Some magazine publishers have a deal with their magazine distributor which sees them paid an advance of forecasted sales of titles distributed.
This sounds like a money printing arrangement.
Come up with a title, produce it on the cheap by buying in cheap, and I mean really cheap, content from elsewhere, maybe recycled content from another magazine. You then freshen this content up (again, on the cheap), attract a couple of advertisers to fund some of the printing costs, cut a good printing deal and ship the title out to newsagents with a long long on sale period.
The longer the on sale the better for publishers receiving an advance against their forecasted sales. Such an arrangement could unlock cash for three or four months, enough time for them to get their next money printing title into the newsagency channel.
Newsagents are funding this magazine distribution arrangement. We pay for stock sometimes within twenty days of it arriving on our shelves. Some newsagents will not get a credit for a three month on sale title for four months depending on the recall date.
Newsagents are the banker – of the magazine distributor and the magazine publisher in this scenario. How does it feel to be providing these interest free loans? How would you feel if you discovered that some magazines are published with the sole purpose of unlocking access to our cash?
I wonder if this is the case with the Google magazine I blogged about recently.
We are promoting the Valentine’s Day themed BIG crossword from Lovatts with our Valentine’s Day range. Regulars here will know that we do this every year. It’s a successful move! While most of the stock is split between our weeklies section and the crossword section, this small placement always drives incremental business. It is especially appealing to some of our older customers. I have seen them pick up the crossword book and then a card. Who knows, if the crossword book was not next to the display they may have never purchased a Valentine’s Day card.
