Is the LRB one of the best magazines in the world?

The London Review of Books has become the most successful – and controversial – literary publication in Europe. Just what is Mary-Kay Wilmers, its 75-year-old editor, getting so right?The offices of the London Review of Books are situated on the top two floors of a Georgian townhouse in the shadow of the British Museum. To reach them, you either brave the claustrophobically small lift or walk up five flights of brown-carpeted stairs, before emerging in a light-filled room containing a scattering of terrifically bright people sitting at computers, surrounded by piles of books and an air of quiet industry.The windows on one side of the large open-plan room overlook the nurses' accommodation for the nearby University College Hospital, where someone has left a carton of orange juice to chill on a window ledge. The LRB's editor, Mary-Kay Wilmers, likes this view. She enjoys "seeing what the nurses get up to". On the other side, the windows overlook a fine Hawksmoor church spire, with carved heraldic symbols of a lion and a unicorn at its base. Wilmers doesn't have as much time for this. Most people would proffer some admiring blandishment about architectural style – but not Wilmers. "They're too fat," she sniffs at the stonework animals. And looking at them, it's hard not to concede that they are, indeed, a bit flabby.The opposing London vistas, and Wilmers' reaction to them, seem to sum up her approach to editing what is now deemed to be the most successful literary... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]

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For Sale or in Flux, a Big Year Looms for Business Magazines

With Forbes for sale, Fortune's website divorcing from CNNMoney.com and Bloomberg Businessweek getting assessed as part of a companywide strategic review at Bloomberg, the year ahead could see a dramatic shift for top business magazines.The category offers a glimpse into the publishing world at... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-01-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ad Units in Magazines' iPad Editions Climbed 16% in 2013

Ad units in magazines' iPad editions climbed 16% in 2013, according to a report out Monday by MPA-The Association of Magazine Media and Kantar Media.The report, which looked at 69 magazines with monitored print and iPad editions, is a hopeful sign for traditional publishers stymied by secular... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cross-Platform Magazine Advertising Up 6 Percent

Magazines saw combined ad units for print and tablet products grow 6 percent in 2013, according to a joint study by Kantar Media and the MPA—The Association for Magazine Media. Measuring 69 publications that have both print and tablet products, the report found tablet unit sales up 16 percent... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Greatest Magazine Ever Published

Last summer in a used bookstore, I happened on an enormous, bound volume of Life magazine, from July–September 1945. I opened to the very first story in the first issue, July 2, 1945. The headline read:   Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2013-12-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Screw magazine publisher Al Goldstein dies aged 77

Publisher who helped break down legal barriers against pornography dies in Brooklyn after long battle with illness Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Magazine Medic Honors

 Awards season has arrived. The Oscars, the Golden Globes, all the rest. Some of these shows we love, most we secretly mock. There are way too many, to begin with. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nothing said you made it in 2013 like a magazine launch

Longform journalism is having its moment, one that backers of recent print and digital magazines hope will linger like a 10,000-word New Yorker profile.Readers appear hungry for a more relaxed experience than the harried web.The hashtag #longreads took off on Twitter. Buzzfeed launched a long... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2013-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Local Magazines Figured Out What Patch Never Could

Look at the list of winners for the annual City and Regional Magazine Association awards. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Best World Children’s Book Award Winner Talks to PP

By Dennis Abrams South African writer Anita Pouroulis, a former primary school teacher from Johannesburg, won the Best World Children’s Book Award at the China […] Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hearst Magazines Digital Chief Troy Young Discusses Finding Great Editors

Specs Who Troy Young Age 45 New gig President, Hearst Magazines Digital Media Old gig President, Say Media What’s it been like coming from pure-play digital companies like Say Media to Hearst, which has had a print mind-set? It was different at first, for sure. There were a lot more steps... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2013-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Paywalls Boost Ad Rates for Some Magazines and Newspapers, OPA Study Finds

Online paywalls are helping some newspaper and magazine websites increase the ad rates they charge, according to a new report from the Online Publishers Association.It's a hopeful sign for publishers that have hesitated to erect paywalls, despite the potential to generate new revenue from... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reading the New York Times Magazine isn't what it used to be | Michael Wolff

The magazine was once the most hotly anticipated Sunday read. Now it's been eclipsed by the showy T style publicationTwo magazines, both published by the New York Times, arrived in my house over the weekend, one thin, the other thick.The thin one, The New York Times Magazine, is largely about... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Guinness World Records in China venture

Guinness World Records is partnering with Chinese publisher Foreign Languages Teaching and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New York magazine goes biweekly

New York magazine will reduce its frequency from 42 issues to 29—effectively going from a weekly to biweekly—in a move that reflects shifting reader habits as much as it does the economic realities of putting out a print magazine, the company said Monday.The magazine will save $3.5 million in... Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2013-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stylist magazine marks 200th issue with Miranda Hart and Nigella Lawson

Free women's title is guest edited by BBC sitcom star, while TV chef 'reveals special 60s makeover' as its beauty directorThe 200th edition of free women's magazine Stylist, out this week, has been guest-edited by BBC star Miranda Hart and features contributions from Nigella Lawson, Lauren... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google Play Newsstand merges Currents, magazines and newspapers on Android today, iOS in 2014

Google is not particularly great at keeping secrets. Its Nexus devices always leak and peeks at code are constantly revealing features before they're announced. So, it's no surprise that, exactly one month after we reported references to a Google Play Newsstand popping up, Mountain View is... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bewitching first novel by ex-accountant casts £1m spell on world of books

Publishers in 36 countries snap up book about modern witches in Britain by Sally Green, who only began writing three years agoAfter JK Rowling's wizards and Stephenie Meyer's vampires, publishers and producers have now been spellbound by a first novel about witches written by a former... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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See These Heartbreaking Photos Of The World's Disappearing Cultures, Before They Fade Away

In the new book Before They Pass Away, photographer Jimmy Nelson has captured a series of gorgeous pictures of 31 remote cultures that are on the verge of disappearing.Over the last three years, British photographer Jimmy Nelson traveled around the world--from Namibia to Papua New Guinea to... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Shoptalk: Welcome to the Newspaper Publisher's New World

For the past few years, newspaper publishers have prowled their buildings, asking why, and getting some amazing answers. Institutional knowledge is wonderful, but institutional resistance is intolerable. We must invoke a brilliant strategy to conquer ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Forbes to Explore Sale of 96-Year-Old Magazine

Forbes Media, the publisher of the eponymous financial magazine and website, is exploring a sale.The company is working with Deutsche Bank AG to consider its options. In a memo to staff Friday morning confirming a report by Bloomberg News, CEO Mike Perlis said the company had received... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2013-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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