Is This New Magazine Really Bucking Media Trends?

soloquarterly“The last time George Gendron set out on a new media venture, it was the early 1980s, and print was still king. Now, the editor who led Inc. magazine through its formative years is launching a publication in the digital age, so naturally his focus is on — print again?”

Callum Borchers, writing in the Boston Globe, seems quite surprised at the news, calling Gendron’s plan to launch a 200-page glossy title a move a “bold rejection of conventional wisdom.”

“It would be aimed at a national audience of freelancers, consultants, and startups — basically anyone who works alone or in small teams and could be considered a business ‘soloist,’” Borchers explains.

His surprise continues, noting that the publisher will not republish the magazine content online, but leave it exclusively for the print readers, while a website would “feature videos and podcasts between issues, and subscribers would have access to a digital replica of the magazine.”

We can pardon Borchers’ surprise, but have to say that this makes perfect sense to us. And as Gendron himself notes, ““Print is not dead — just bad print.”

Gendron continues, “We think we’re in the early stages of a renaissance of more thoughtfully positioned print. This is not a romantic decision to create a print publication just because we love print.”

The concept of the title is interesting in its own right, featuring the kind of people who could be described as boldly rejecting conventional career wisdom to pursue solo careers. And it’s that kind of bold rejection of the norm that often leads to greatness.

And while it may be surprising to some, to us it seems like a perfect. Especially in light of the new trend of magazine as lifestyle enabler.  Rather than going against conventional wisdom, we believe Gendron and his team are perfectly aligned to the realities of magazine publishing in a multi-channel world.