Move Over, Teen Mags, You’ve Got Company

When Bella Grace launched four years ago, it promised to be a print lifestyle magazine that “touches the heart and soul of the reader.” Now, publisher Stampington & Company has announced an addition to the family, as New Generation launches in print.

“We call it, not even a sister publication, we’re almost calling it the mother publication because we had quite a bit of teenagers, although they were in the upper age range of what we’re featuring in New Generation, but we were having 18 and 19-year-olds writing in to Bella Grace, submitting some really amazing stories. And we realized that we had a market already there, so it just seemed logical to do this,” explains director of publishing and editor-in-chief Christen Hammons in an interview with Samir “Mr. Magazine” Husni.

As Husni explains, the company has a track record of successful niche titles.

“When it comes to arts and crafts, no one knows the space better than Stampington,” Husni writes. “But almost four years ago, the company stepped out of its comfort zone and launched a beautiful lifestyle magazine for women called Bella Grace. The first issue was filled with photographs and beautifully-penned stories that touched the heart and soul of the reader.”

Does a print magazine for teens make sense for a digitally-native audience? Research – both industry level and their own – says yes.

“Based off of sales reports and things that we’ve been looking at in general about what teenagers are doing, they’re buying books at the bookstores,” Hammons explains.

“So, we think there are a large quantity of teenagers who do like print and do like having a physical copy of something,” she continues.

Their goal with New Generation is to keep the “gold standard” that’s been set by Bella Grace and expand their reach by gaining audience share among future readers. And they are determined to set themselves apart from the typical teen magazine, offering a thoughtfully created experience that articulates “the voice of a new generation.”

“I would say that we’re more makers than anything,” Hammons explains. “We don’t report on news; I feel like we’re makers in this company and we’re trying to showcase the work of our peers at the end of the day, whether they’re writers, photographers. I think we’re makers because we’re putting out a product that we’re truly proud of, with a lot of content and a lot of just emotion.”

If it’s anywhere near as good as Bella Grace – and we have every reason to expect it will be – New Generation will find and resonate with its target audience. Of course, they’ll have a digital presence for community building and audience growth, but Hammons is clear that their editorial policies are “print first.”

“Our model has been, for the most part, to wait on producing anything digitally from our titles until the print version has sold out,” says Hammons. “So, once it has sold out we make it available digitally, so we do not have to do a reprint and a rerun of the magazines.”

We wish Hammons and her team all the best as they welcome their newest addition!