Agile. Inspiring. Accessible. Informative. Able to take advantage of the Zeitgeist.
These are just some of the appealing features of the bookazine, a combination of a book and a magazine. Add to that high-quality paper, great images, captivating layouts, and the ability to dive into niche topics to create a title with lasting appeal.
At a time when many traditional print magazines around the world have been shuttered owing to digitalisation and the pandemic, bookazines are thriving.
One of the leaders is Monocle, the sleek yet substantial in-depth briefing on global affairs, business, culture, and design founded by media mogul Tyler Brûlé in 2007 that has continued its uptick despite the pandemic and digitalisation. With its sturdy signature soft black cover, it’s the type of bookish publication that many readers save rather than tossing into the recycling bin.
“People need a break from their phones and laptops, and good magazines can provide this – not to mention ideas, inspiration and escapism,” says Josh Fehnert, Deputy Editor at Monocle, which is published ten times a year.
“Notifications might be a good way to track breaking news but they’re not ideal for telling more nuanced stories; neither do they allow you to show off great photography or tackle in-depth journalism. There’s also still something intimate and tactile about leafing through a magazine [or bookazine]: the smell and feel of the paper matters, and studies show that we retain information better this way,” he says.
The power of print with a winning formula
Part of Monocle’s winning formula has been to continue investing in its coverage, journalists, photographers, and illustrators at a time when many other media outlets are cutting back on costs.
“We remain ambitious about both the art of print and the appetite for it,” says Fehnert.
Aimed at the smart and stylish globetrotter, Monocle sells more than 80,000 copies per issue with more than 24,000 subscribers and growing.
With offices in Zürich, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, and Toronto, plus a large network of correspondents in more than 35 cities, Monocle has been able to deliver in terms of global reporting and tell positive stories just as some outlets have become more insular and negative and focused on the bottom line, says Fehnert.
New titles are appearing
At the height of the pandemic in December 2020, Monocle’s little sister (which has a slightly larger trim size than Monocle) Konfekt was launched. The quarterly’s focus is on drinking and dining, design and fashion.
“Editor (and long-time Monocle staffer) Sophie Grove and our chairman and editorial director Tyler Brûlé, as well as our style director Marcela Palek saw space on the newsstand for a female-focused title that celebrated life lived in an understated Mitteleuropean way (we’re based in Zürich),” says Fehnert.
Fehnert describes Konfekt as a publication about luxury that’s really “as much about diving headfirst into a chilly mountain lake as it is about staying in a smart Alpine hotel.”
It’s also fun and celebratory and upbeat, full of playlists, recipes and suggestions, he says.
The global appeal of niche bookazines
On the other side of the pond, new bookazines are also making a splash.
According to a recent CNN article, Meredith Corporation, the American media conglomerate that publishes titles including People and Food & Wine, grew its newsstand revenue by close to 3 million euros in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the previous year, in part due to single-topic, in-depth magazines – the bookazine.
Focusing on a specific theme such as royalty, Meredith’s recently released People Royals offers up a “single-topic deep dive magazine” that taps into new markets.
Tapping into a specific topic with bookazines has also been a boon for Istec, a niche company headquartered in Holland specialised in protecting and monitoring speed and vibration on critical rotating machinery.
According to Daniël Visser, a content creator with Istec’s marketing and editorial department, the company had such a positive response to their first bookazine Vibration in 2018 that they decided to publish their second bookazine Speed in June 2021.
“We produced a bookazine because we wanted to create something that has actual value within our niche, yet is easy to digest,” says Visser.
“We write our own content in online articles that are tied to our core business. And while online is good, print is more permanent. If it’s well produced and offers value, people won’t throw it away. With our bookazines, we also have a permanent presence on our customers’ desks – our brand is at the top of their minds, so to speak,” he says.
Speed, which is 92 pages, contains informative articles, case studies, and a comprehensive best practice guide. It also tackles industry hot topics such as overspeed protection and sensor types, as rotating machines are one of the most critical parts of industrial processes.
Employing engaging visuals and high-quality production values, Istec has printed several thousand copies of its bookazines and even gone back for reprints.
“People are amazed by the quality, for example, we use thick paper (135 g/m²), and complex content that’s easy to digest. An added bonus is that it’s free,” says Visser.
