Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Bill C-32 - Get Informed

Never heard of Bill C-32? Here's the official government summary:

This enactment amends the Copyright Act to

(a) update the rights and protections of copyright owners to better address the challenges and opportunities of the Internet, so as to be in line with international standards;

(b) clarify Internet service providers’ liability and make the enabling of online copyright infringement itself an infringement of copyright;

(c) permit businesses, educators and libraries to make greater use of copyright material in digital form;

(d) allow educators and students to make greater use of copyright material;

(e) permit certain uses of copyright material by consumers;

(f) give photographers the same rights as other creators;

(g) ensure that it remains technologically neutral; and

(h) mandate its review by Parliament every five years.

Want to know more? Read further details on Bill C-32


Both sides of the argument:

Copyright: get it right! is an ad hoc group of Canadians concerned about the impacts of Bill C-32 on the sustainability of Canada's Creative Industry. They present five "fast facts" to support their concern at http://www.copyrightgetitright.ca/fast-facts/. Learn more at www.copyrightgetitright.ca.


The Government of Canada presents an argument in favour of the modernization of Canada's Copyright Act to address the digital age. Read their specific argument at http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/crp-prda.nsf/eng/h_rp01153.html#amend. Learn more at http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/crp-prda.nsf/eng/home

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Upcoming FOLIO: Webinars

October 28, 2010

Webinar: Approaches to Green Print Manufacturing

Join FOLIO: Thursday, October 28, 2010 at 2:00pm for a webinar discussion that will explore how publishers and manufacturers are working together to adopt more environmentally friendly and sustainable practices within the print production supply chain, from the ink used on the paper to the manner in which the magazines are mailed.


To register, visit: http://www.foliomag.com/webinars/35974



November 9, 2010

Webinar: Digital Magazines, E-Readers, Mobile Publishing

In this FOLIO: webinar on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 2:00pm, learn how to look beyond print and how you can turn your assets and relationships into new revenue sources. Learn what the new e-readers offer, and what the economics are of getting your brand onto them. Learn how digital magazines fit into this increasingly complex new environment.

To register, visit: http://www.foliomag.com/webinars/36881

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Citizen Pet at the Red Deer Pet Expo

I'd like to introduce you to Andrea Cubala, AMPA's newest volunteer and bi-weekly blogger. Andrea is currently enrolled in Ryerson University's Certificate of Publishing program via distance education, has a passion for photography and creative-writing, and is keen to make her mark in Alberta's publishing industry. And so without further ado I present to you Andrea's profile of Citizen Pet:

Citizen Pet, a quarterly pet journal dedicated to the special bond between people and their pets, will have a booth set up at the second annual Red Deer Pet Expo (October 9th–10th). Animal enthusiasts are invited to stop by the booth to subscribe to the magazine (and to enter for a chance to win a free cat door)! If you just can’t wait to start gathering information for your four-legged loved ones, sign up for Citizen Pet’s E-Newsletter and get the scoop on the latest pet stories, events, and special offers. Or check out their website at: http://www.citizenpet.com/home.html.

Citizen Pet takes pride in providing readers with “the most current information about all the things [readers] need to know to keep [their] pets healthy and happy.” They understand the passion that pet guardians have for their animal companions, and honour it by including touching stories in every issue. To read one of the stories in this issue, check out Bella’s rehab success story.

---- Andrea Cubala

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

MagaScene 75: Web tips, magazine apps, final print for art mag + news, events, jobs...

Maximizing Your Web Presence

A Digital Learning Series Seminar

“Is there any animosity in the room towards the web?” The response to this icebreaker—nervous laughter and shouts of “it’s just more work!” and “there’s too much to learn”—made it clear from the outset...


Canine Review Goes Mobile

Learn How They Launched Their App

Canine Review could not be more excited about the endless opportunity presented by digital media...

Applauding Alberta's Arts

Celebrate Arts Days All Month

This past weekend (September 17-19, 2010) Alberta Arts Days showcased Alberta artists of all types and encouraged Albertans to discover, experience and celebrate the arts...

News
Introducing Andrew Mah
AMPA's Executive Director
Copyright Get It Right
The Impact of Bill C-32

New comScore and PMB Database Print Readership and More

Giving Up Print and Going Online Final Print Issue for Notebook

Industry Trends and Tidbits 2010 Consumer Magazine Fact Book

Events

Freefall Celebrates Twenty at Wordfest

Commemorating Legacy Magazine at Litfest

Litfest Magazine Sessions on Blogging and Features

Writing for Magazines Course at Chinook College

Jobs

Subscriber Services Manager, Redpoint Media

Junior Graphic Designer, Where Calgary

Monday, September 20, 2010

Digital Learning Series Sum-up

“Is there any animosity in the room towards the web?” The response to this icebreaker—nervous laughter and shouts of “it’s just more work!” and “there’s too much to learn”—made it clear from the outset that there were more than a few misgivings to overcome at AMPA’s first Digital Learning Series seminar. Rhett Soveran, web editor of Westjet’s up! magazine and web presence expert, had his work cut out for him.

Information Architecture: Hierarchy and Simplicity
Soveran began the seminar with a case study, outlining the changes that he’d made to the up! website. Gone were the distractions of a scrolling marquis bar and numerous marketing awards; in their place, a design stressing simplicity and navigational hierarchy. He emphasized the need to map out a clear information architecture—a blueprint informing the hierarchical structure of the site—with minimal navigation options from the homepage (ie: fewer drop-down tabs!) and clear parent/child relations between pages. A good rule of thumb: a user should be able to go three levels into your site and easily return to the homepage.

Making Print Content Web Friendly
As for that conversion of magazine print content to an online format, keep in mind that it’s just that: a conversion, not a copy. Think of your magazine website as more than just an extension of your magazine, but rather as an entirely separate product with unique needs and goals. Your online reader has a shorter attention span and is likely scanning a page for something to catch their eye; they’re also looking for an emotional connection. Consider converting all of your articles to first person. Break up the content with headers, bulleted lists and images. 

Understanding Web Traffic
Then we got down to the serious business of brand exposure and ad sales—in other words, making the most of those web traffic statistics. For those of us who use a tracking tool such as Google Analytics, and have a limited understanding of what we’re looking at, how do we interpret the numbers? Here are just a few examples:
  • new visitors – If these numbers are too high, it means you aren’t getting enough repeat visitors (think single-issue sales vs. subscriptions)
  • look for over three pages per visit to know your visitor is engaged
  • try to keep those page views to more than 30 seconds
Putting Your Knowledge to Work
These tips are fine and dandy, but the nagging question “How?” remains. Embedded in those traffic stats are details about referring sites and traffic sources. Once you know where your visitors are being directed from (through social media, links, ads, or otherwise), ramp up the relationship with your new friend: send them event information, purchase ad space, comment on their postings with relevant links to your site). If it’s your own social media that is driving traffic to your site, maybe it’s worth devoting that extra 30 minutes per day to provide new information to your friends and followers. 

A final tip for increasing your web traffic and enhancing your brand awareness? Contests, contests, contests. Soveran let us in on a little secret: there is a whole world of professional contesters out there just itching to find visit your site, enter your contest, and win your fabulous prizes! There are even sites directing contesters to, well, contests. Find out how to send these sites information about your contests, et voila, you’re on your way to maximizing the potential of your web presence.

Stay tuned, AMPA will be announcing more Digital Learning events in the near future.

--- Rebecca Lesser
AMPA Communications & Programs Coordinator

Friday, September 17, 2010

Notebook Magazine - A Bittersweet Move Online

Thanks to D.B. Scott at http://canadianmags.blogspot.com/ for this posting about the fate of AMPA member Notebook magazine:

Running on empty, editor of Edmonton's Notebook magazine gives up print and goes online.
Notebook magazine, a quarterly published by an Edmonton art collective, will be releasing its last, 12th, print issue and going online this fall. According to a posting on Prairie Artsters forwarded to us by a friend, editor Steven Teeuwsen has mostly been operating the magazine as a solo business venture.

The magazine, which essentially created a gallery space in magazine format, was launched in January 2007 and has featured hundreds of Edmonton artists and writers and their work across the country. The magazine's view was that work from Edmonton was constantly undervalued culturally and set out to change that. But the financial returns and the editor's energy hasn't matched the magazine's ambitions.

"I haven't put out an issue since January and I stopped paying myself,"[says Teeuwsen]. "I was waiting on funding, but that's not sustainable, unless I sell a lot of advertising. I've fallen behind on that, partially because I'm burnt out. A lot of people warned me about burning out when I started, but I didn't give it much thought. I thought it was an excuse for being lazy! Now, I think it's very real...

"I definitely have mixed emotions. It's bittersweet. I'm really excited to be able to work on something else, but the print magazine was something special too. When I started, I wanted to work on it for three to four years, and I've done that, and I was able to work full time at it for the better part of that time."

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

filling Station's Alberta Arts Days Writing Contest

Deadline to apply September 19, 2010

This year for Alberta Arts Days, an annual celebration of culture happening this September 17-19 and comprising a number of special events, filling Station Magazine presents Inner Poet: an Alberta Arts Days Writing Contest.

Haven't been published before? No problem. First time writers are welcomed!

Winning poems will be published in filling Station Magazine. Winners will also receive a set of 3 Fall 2010 titles from Freehand Books, a Pages Books on Kensington gift certificate, a filling Station 1 year subscription, and the opportunity to read at Flywheel Reading Series.

A shortlist will be chosen using blind judging by the Collective that brings you filling Station Magazine, Canada’s Alternative Literary Magazine based in Calgary. The top 3 winning poems will be selected by Guest Judge, published Calgary poet Natalie Simpson.

Just write your poem anytime during Alberta Arts Days, September 17-19th. There is no specific theme - it can be about anything that inspires you to write it. Need a little help in the inspiration department? Check out one of the many Arts Days events happening across Alberta on the Government of Alberta's Culture and Community Spirit Culture Month Calendar. In Calgary, check out events on the Calgary Culture calendar.

For full entry guidelines, visit:
http://www.albertamagazines.com/news_and_events/contests.php#fSArtsDays

Monday, September 13, 2010

Effective magazine advertising

(from MediaPost News)

The ways in which different types of ad positioning affect readership is an ongoing discussion in the industry. Starch Advertising Research has measured consumer readership of hundreds of thousands of ads. To gain perspective, MediaPost asked Dr. Mickey Galin, senior vice president, Starch Advertising Research, to weigh in for a Q&A on the topic.

Learn more at
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=135338&nid=118431

Thursday, September 9, 2010

So you think you want to be a freelance writer?

October 26- November 30, 2010

Writing for Magazines Course

Chinook Learning Services, in Calgary, offers budding feature writers an introductory course on Writing for Magazines. Think you have what it takes to be a freelance writer? Discover the opportunities available in local and national magazines. Explore topics such as writer's guidelines, finding ideas, sources, developing the angle of the story, taking the pain out of the first paragraph, query letters to editors, submission rules, using quotes, and dealing with the editor.

Classes run for six weeks starting October 26 every Tuesday night from 7 – 9 p.m. at Henry Wisewood High School. Instructor for the course is Jim Zang, Associate Publisher for Source Media Group and acting and former editor of dozens of different magazine publications. Cost is $169.

For a course outline, or to register, visit www.chinooklearningservices.com/ContEd/AdultCourses/WritingForMagazines.html

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

FreeFall Annual Prose and Poetry Contest 2010

FreeFall, “Canada’s Magazine of Exquisite Writing,” is currently accepting entries for their Annual Prose and Poetry Contest. Douglas Glover will be the guest editor/ judge for this contest issue. Douglas won the 2006 Writers’ Trust of Canada Timothy Findley Award and the 2003 Governor General’s Award for Fiction among other literary awards.

Mailed entries, of a maximum 3000 words prose or 5 poems, must be received on or before December 31st, 2010. There are over $1100.00 in prizes to be won, and winners will be published in FreeFall (Volume XXI Number 1). Shortlisted entries may be selected for publication to round out the issue and will be paid the standard page rate.

For full contest details and entry forms visit www.freefallmagazine.ca

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Magazines Celebrate Alberta Arts Days

Alberta Arts Days is three exciting days - September 17-19, 2010 - to showcase Alberta artists of all types, and to encourage Albertans to discover, experience and celebrate the arts. the evnt offers a starring role for absolutely everyone: artists, art organizations, community groups, municipalities, libraries, schools and businesses.

Here are just a couple of the ways Alberta magazines are contributing to the celebration:

Since the inception of Alberta Arts Days, Prairie Journal has devoted their fall issue to Alberta writers and poets. This year, Issue 54 is dedicated to the memory of John Bishop Ballem (February 2 1925 - January 9, 2010) who was not only a generous supporter of the arts, but also a novelist (he published 12 novels), a poet and an attorney. The issue includes short stories by Alberta-based writers Aspen Gainer, Stephen Howard and Bonnie Ryan-Fisher, as well as the poetry of Joshua Learn. There are reviews of she walks for days inside a thousand eyes (a two-spirit story) by Sharron-Proulx-Turner, Behind the Man, John Laurie, Ruth Gorman, and the Indian Vote in Canada by Ruth Gorman and Garden Voices: Two Centuries of Canadian Garden Writing, edited by Edwinna von Baeyer and Pleasance Crawford.

Notebook Magazine is, sadly, releasing its last print issue, Issue #12, on September 18th at the ARTery in Edmonton. Notebook will continue in the spirit of promoting local art with web publishing (notebookmagazine.ca). This final release party features a retrospective art show of Notebook artists: Arina Baranova, Caitlin Boyce, Campbell Wallace, Corissa O'Donnell, Daniel Janzen, Erin Prout, Jenny Keith-Hughes, Larry Andreoff, Mariya Karpenko, Oksana Zhelisko, Paula Sommers and Tim Konrad. There will also be performances from singer/songwriters Tatam Reeves, Ky Babyn and the band 100 Mile House.

Alberta Arts Days Subscription Promo!

Get 20% off an arts magazine subscription!

AMPA is offering a special subscription promotion through the month of September in celebration of Alberta Arts Days (September 17-19). Receive 20% off your one year subscription to ANY of the following arts, literary and culture magazines:

Canadian Scrapbooker

dandelion

filling Station

FreeFall

Galleries West

Other Voices

Penguin Eggs

Prairie Journal

Friday, September 3, 2010

Penguin Eggs still thriving in its tenth year of publication

A recent press release from AMPA member Penguin Eggs:


In a world where media outlets are cutting back, closing down, and generally suffering the ill effects of decreased ad revenues and reader migration to the internet, there is at least one good news story to report: Canada’s glossy folk music magazine, Penguin Eggs, heads into its tenth year of publication this summer, and, more importantly, it’s still thriving.

Founded by former Edmonton Journal
and Edmonton Sun journalist Roddy Campbell, and named for the iconic Nic Jones album, the quarterly magazine has grown from a mostly-black-and-white affair to a shiny, full-colour edition that averages around 100 pages per issue.

“Canada’s folk, roots and world music magazine” began as an online e-zine in 1997 with the goal of building a readership then moving to print. After a winter of working in construction in Fort McMurray to raise funds, editor and publisher Campbell produced the first forty-page hard copy in the summer of 2001.

The magazine’s tenth anniversary issue, which features a rare, in-depth interview with Gordon Lightfoot as its cover feature, is shipping now. In the issue's editorial, Campbell further writes:

“Consider the timing. At the turn of the millennium, Canada was on the brink of producing an unprecedented assortment of wonderful, new, innovative folk talent... Just as important, as world economies grew in the nineties and naughties, international performers toured more often. World music gradually made its presence felt here. And Canadian folk audiences developed an unnerving, open-minded willingness to expand their tastes. … That Penguin Eggs
has survived and prospered is due in part to the vitality and growth of the music it covers.”

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

2010 Consumer Magazine Fact Book

The 2010 edition of the Consumer Magazine Fact Book (from Magazines Canada) is now available, containing 92 pages of new and updated industry trends and research. It's where you'll find the most requested facts for media planners, advertisers and magazine sales professionals.

The 2010 Fact Book includes 13 new research charts and 23 research updates to help inform users of how magazine advertising works. Info is categorized as:

  • Industry trends
  • Ad positioning
  • Ad effectiveness
  • Digital and throw to web
  • Magazines in a media mix
  • Other useful info

The Consumer Magazine Fact Book is available in a pdf version and will soon be available as a digital edition that not only provides live links to additional information, housed on the Magazines Canada website, but is also keyword searchable to help you find what you want quickly and easily. Both editions will soon be available in French.

View the 2010 Consumer Magazine Fact Book now.