Is Genii getting smaller?

[PickaCard]

Hello Richard,

You have spoiled us over the years with issues containing a considerable amount of content.

I have noticed that the past few issues are a little thinner...

Is this temporary, or can we expect less content from now on?

[Pete Biro]

All magazines print fewer pages when the advertising and subscription base shrinks.

[Michael Close]

Pick up a copy of the current Time magazine. (I actually hadn't looked at one in while.) Visual proof of what happens when advertisers have to tighten their belts.

It's a real problem.

[Nathan Muir]

It's also related to the move to accessing online content. I only purchase specialist magazines these days. There's also the quality issue. I don't know anyone who would buy Time for high-end political analysis and if you want "current affairs-lite", you can get it on dozens of free websites.

I think Genii is the best of the magic publications, but due to the niche market it's going to get hit way harder if people are tightening their belts.

[Richard Kaufman]

The page count of Genii (and MAGIC magazine) varies depending upon the amount of advertising we are able to include each month. When we had 55 or 60 pages of advertising, the magazine was 120 pages. We have less advertising now, and so Genii has fewer pages. I try to keep the ratio of content vs. advertising at an acceptable level so you don't feel like you're paying to receive a catalogue each month. MAGIC magazine has also reduced the number of pages in its issues. And, as mentioned by Mike Close, you can also see this clearly in the magazines that are managing to stay in business, like Time and Newsweek, where their page counts have falled dramatically.

As for the magazines like PC Magazine, Vibe, MAXIM, and so on--they're just gone, kaput, out of business, along with all the newspapers like the Christian-Science Monitor, the Seattle Post Intelliger, and so on. They are also gone.

We are still here. :) And our August issue will have a free DVD in it.

[000]

IMHO there is a gap in the marketplace for an

ANNUAL JOURNAL of Magic product review. (AJ)

Could include obviously the reviews that appeared in Genii for the year, but also those from Link Online as well as much other material.

[the Larry]

Printing more producut reviews is in my opinion not a good idea. This is done much better online where one can have customer feedback and reviews appear in a timely fashion (ideally before the product hits the market, not a year later). But what I think could be successful is a magic review website. A site soley dedicated to reviewing magic products. A database of reviews. An entrepreneur could turn this into a profitable business. That would also be a great place to advertise for retailers because when somebody looks at reviews he is obviously in buying mode receptive to offers.

[mrgoat]

Printing more producut reviews is in my opinion not a good idea. This is done much better online where one can have customer feedback and reviews appear in a timely fashion (ideally before the product hits the market, not a year later). But what I think could be successful is a magic review website. A site soley dedicated to reviewing magic products. A database of reviews. An entrepreneur could turn this into a profitable business. That would also be a great place to advertise for retailers because when somebody looks at reviews he is obviously in buying mode receptive to offers.

Like mylovelyassistant.com?

[Terry]

One way for Genii to increase pages/exist outside of advertisers would be for everyone to become a subscriber and not just a hit/miss purchaser.

[000]

I as thinking of a real (paper) journal, not on line.

At some 90 pages, Genii has indeed shrunk quite a bit.......I still found it to be full value for money and a highly enjoyable read.

[Richard Kaufman]

Genii is now 96 pages and will be until the economy rights itself. MAGIC magazine is now 100 pages. Same retail price. About the same size.

[000]

Waiting for the economy to right itself could be a looong time coming.
Simply printing more and more money like Uncle Sam has done, has guaranteed nasty consequences down-line, to wit, serious, if not hyper inflation.

[Matthew Field]

Waiting for the economy to right itself could be a looong time coming.
Simply printing more and more money like Uncle Sam has done, has guaranteed nasty consequences down-line, to wit, serious, if not hyper inflation.

Your economic analysis shows the same callowness as your publishing analysis.

Matt Field

[the Larry]

Like mylovelyassistant.com?

Yes, but better executed, better design, better participation features, ...

[000]

Thanks Matt, that makes me feel fuzzy.

I dare say that there exists a rare consensus amongst economists
that where the money supply is drastically increased, inflation is sure to follow ( albeit it delayed for a year or two )

Of course should you disagree with this 'callow' consensus Id be pleased to read about it.

[Scott M.]

There are plenty of reputable economists who are not worried about inflation in the U.S. right now, much less hyper-inflation. Here is an essay that sketches out the other position.

http://www.arpllp.com/core_files/The%20 ... 200709.pdf

[David Mitchell]

I would rather have the magazine than not have it.

Keep it up Richard.

[the Larry]

Reducing page count is a slippery slope. So now Genii and Magic have less pages. That will cause some not to subscribe or not to renew because they perceive the value of the magazine has reduced. Subscriptions will therefore drop slightly. This will make the magazine even less attractive for advertisers who are already going online or stopping ads altogether. Which will prompt another reduction in size and down the spiral until little is left to keep the magazine going. I am not saying that this will happen to any of these magazines, but it is not a good sign to see page counts go down by that much.

[Dustin Stinett]

I wince whenever I read/hear someone raise a slippery slope argument. Such negative, the glass is half-empty analysis inevitably leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy. In my business, I see it all the time.

How about some actual math and comparative analysis:

I just received an ad that boasts two new books. Combined they cost $70, have 205 pages, and 27 tricks.

With Genii at 96 pages per month and a 50% content versus ads ratio, for just $54 a year you receive 527 pages filled with dozens of tricks from which to choose, features, and other high quality content.

That is a bargain that cannot be ignored.

Dustin

[Alan M]

A few less pages or not, I'm impressed that Mr. Kaufman can continue to bring us such a high quality magazine each month at the current price. My support for Genii remains.

[the Larry]

Dustin, your argument only holds true if all I want is a random quantity of tricks, news, and articles. And since I have already more 'magic material' getting more stuff doesn't really satisfy me. I want to choose what I read. So with a book I can choose the author or the subject and then have 300 pages of relevant information to read. This is much more valuable than receiving an unknown selection of stuff that rarely does fall into my area of interest.

In any magazine I receive (and this applies not just to magic), there is typically at best one article or one item that is of interest, the rest is mildly interesting or not at all interesting. So applying your facts and numbers does not make for a pretty picture. On average the top magic magazines have about 2 pages of interesting material for me. So in the end I receive 24 pages for about $50 a year. I receive it distributed and without knowing when and what I receive. It is in a package that is hard to store and keep unless I tear out these two pages and bind them myself into a scrap book - more work and cost.

I still subscribe because I want to support them, but seeing page numbers being dropped like that makes me wonder if it is not time let go of them altogether. The magic news I already get online from various places and often delivered right into my email inbox through newsletters and messages from friends and colleagues. Reviews are typically far behind release schedules. And I do get more from comments from real customers who post their opinion online than some self appointed arbiter of magic quality who writes for a magazine. That leaves us with the occasional trick or article.

I hope that Kaufman and colleagues are seriously exploring ways to make use of digital technology. I see Linking Ring and MUM experimenting with digital delivery and to lower prices because they save money that way. I see other publishers unbundle information so that one can subscribe to subjects, topics and keywords rather than one 'take it or leave it' subscription offer.

Just reducing page count to reduce cost, bunker in and hope for the best will not be enough.

[Leonard Hevia]

I didn't notice that Genii was getting slimmer. All of the articles, columns and reviews that I enjoy reading are still there. If Genii goes digital, that will be a sad day. I prefer reading a tangible object like a book or a journal that doesn't rely on batteries and electricity. I like going into the magazine box archive and pulling out back issues to re-read an article, trick or review. There's something special about printed paper that a computer or any gizmo yet to be invented, cannot replace.

The page stock did get thinner a number of years ago. The first 12 issues of Kaufman's Genii feel meatier.

I didn't notice that Maxim folded. It's probably just as well. Paging through it was like reading a junior high yearbook...Ugh.

[AJM]

'Larry'

I'd been wondering how long it would take for you to raise this old chestnut again...

Cheers

Andrew

[David Alexander]

Genii is Richard's way of making a living and supporting his family. It must turn a profit sufficient for that purpose.

Given the reality of economic times, fewer people are buying less magic. As a consequence dealers will buy less advertising which causes the page count to diminish. The same thing is happening all over. Genii is not unique in the magazine business.

Even so, Richard must still produce an interesting magazine 12 times a year to satisfy his subscriber base. Ninety-six pages a month equates to 1152 pages a year. At roughly 50% editorial to advertising the page count he must fill with that interesting material is 576.

Presume for a moment that you are buying a 576-page book in installments that has tricks, opinion and news along with another 576 pages of advertising about a subject you are interested in.

It's a bargain at the current subscription price and those who complain further the idea that magicians are a bunch of cheap bastards who are out of touch with reality.

[Michael Close]

Larry wrote: "I see Linking Ring and MUM experimenting with digital delivery and to lower prices because they save money that way."

The digital version of MUM (starting with the January 2009 issue) is available for members at the SAM Web site. It is there as a convenience for those who want to peruse the magazine before their hard copy arrives in the mail and for those who have recently joined the SAM and want to see some back issues. There is no "digital delivery." The digital version is a convenience not a replacement for the hard copy.

[Randy Naviaux]

The page count of Genii (and MAGIC magazine) varies depending upon the amount of advertising we are able to include each month. When we had 55 or 60 pages of advertising, the magazine was 120 pages. We have less advertising now, and so Genii has fewer pages. I try to keep the ratio of content vs. advertising at an acceptable level so you don't feel like you're paying to receive a catalogue each month. MAGIC magazine has also reduced the number of pages in its issues. And, as mentioned by Mike Close, you can also see this clearly in the magazines that are managing to stay in business, like Time and Newsweek, where their page counts have falled dramatically.

As for the magazines like PC Magazine, Vibe, MAXIM, and so on--they're just gone, kaput, out of business, along with all the newspapers like the Christian-Science Monitor, the Seattle Post Intelliger, and so on. They are also gone.

We are still here. :) And our August issue will have a free DVD in it.

Yeah just a walk by the magazine rack at my local bookstore shows how many magazines have gone out of business. The computer section used to take up three times as much space, etc.