The US edition of one of the oldest magazines, Reader’s
Digest, is in trouble. Their circulation has been dropping year by year. Why?
Probably because the kind of interesting but general information they provide
is available in too many other locations—free.
Another category that has suffered is the general men’s
magazines. Again, the internet offers similar material for free, in a more
timely manner, and often with video or audio.
The magazines that are thriving are mostly the ones that
cover a specific topic. One example is Men’s Health—maybe not surprising,
considering that men from the baby boomer generation are becoming more aware of
the need to take better care of themselves as they get older.
In many realms, it’s that products and services at the edges
that seem to be doing the best. For instance, in the old days (20 years ago)
the majority of films were in the middle-budget category. Now there are lots of
very cheap films and lots of very expensive films, but not many in the
middle-budget range.
Similarly what was called the “mid-list” in publishing—books
neither very literary nor genre books—had a big presence in bookshops. These
days not so much.
The implications of this for you as a writer or artist or
other creator is that if you have a range of ideas, it may pay to focus on
those that are on the edges, the ones that are unique in some way and would
interest a particular niche of readers/ viewers/ audiences.
(for tips on how to be more creative and productive, sign up for my free Brainstorm e-bulletin Just send an email request to [email protected])
