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Well thats what I hope as Excite Publishing launches Cosmetic Surgery Answers on an unsuspecting world this week. I'm somewhat encouraged that there is a digital-only womens magazine launching in the US at the same time, called Viv. Loads of interest from PR people and newswires which is great, and we've had good feedback from readers too. Long may it last.
No sign yet of Future's Tech site, which has undergone inummerable delays in its ongoing search for user perfection. Sources tell me it was due to launch in October, but it has now been overtaken by the relaunch of ZDNet UK, which has embarked on the same community driven approach.
I have mixed feelings on receiving the first issue of The Business, which was formerly The Business newspaper, Sunday Business, and oh, everything in between..
Firstly, I was working with the agency that Tom Rubython first brought his idea to in about 1995, so I have a sneaking fondness for the product. That said, I'm also bloody annoyed; I told the newsagent about 30 times to cancel it.
The thing that strikes you about The Business is that it is trying very hard to be The Economist. So much so in fact that every press piece or interview with Andrew Neill makes reference to it. He's obsessed with it, which is a pity, though not as much of a pity as the lack of anything remotely new in the magazine.
Aren't we done with the two page leader, the endless op pieces and the hectoring tone ? If the magazine's sole claim to a USP is the breaking of the "Lord Browne to leave BP" story, it hasn't got much of a future, given that most news is now broken on the web, and doesn't wait for magazine publishing schedules.
With that in mind, I checked out their website. Lucky the URL was in the magazine, as the site is not on the front page of Google whatever you type in. When you do get through to the site, it is a huge disappointment. The front page news is five days old, there is not a hint of any community features, and it appears as far off Publishing 2.0 as you could possibly get.
Interestingly, in its tussle for high end advertising pounds, its likely to come up against Monocle, the improbably named geo-political and cultural magazine from Tyler Brule. This magazine, (not to be confused with the Surrey museum guide, nor the US satirical magazine of the same name) will publish 10 times a year with a price tag of £5 and aim for a circulation of 150,000.
Let battle commence!
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