tested currently. These are exciting times, even with the frustrations being experienced right now, and as long as scrapbookers remain educated about the available choices and platform compatibilities they can enjoy stress-free access to this new media outlet.

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State of the Scrapbook Magazine, Part 2: Advertising

December 7, 2009 By 1 Comment

Now that we’ve taken a look at magazine circulation of the news stand scrapbook publications, it is time to look at the second piece of the puzzle of their health: advertising. [Note that for reasons of comparison, the analysis in part one and part two of this series only includes the publications that have historically been widely available on news stands at places like grocery stores. The reason for this will be made clear in part three of the series when other scrapbook publications will be added in and discussed.]

Advertising content is an important part of the business model of the news stand magazines. A typical news stand magazine in any market needs to contain about 40% advertising to be profitable. Three or four years ago, scrapbook magazines were reaching this mark easily, and at longer issue lengths than they are now producing. Here’s how they’ve been stacking up recently:

Scrapbooks Etc.
(Nov/Dec 2008)
Creating Keepsakes
(Dec 2008)		Paper Crafts
(Mar/Apr 2009)
Length14413098 pgs
Percent Advertising36%37%18.57%
Scrapbooks Etc
(Nov/Dec 2009)		Creating Keepsakes
(Dec 2009)		Paper Crafts
(Dec 2009)
Length12812290
Percentage Advertising Content27.48%21%19.35%

So, what do all of these numbers mean?

  • All of the magazines are shorter today than they were in the earlier set of data. None of the three except Paper Crafts has been able to maintain their advertising content percentage over the past year, even by shortening their relative length.
  • Creating Keepsakes, in particular, has lost the most advertising in the past year. It is now in the very low 20′s where a year ago it was managing almost healthy stats in the high 30′s.
  • Scrapbooks Etc. has cut the most length (11%) in the past year. Paper Crafts and Creating Keepsakes have cut 8% and 6%, respectively.
  • Advertising percentages under 20% in a news stand publication indicate a title is likely in serious jeopardy. Simple Scrapbooks was at 15% when it was shut down. Memory Makers ranged between 15-19% in its last few issues. Digital Scrapbooking was at 11% by its next-to-last issue, and 5% in its last one.

While it is tempting to look at the above statistics and declare it to be a sign that the entire scrapbook industry is on life support, there is a bigger picture that needs to be considered here. That picture is the health of various business models in the publishing industry as a whole…and how that relates to scrapbook publishing.

To read about that, stay tuned for part three of the series.

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2009 State of the Scrapbook Magazine, Part 1: Circulation

December 2, 2009 By 9 Comments

The end of the year is a good time to examine the health of the publishing segment of the scrapbook industry for several reasons. First, the end of the year is a natural time to look back on things – especially things that have seen major change in that year. Second, the scrapbook magazines publish their annual ownership & circulation statements that are required by the USPS in their last issue of the year.

2009 saw huge changes in the publishing segment of the scrapbook industry. F+W announced it was shutting down Memory Makers Magazine in May. CK Media shut down Simple Scrapbooks in January (only a short time after shuttering Digital Scrapbooking), ended its major contests, and called in a bankruptcy/turnaround firm to settle its debts for pennies on the dollar before the magazines were sold in July to New Track Media. Over the course of the year, CK lost most of its headline talent as well: Cathy Zielske, Becky Higgins, Ali Edwards, Jessica Sprague, and Lisa Bearnson, to name a few.

Not all the scrapbook publishing changes were that drastic, or even negative, though. In April, Melissa Inman departed Scrapbooks Etc and was not replaced; instead, an organizational shuffle removed her title from the company. That same month, Scrapbook Trends began offering digital subscriptions to its publications. In October, Scrapbooks Etc. unveiled a redesign targeted at attracting news stand customers (among other things).

So, after that year of seismic change, where has that left us? Here’s where the three remaining news stand magazines are positioned in total circulation:

MagazineOctober 2008October 2009Change
Scrapbooks Etc.266,784212,683-20.3%
Creating Keepsakes203,967177,218-13.1%
Paper Crafts161,000121,220-24.7%
  • The three magazines are ranked in the same order for total circulation numbers as in 2008.
  • Everyone was down significantly in total circulation.
  • In 2008, Creating Keepsakes had managed a 5% increase in circulation while everyone else’s numbers declined. This year, they fell into the trend of declining numbers with the other publications.
  • The gap is closing between Creating Keepsakes and Scrapbooks Etc. In 2008, Creating Keepsakes had 76% of the circulation of Scrapbooks Etc. In 2009, Creating Keepsakes had 83% of the circulation of Scrapbooks Etc.

These circulation numbers seem to reflect pretty much the status quo from the past few years – a segment in decline and dominated by Scrapbooks Etc – until you break them down into subscription and news stand sales.

The largest percentage of the magazines’ circulation comes from subscriptions:

Scrapbooks Etc.Creating KeepsakesPaper Crafts
October 2009 Subscribers147,344152,79995,550
October 2008 Subscribers201,994171,475120,000
% Change-26.5%-11.1%-20.37%
  • Creating Keepsakes actually has more subscribers than Scrapbooks Etc. The difference in total circulation that gives Scrapbooks Etc. its lead comes from news stand sales.
  • Creating Keepsakes got this lead by being the best at retaining its subscribers. It had by far the lowest decrease in subscription circulation over 2008 of the three magazines.

The news stand sales numbers also have a lot of information to offer about where the magazines stand:

Scrapbooks EtcCreating KeepsakesPaper Crafts
October 2009 Actual Sales65,33924,41925,270
October 2008 Actual Sales64,79032,49241,000
% Change in News Stand Sales From 2008-2009+1.6%-25%-38.36%
% of sales from News Stand in October 200931%13.5%20.84%
% of sales from News Stands in 200824%15.7%25.46%
  • Scrapbooks Etc maintained its sales news stand sales numbers while the other two publications experienced massive losses in that area. Anecdotal evidence suggests this is quite likely due to a smaller number of outlets carrying Creating Keepsakes & Paper Crafts, while Scrapbooks Etc. has maintained its distribution points due to the clout of its parent company Meredith.
  • A much larger percentage of Scrapbook Etc’s circulation comes from the news stand than is the case with the circulation of the other two publications. This would either explain the new cover design, or was perhaps the result of it.

Overall, these numbers aren’t good for the scrapbook magazine industry. They show a continued decline that so far the various efforts have been unable to arrest. This is in line with the experience of other publishing market segments, where publications are rapidly shuttering. Unfortunately, I highly doubt that we’ve seen the last of the lights going out at publications in the scrapbook market.

For more on why and more talk about the future of scrapbook magazines, watch for the 2009 State of the Scrapbook Magazine, Part 2: Advertising (coming soon)

[Note: All of the above statistics are based on the single issue published closest to Oct. 1st for the magazines. Due to their different business model, publications from Northridge and Stampington were excluded from this analysis - but you will be able to read about them in part three of the series.]

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Top Business Trends at CHA-Summer 2009

August 10, 2009 By 3 Comments

Besides design trends, each CHA trade show usually reveals its share of business trends for the industry as well. Here’s what some of those business trends looked like at CHA-Summer 2009.

Paper Embellishments

There is a massive movement towards paper embellishments in the scrapbooking industry. They are affordable SKU’s for both the manufacturer, retailer and consumer, making them perfect for the current economic climate. Die cut papers, journaling cards & tags, bingo & other game cards, and chipboard buttons are all examples of the current trend towards paper embellishments that are cheaper to produce, cheaper for retailers to stock, and cheaper for consumers to buy. Sassafras, Jillibean Soup, Jenni Bowlin, Tattered Angels, and October Afternoon are some of the standouts in this area.

Sassafras

Sassafras

Jillibean Soup

Jillibean Soup

Cheaper Price Points

The paper embellishments are just part of an overall trend toward less expensive embellishments. As noted in our design trends piece, buttons are back – a relatively affordable alternative to the metal embellishments that were trendy a few years ago. (Metal still exists but it is now a niche market from companies that specialize in a particular vintage look, such as Tim Holtz and 7 Gypsies, instead of everyone making metal pieces.) If you are still a fan of metal, check out Tim Holtz giving a tour of his current line to Noell Hyman of Paperclipping.

Companies are also packaging items in smaller quantities to make the price point lower on the item. Instead of a package of 12 items, you’ll see a package of 6 embellishments. Stamp sets are smaller than in the past. Where there used to be acrylic stamp sets that retailed for $40 from Technique Tuesday and Fancy Pants, now it is rare to find a set that retails for $20. The new e. line from Prima is an excellent example of the new packaging being used by companies. Prima has repackaged mulberry flowers, pearls and bling that were previously sold in large quantities in decorative packaging into small plain paper packages at an MSRP of $1.50 each.

e. by Prima

e. by Prima

Why are lower price points important to the manufacturers? With the average ticket price going down for consumer purchases, companies have a better chance of ending up in a consumer’s shopping bag if their price point is lower. They might price themselves out of the market if their high price point requires the consumer to commit their entire budget for the shopping trip to a single item.

Lots of Kits

Kits are great for retailers because they can use them as pre-packaged classes, cutting down their costs for developing and packaging classes. Inexperienced scrapbookers like having everything coordinated and being given instructions. Experienced scrapbookers like the convenience. Manufacturers  can sell a bundle of products to consumers – a bulk sale – in a way that the consumer is almost guaranteed to not get frustrated figuring out how to work with the product. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Technique Tuesday, BoBunny and plenty of others are offering kits for scrapbooking and cards. Quick Quotes is taking kits to a different audience with its wall canvas kits.

Technique Tuesday page kits

Technique Tuesday page kits

Quick Quotes 10x20 canvases

Quick Quotes 10x20 canvases

BoBunny Recipe Book Kit

BoBunny Recipe Book Kit

Cardmaking

The holidays that are the focus of product releases at CHA-Summer lend themselves to cardmaking, and many companies are taking advantage of that to try to find an additional market for their products as cash-strapped consumers turn to more affordable homemade cards to save money. Card samples were on display in many booths, even for product lines that weren’t for the Christmas/Valentine’s Day card making holidays.

Quickutz is investing heavily into the DIY stationery market with its new Letterpress product that allows users to create expensive-looking engraved stationery items such as invitations, place cards, and thank you notes.

IMG_5651

Technique Tuesday card samples

Little Yellow Bicycle card samples

Little Yellow Bicycle card samples

Quickutz Lifestyle Crafts letterpress kit

Quickutz Lifestyle Crafts letterpress kit

Going Green

Some companies were placing a lot of marketing emphasis on how green their lines are. The e. line by Prima (pictured earlier) is being marketed as both budget and eco-friendly. A few paper lines are starting (or continuing) like Cosmo Cricket to advertise the “eco” certifications that they have received. However, Sandylion took it to a whole new level and made their whole booth about how eco-friendly their presence at the show was.

Sandylion's low carbon-footprint booth

Sandylion's low carbon-footprint booth

Of course, the bonus for Sandylion is that “efficiently transported” means more affordable to transport. This booth is a beautiful example of turning cost-cutting into a feature.

Tools

There seems to be more emphasis on tools in the scrapbooking market than in the past in an attempt to reach consumers who want to feel they are getting more value for their money by purchasing items they will get multiple uses out of. The most obvious example of this is the ubiquity of acrylic stamps, an affordable but reusable tool that are being sold it seems by virtually every scrapbooking company.

Kaisercraft clear stamps

Kaisercraft clear stamps

Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels

Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels

Inks and other similar products (such as Glimmer Mist) are also getting a lot of attention for the tool category. Where consumers used to pay $5-7 for a package of embellishments, most would now rather spend that amount on a reusable item like an inkpad that they can use to create multiple effects.

For a video demo of an interesting new tool from CHA, a tool from Imaginisce that lets scrapbookers create their own paper topped brads, visit the I-Top Brad Demo video at Paperclipping.

Higher-priced tools are also getting a lot of attention. Where consumers used to routinely drop $100-200 on consumable supplies at a time, now it seems those large purchases are more often a carefully planned and budgeted reusable tool such as die cutting equipment.

Slice by Making Memories

Slice by Making Memories

Multiple Holiday Lines

With the increased emphasis on the holidays and cardmaking in papercrafts, some companies are trying to expand their reach in that market by not limiting their customers to one style option. Cosmo Cricket, My Minds Eye, and Kaisercraft were among the companies at CHA-Summer that had multiple holiday lines on display for retailers to choose from, so that retailers could offer several options of styles to their customers.

Colorful Christmas by My Minds Eye

Colorful Christmas by My Minds Eye

The Merry Days of Christmas by My Minds Eye

The Merry Days of Christmas by My Minds Eye

Not Exhibiting

One trend from CHA-Summer was not actually being at CHA-Summer. There was a long list of major companies who decided to have no presence in Orlando at all, and a second group of companies who decided that they could get more return on their investment by holding events in conjunction with the show but not actually exhibiting at it. Those companies included Fiskars, who held a 360th birthday party at Epcot with some of their Fiskateers, and Scrapbooks Etc. magazine, who held an evening event at the Peabody Hotel across the street from the convention center.

Scrapbooks Etc. event at the Peabody Hotel

Scrapbooks Etc. event at the Peabody Hotel

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[Organization] Visit the Scrapbooks Etc Organization Archive!

July 11, 2008 By Leave a Comment

If you are looking for inspiration on how to organize your scrapbook stuff (or how to make room for all that yummy new stuff from CHA-Summer), there is a great archive of organization basics for scrapbookers at the Scrapbooks Etc. website.

The section is organized by type of supply being stored, and there is also a wiki section for reader organization tips and discussion.

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