[Paleopsych] Star Tribune (Minneapolis): Your own corner of the world has its own magazine

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Your own corner of the world has its own magazine
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5.8.4

    Bill Dawson
    Star Tribune

    If you're a Subaru-driving face painter with a jones for Jane Austen,
    there's a magazine -- actually, three -- for you.

    Subiesport ("Your guide to tuning and driving Subarus"), Face Painting
    International and Jane Austen's Regency World are geared to readers
    with highly specialized interests. You also can subscribe to Bonsai
    Today, Atomic Ranch, Face Painting International and Gene Simmons
    Tongue. "Even the Ford Focus has a magazine," says professor Samir
    Husni, a University of Mississippi professor and president of Magazine
    Consulting & Research.

    Husni calls these "specialized specialty" publications, and they
    account for a large portion of the 450 or so magazine startups in the
    first six months of this year. Magazines are being launched faster
    than at any time since 1998, which means even the narrowest of niches
    is being filled, Husni says.

    The catch is that you have to move fast. Only 38 percent of these
    specialized titles survive a year, and even those have a limited life.
    Modern Ferret, for instance, recently went belly-up after a 10-year
    run and one-of-a-kind features including a two-page photo spread of an
    albino ferret. Fortunately, there's still Ferrets, publishing since
    1998, for connoisseurs of these domesticated polecats.

    Here are sample titles launched in recent years:

    o Gene Simmons Tongue This quarterly, founded in 2002, includes
    "coverage of music, movies, style, entertainment, celebrity news,
    fashion and sex all covered from the perspective of [former KISS
    guitarist]) Gene Simmons."

    o Ferrets With the death of Modern Ferret, this bimonthly is striving
    to be your one-stop source for ferret information. Sample article:
    "That's not a ferret: Cases of mistaken identity."

    o New York Dog This bimonthly debuted in September, 2004, and has an
    obituary section titled "Rex in Peace." Sample article: "Update your
    dog's summer wardrobe."

    o Elevated Living This bimonthly describes itself as "the lifestyle
    magazine for people loving life at elevation." That means living in a
    location well above sea level, not in a downtown high-rise.

    o Jane Austen's Regency World Bimonthly for those who enjoy debating
    the relative merits of Elizabeth Bennett, Emma Woodhouse and Elinor
    Dashwood. Sample article: "Dilemma! -- Sue Le Blond has a problem with
    Mr. Darcy."

    o Subiesport Your guide to tuning and driving Subarus. One article
    begins, "Marc and Kyra Lein have been into Subarus for years now,
    dating back to a classic SVX they owned. Through fate, time, and a
    mutual desire to work on and modify Subarus, both ended up with
    extremely fast Impreza 2.5RS's of their own."

    o Atomic Ranch A quarterly for those who live in modest, mid-century
    ranch houses -- or wish to read about them. Sample article: "The house
    that Jack built: Sergeant Friday's Palm Springs party pad."

    o Russian Bride of New York This bilingual magazine was founded in
    2004 and has been described in the New York Times as "a kind of Martha
    Stewart Weddings for young women of Soviet heritage."

    o Face Painting International Quarterly that seeks to elevate "face
    and body painting to a new dimension." Sample article: "Belly painting
    on expectant moms."

    o Tall magazine Bimonthly is for people of elongation, specifically
    men at least 6 feet 2 and women at least 5 feet 9. Tagline: "Because
    life may be short, but we're not." Everard Strong, the publisher, is 6
    feet 9.

    o Cthulhu Sex For connoissuers of erotic horror. Tagline: "Blood, sex
    and tentacles." Title is from H.P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu."
    A Cthulhu is described as "humanity's most basic nightmare" on
    [3]www.cthulhu.org.

    o Eco-structure A bimonthly "dedicated to improving the environmental
    performance of buildings and their surroundings." Sample article:
    "Highland center educates visitors about sustainability."

    o Inside Cheerleading Bimonthly is designed to help readers "enjoy,
    train, perform, compete and live cheerleading to the max!" Sample
    article: "Camp Survival Guide: Find the best camp for your squad, what
    to bring to camp and the coolest camp styles."

    o Mushroom The journal of wild mushrooming. Sample article: "The First
    Time We Saw Mushrooms: A pair of experienced mushroom-hunters
    reminisces about the start of it all."

    o Reality Check Claims to be "your backstage pass to the world of
    reality TV." Sample article: "Survivor's Rupert: I was the true
    winner."

    o ROT (Riders of Tubes) This quarterly is aimed at wave riding's more
    mature bodyboarders, "while remaining true to the sport's core
    13-19-year-old audience," according to [4]www.rcsmagazines.com.

    o Family Tree Magazine Purpose is to help readers "discover, preserve
    and celebrate your family history." Sample article: "After a harrowing
    ride through Canada's House of Commons, the bill that will open access
    to Canadians' 1911 census records has become law."

    Bill Dawson is at [5]wdawson at startribune.com.

References

    3. http://www.cthulhu.org/
    4. http://www.rcsmagazines.com/
    5. mailto:wdawson at startribune.com