Ontario Arts Council will be launching new online application and management system in December

For literary and cultural magazines based in Ontario, there is a new online application and management system being launched by the Ontario Arts Council in December. The new system is called Nova and it will eventually eliminate much of the paperwork which has characterized the past OAC funding system. Most modifications will be implemented in funding rounds in 2017-18. Some 2017 program deadlines will have new deadline dates. 

The new application system is consistent with the new framework under four, already-announced, funding streams. 

"The OAC will launch a new website in mid-December to coincide with the shift to Nova," says an OAC release. "The website will be much easier to navigate than OAC’s current site – for example, you will soon be able to search for granting programs based on type of activity, priority group and more."

 Magazines receive either multi-year operating or annual operating funding and they are eligible for project support. In the most recent published results (2015) 31 publications received total support of $574,383.

Feds say the TPP "reflect and protects" Canadian cultural content

One of the areas of the Trans Pacific Partnership  (TPP) negotiations about which Magazines Canada and other agencies were lobbying was culture. You may remember the sometimes contentious issue of protecting Canadian cultural property and policies in the run up to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Ultimately, that legislation left the matter largely untouched, to the relief of publishers and media producers. But, understandably, cultural and literary magazines in particular and magazine publishers generally were warily watching the TPP talks.

Of course, how it all sorts out depends on the details when the full agreement is published and debated in Parliament but, according to a statement published on its website by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, nothing in the TPP prevents governments from regulating in the public interest, including measures to protect or promote culture. 

"Preserving the flexibility of all levels of government to adopt and maintain policies and programs that support the creation, production and development of Canadian content was a core objective for Canada in the TPP, and we have fully achieved this objective. The TPP reflects and protects Canada’s existing policies for supporting Canadian cultural content."

Mags Canada hosting one-day Cultural Magazines Summit October 16

Cultural and literary magazines may be pleased to know that a Cultural Magazines Summit will be held October 16, immediately after the 40th FIPP World Congress that Magazines Canada is hosting, An announcement by Mags Canada says that, with the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, a full day of workshops, networking and discussions is planned. A posting from Magazines Canada explains

This event will take place immediately after the 40th FIPP World Congress in Toronto (October 13–15), so sharing lessons and experiences from the Congress and discussing how to take advantage of international opportunities will be a significant component. World Congress attendance is not required to attend the Cultural Magazines Summit, but the Summit will be designed to enhance the Congress experience for those who do go to both. 

With MagNet week cancelled for 2015 [to return, June 2016], the October Cultural Magazines Summit is your opportunity to meet with your peers in a comfortable setting that is all about YOU, YOUR magazines and YOUR challenges. There will be no better place this year to network with cultural magazine colleagues from across Canada. 

The 2015 Cultural Magazine Summit will take place at the Courtyard Toronto Downtown (the same hotel that hosts MagNet) on Friday, October 16, the day after the FIPP World Congress. Save the date! #CulturalMags15

Slump in paid-for sales reported in Magazines Canada cultural magazine benchmarking study

Magazines Canada has published a new benchmarks study about the cultural magazines, based on grant applications to the Canada Council, with data from the 2012 funding round, covering 72 English titles and 32 French titles. Total revenue for the magazines is about $14.4 million, spread over about half a million print copies (519,851). The number of copies were down 19.5% from  the last benchmark study in 2010.

"This constitutes a dramatic drop in paid-for sales," say the authors, "which, after some sleuthing, turns out to be accountable to two factors: the loss of titles in the program and a fall in non-subscription sales for English-language magazines."

The estimate is that, on average, there are 1.56 million readers reached, 1.2 million by English titles and 360,000 in French. Paid subscription copies reach over 80,000, 66,000 in English and 14,000 in French. Single copy sales are 40,000, 30,000 of which are English and 11,000 for French. 

The data was compiled in a collaboration among the Canada Council for the Arts, Simon Fraser University, Rowland Lorimer and Stephen Osborne, the editor of Geist.

Read more »

Public magazine does the suburbs and provides a bonus "flip" catalogue

The interest in "flipbook" formats continues with the current issue of Public magazine, a special issue on the suburbs. Flip the magazine over and there is a related 90-page catalogue for a 2009 exhibiton called The Leona Drive Project. The catalogue details a show that took place in six, postwar houses in the suburb of Willowdale. 
The single copy is available on select newsstands and in some bookstores for $15. A one-year subscription to the twice-a year Public is $20.

Fuse magazine appeals to its subscribers for a $40,000 way out of a financial crisis

Fuse magazine, one of Canada's older arts and culture magazines, has been forced by a financial crisis to appeal for a bailout from its supporters in what they are calling their 40 for 40 campaign. Keying off their forthcoming 40th anniversary, they are trying to raise a total of $40,000 by March 31 of which they need to have  at least $10,000 in hand by December 1. 

A letter sent to subscribers and friends on Thursday details the situation this way, citing among other factors last year's decision by the federal government to exclude small-circulation arts, culture and literary titles from its new Canada Periodical Fund:

"Fuse has run into a financial crisis that we can't solve by shaving back our budgets or recruiting volunteers. Anyone who works in the cultural sector knows how increasingly vulnerable we have all become. Along with the closure of swimming pools, libraries and youth centres, the defunding of essential cultural organizations and alternative publications regardless of their value to the community is the result of a political climate shifting further away from the social good.

"The not-for-profit magazine community is declining as the commercial publishing model continues to dominate. Magazines operation outside of the mainstream industry, like Fuse, were further challenged this year by a 100% funding cut from Heritage Canada. The hit was both unexpected and impossible to fiscally absorb, and is being felt across small magazine publishing."

(As recently as 2008-09, Fuse received a grant of about $20,000 from the old Canada Magazine Fund's support for arts and literary magazines (SALM), which was discontinued last year. Magazines which had an annual, paid circulation of fewer than 5,000 copies -- mostly small, quarterly cultural titles like Fuse -- were left out of the Canada Periodical Fund because they're considered  "micro magazines", which are not businesses.)

Resisting the corporate model and preserving a place for writers to start

Some comments from literary magazine editors, quoted in an article in the McGill Daily entitled We're losing our literary mags. The article keys off the new Canada Periodical Fund, which limits funding to magazines with less than 5,000 paid circulation per year, something that is the case for many of Canada's best-known literary and cultural titles:

“In every way that I can think of, the government has tried to graft the corporate model on to the literary magazine. [The circulation floor is] an attainable number for many magazines but it changes the way these magazines operate, in terms of turning more into businesses and less into artist-driven projects.” -- Jean Paul Fiorentino, editor-in-chief of Matrix magazine, Montreal.

“Where else are writers supposed to start? Writers need opportunities, they need somebody at some point to give them a paycheque, and [literary magazines] offer that. We give them chances to work with editors before they launch into larger projects, and it builds up a [writer’s] fan base as well.” -- Mike Thompson, business administrator at Grain magazine, Saskatoon.

[The government] is really treating literary journals as commercial enterprises. They’re not. They’re not that at all. None of us are in it for profit; we don’t make any money; we never will make any. The government should not be applying profit-oriented metrics to this kind of journal. It just doesn’t fit.” -- Gerald Trites, co-editor of The Antigonish Review.

“If you look at the guidelines for the periodical fund, there’s absolutely no mention of qualitative criteria. The only criteria there besides circulation is Canadian ownership and Canadian content. And both are quantifiable. You can count the number of pages of Canadian content. There’s no recognition of contribution [to culture]. There’s no recognition that literary magazines, all arts magazines, are incubators for the culture of tomorrow.” -- John Barton, editor of Malahat Review.

Waiting to see: Cuts to the arts and particularly magazines murky in BC budget

The just announced B.C. budget has cranked back previously announced (and massive) cuts to arts organizations; however, according to the BC  Association of Magazine Publishers it's not clear what that means for BC arts and literary magazines. We quote from the association newsletter.

BC Finance Minister Colin Hansen unveiled the 2010 budget on March 2, amid great anticipation from the arts community. The figures presented appear to have restored funding to the 2008/2009 levels, with $60 million going to a newly created 2010 Sports and Arts Legacy fund. However, closer investigation by the Alliance for Arts and Culture reveals that funding to both the BC Arts Council and direct access gaming funds will be reduced by approximately 50%. See the full breakdown on the Alliance for Arts and Culture website.

What this means for BC arts and literary publications and BCAMP remains to be seen. The BCAMP advocacy committee and Coalition for the Defence of Writing & Publishing will be monitoring the situation closely.

Related posts:

• BC arts coalition keeps up pressure, buoyed by select committee recommendation against cuts
• BC coalition writes 100 times to Premier Campbellabout arts cuts
• Western Magazine Awards sees modest grant eliminated
• B.C. culture ministry cuts 100% of BCAMP funds as part of "literary clearcut"
• Federal minister Moore acknowledges "devastating" nature of BC arts cuts
•  BC magazine community dealing with quadruple funding whammy

Canada Council seeks input on 3-year strategic plan

The Canada Council is asking the literary and arts community to help it define its future and, specifically, its strategic plan for 2008-11. It will be holding consultations over the next two months and is inviting individual input through its web site. Information will be posted on its website starting March 14.

“Our objective is not to abandon well-respected programs that have gained the Council a reputation for effectiveness and responsiveness,” said Canada Council director Robert Sirman in a release. “Rather, we seek to identify where our energies and resources would best be focused in the immediate future.In the longer term, we want to make this already strong organization even stronger.

“We want to put the arts in the centre of the lives of Canadians, improve the Council’s ability to support the continuing evolution of the arts, and deepen the relevance of the arts and the Council to Canadians.”

Sirman noted there have been a lot of changes since the Council was created by Parliament 50 years ago.

“New technologies, a more diverse population and continuous growth in the number of artists and arts organizations across Canada are just some of the developments that are having an impact on the Council’s programs and priorities.

“We want the arts community and the public to let us know what the Council could be doing better to improve its support of the arts for the benefit of all Canadians.”

The extent of the consultation is at least in part the result of much lobbying by the national arts services organizations (NASO), who will be consulting with the council; Magazines Canada represents art and literary periodical publishers on NASO and says it will actively encourage its members to participate in the consultation.

The results of the consultations, approval of a new plan, is expected after a review by the CC board in Montreal in October 2007.