Rogers and Henry's to launch new magazine for photo enthusiasts

Rogers Media and its NEXT Content Studio has partnered with Henry's Camera Store, theCanadian camera chain, to launch The Lens, a new national photo and video magazine for photography enthusiasts. It is aimed at photographers, videographers, cinematographers and other content creators, from hopeful beginners to seasoned pros. 

The magazine which is to be released May 15, will be available free in all Henry's locations and distributed via Canada Post to select communities across Canada, with a total controlled circulation of 120,000.

"The Lens is a way for Henry's to share our passion for photography, video and content creation with our customers in an exciting new way," said Jeff Tate, vice president marketing and eCommerce at Henry's. "For more than 100 years, we've prided ourselves on delivering an exceptional customer experience and being part of the creative community. Now, with the help of Rogers Media, The Lens will bring our customers even more information and inspiration, shining a spotlight on Canada's finest content creators." 

 Each issue will have a themed contest for readers and Henry's staff with the theme "Reflection," The Lens Contest challenges readers – as well as Henry's staffers – to submit their creative/unique images for the chance to be published in the next issue. The overall winner from all eligible submissions will also be awarded a Henry's gift card.

The debut issue features award-winning Canadian photographer Chris Gordaneer, Toronto photographer and social influencer “Soteeoh,” as well as well as a variety of other industry experts.

New digital literary magazine TOK to be launched in April

A new digital magazine -- TOK -- is to launch officially in April. It's an outgrowth of Disapora Dialogues, which has a long record promoting emerging writers, playwrights and artists. 

The magazine project will rely at first on fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and drama created under the auspices of the Diaspora Dialogues mentoring programs.  The new venture is being led by Helen Walsh, until recently the publisher and president of the Literary Review of Canada, and the founding director of Spur, a national festival of politics, art and ideas.

"We see TOK as the logical extension of the work we’ve done over the past decade and a half. In a world whose reading habits have changed, the publishing landscape irrevocably altered, we’ve designed TOK to be a fluid, responsive network. A way to showcase and support writers across backgrounds and styles. And we’re committed to collaborating with partners across literary, artistic and community realms, to do our bit in fostering a non-zero-sum culture."

St. Joseph launches Title magazine, replacing its Men's Fashion

St. Joseph Media is launching a new magazine called Title which replaces the former Men's FASHION. It will appear on newsstands in November and be mailed to selected subscribers of FASHION, Toronto Life and will be distributed to select postal code areas and business locations across Canada. It will also be available poly-bagged with FASHION at select Shoppers Drug Marts throughout Canada on November 20. 

There will be three seasonal issues: fall, winter and spring.  Some digital content will be available online at thetitlemag.com starting November 14.

“The launch of Title is part of our ongoing strategic plan to position our media brands as the most competitive in the market and to target the luxury consumer,” said Jacqueline Loch, VP & group publisher, women’s brands at St. Joseph Communications. “We strategically designed the Title brand to feature high quality multi-platform content that will resonate with our readers. Like our strategy with FASHION, Title will also focus on innovations in technology and editorial integrations to provide quality content that delivers for our advertising partners and engages audiences across all our platforms.”

OWL magazine launching digital current affairs magazine for readers 9 - 12

OWL magazine is launching a bi-weekly, current affairs digital magazine for readers 9 - 13. It is free to current subscribers of OWL. 

" Each issue of OWLconnected eMag will feature: news of the week, an in-depth story, an illustrated infographic, sports and entertainment stories, and an interactive quiz. A special section called "The Buzz" will present reader-generated content, and a 90-second animated video will appear in each issue that highlights an event, news story, or important person or historical figure. OWLconnected eMag will be published 26 times a year," the magazine said in a release.

The parent magazine, OWL, was founded in 1976 and is now published by Owlkids, a division of Bayard Canada. Other publications it offers are Chirp (for ages 3-6) and chickaDEE (ages 3 - 9). 

"As we celebrate our 40^th Anniversary, we are thrilled to be launching a new and dynamic digital magazine for readers," shares Kendra Brown, Editor of OWL. "Our OWLconnected eMag is designed to open kids' eyes to the news and information from all around the globe in a fun and interactive way. Inspiring preteens is what OWL does best and we are proud to be adding this new publication to our library of offerings." 

Winnipeg custom publisher to launch global digital magazine Tea Journey

A new digital magazine for tea experts and people who share a passion for tea, called Tea Journey is due to be launched in June. A Kickstarter campaign to help with the launch begins April 4.Dan Bolton, the Winnipeg-based founding editor and publisher, says in a release:

"Tea Journey is like a digital caravan of story tellers who travel to origin and return with authoritative, elusive and exclusive articles, photos, and video that will help our readers discover their tea destiny. It serves a growing marketplace for fine tea with decades of publishing experience and an unprecedented network of devoted and respected tea authorities."

(Bolton is editor of the Tea Biz blog, managing editor of STIR Tea and Coffee magazine and was editor and publisher of Tea Magazine and World Tea News.)

The new digital magazine, published by Mystic Media Custom Publishing, targets established tea lovers looking to discover and refine their taste in tea – selecting, correctly preparing and serving the finest teas from around the world. It will be published three times a year -- the April (Origins) issue, the August (Tea Review) issue, and the November (Gifting) issues -- and delivered via mobile app. Between issues, subscribers receive full-featured articles and multi-media content on the Tea Journey blog. Content can be viewed anytime online at www.teajourney.pub or via custom apps for Apple iOS available on iTunes and the Android store.

There will be profiles of collectors, scientists, antiquities scholars and tea blenders. The magazine will also seek out the best articles from Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and Japanese publications and these will be translated by staff.

Subscriptions are $24.95 a year or $14.95 for three months. A 3-day access pass to sample the magazine costs $1.95. Founding sponsorships are $249.50 for 10 subscriptions. 

Lo-res prototype

New in New Brunswick: Created Here magazine to promote visual artists

Issues 1 and 2

Visual artists in New Brunswick now have a new quarterly magazine to promote their work, called Created Here. The first two issues are out. Subscriptions are $40 a year and single copies are $7 at selected outlets, museums and galleries or $10 online. 

The print magazine started as a website and directory but has now expanded into a print product, too, according to a story from the CBC. 

Morell

"People love to see something in print," said Marie-Hélène Morell, founder of CreatedHere.ca. "Beautiful photos and beautiful art. It's a totally different experience than online." 

Morell works from her home in Grand Bay-Westfield and visits workshops and studios as she can (she has two small children and another on the way.) The goal of the magazine and website is unabashedly promotional. 

"Publicity and promoting themselves is not often [artists'] strength," she said. "A lot of artists just want to be creating".

The project received some early funding from The Pond-Deshpande Centre, and also got advice and other support from the ArtsLinkNB Catapult Arts+Culture Accelerator program.

Digital quarterly Figure Skater Fitness launched

A new digital quarterly magazine called Figure Skater Fitness has been launched. It's aimed at figures skaters, coaches, parents and the followers of the sport. The publisher and editor-in-chief is Signe Ronka, a former international level competitor and national competitive coach. Single issues are $7.99. A year (4 issues) is $27.99. 

"We are very excited to share this new medium with our readers," says Dawn Drummond-Hill, creative director. "Our magazine will motivate, educate, and be the leading source of figure skating specific training information."

Feminist writing journal Canthius launches

Always nice to see new titles and writing outlets launch. This time it is Canthius, a literary journal of feminist writing based in Toronto. The first issue launch is Saturday night September 26, 7 - 9 pm at the Likely General, 389 Roncesvalles. 

The editors of the journal are Claire Farley,Cira Nickel, and Puneet Dutt. The magazine limits submissions to 3,500 words for fiction and 5 poems for poetry. Contributors aren't paid and, in fact, have to include a $3.50 submission fee to help cover production costs.

Chirp magazine launching a new show on CBC TV

Chirp magazine, published by Owlkids, is unveiling a TV show in collaboration with the CBC and, for the occasion, the character of Chirp has had a bit of a makeover. It was created in 1997 (making the little bird about 18) by Bob Kain but a new look was launched in the Jan/Feb issue, illustrated by Cale Atkinson.  

A sort of sneak peek of the show is at 7:15 tomorrow (Friday) and will continue weekly until April 20 when it will be on 5 days a week. A series of books based on the show will be launched later this spring as well as several apps. The show is produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment, licensed by Owlkids, which also publishes Chickadee and Owl magazines for varying ages.  According to Owlkids group publisher Jennifer Canham

"The show will launch in French on SRC this fall. Chirp is already featured in our French-language magazine Pomme d'Api in Quebec. We just got back from Kidscreen in Miami where we met with international broadcasters and should have some new deals to announce shortly."

Ride-sharing company Uber to share Momentum magazine with its drivers

Uber, the burgeoning ride-sharing company, has launched a quarterly print magazine to be distributed  to its 150,000 drivers in any cities where the service operates, including Toronto. It's called Momentum and, according to a post on GeekWire, articles in the inaugural issue will cover how to stay healthy and in shape, putting a spotlight on Austin, Texas (an Uber-served city) and pro driving tips from an Uber "partner" (which is what the service calls its drivers.) The 16-page magazine is available in print and digitally. Issue 1. 

“We want to strengthen the community of our driver partners — currently 150,000 people strong — by making sure you are up to date on new developments within our company and giving you new and improved methods to connect to us and one another,” writes Ryan Graves, Uber head of operations. “As we gear up for another big year of improvements, we look forward to hearing from you about what more we can do to ensure you have the most positive experience possible on the road with our platform.”

Might there be some consternation at the Vancouver headquarters of Momentum, the North America-wide cycling and lifestyle magazine? 

Digital travel mag LaCARTE launched in Toronto

A new, digital travel publication La Carte has been launched in Toronto. It consists of a weekly e-newsletter, a quarterly digital magazine and ongoing social media content. The publication is led by editor and writer Maryam Siddiqui.

After a "soft launch" last month, the new publication has already had about 6,000 page views and 2,500 unique visitors. Its tagline is Travel Smarter, Travel Better. The target audience is said to be upscale and digitally savvy 25 to 50 year olds who draw a distinction between a vacation and travelling.

"As an avid adventurer, I set out to write the travel magazine that I wish existed, and I found out I was in very good company," says Siddiqi. "La Carte fills an unique gap in travel content that is smart, discerning and relevant — and of course, fun."

Siddiqui's experience with travel was best demonstrated by her 193-day, round-the-world trek (21 countries) that she chronicled in 2013 for the National Post. Among the contributors to the new digi-mag are Karen Cleveland, former senior manager, marketing and communications at St. Joseph Media, Barry Hertz, the executive producer for features at the National Post and art director Geneviève Biloski, also at the National Post.

Social justice all-stars featured in issue launch event by This Magazine

This Magazine is launching its Social Justice All-Stars issue (January-February 2015) with a special event called "This is Not a Ted Talk" on Wednesday, January 28. Thirty people are profiled in the magazine as everyday superheroes working to make the world a better place, from fighting for feminism, LGBTQ rights, and better mental health services to fighting against racism, discrimination and harmful stereotypes. 

Three of them will be speaking at Supermarket (268 Augusta Avenue), in the heart of Toronto’s Kensington Market. They are

• Sheila Sampath, an educator and activist designer who is, among other things, the editorial and art director of Shameless magazine, the independent magazine for young women and trans youth.
• Nayani Thiyagarajah, a writer, performance artist and filmmaker , doula, yoga teacher and dancer who has worked extensively with multiple arts-based organizations and performance groups across Toronto, including Manifesto Community Projects, ArtReach Toronto, b.current Performing Arts and Schools Without Borders. 
• Farrah Khan is a nationally recognized speaker and a counsellor and advocate at the Barbra Schlifer Clinic in Toronto; among other things she is currently the coordinator of Outburst!, a movement of young Muslim women against gendered violence and the editor of Heartbeats: The IZZAT Project, a graphic novella by South Asian young women.  

The event starts at 7:30; talks will begin at 8 p.m. Admission is $5, which includes a copy of the special issue. 

New "hyperlocal" magazine launching in downtown Edmonton

A brand new quarterly magazine will land in central Edmonton starting December 3. The Central Edmonton News Society, in partnership with the Oliver and Downtown Edmonton community leagues, will be distributing 24,000 copies of the premiere issue of The Yards—a hyperlocal (and highly-anticipated) newsprint magazine. 

The downtown, and those two neighbourhoods in particular, have seen enormous growth in the past decade. The magazine's name is a loving tribute to the CN rail yards that ran through the downtown just a generation ago. 

"For the first time, our community leagues has the ability to reach every  single resident," says Oliver Community League president Jarrett Campbell, "and we're very excited with the community-building opportunities that brings."

The magazine is edited by National Magazine Awards winner Omar Mouallem and designed by Vikki Wiercinzki, who revamped Vue Weekly in 2010. It will focus on urban planning, development, lifestyle and cultural stories.

"Newspapers and newsrooms are shrinking, but there's still hunger for local news—especially in a city growing as steadily as Edmonton," says Mouallem. "Nowhere is this excitement and uncertainty more visible than in the city's core. So as a hyperlocal magazine we can home in on that growth, in on our backyards, and we can understand it and access it better than anyone else." 

75 years on, Scribners Magazine loses apostrophe and comes back online

Everything old is  new again, so it seems. A venerable, long-departed magazine Scribner's (a rival in the day for The Atlantic and Harper's), which last published in 1939, is being revived, more or less, as the online literary website Scribner Magazine. According to the Speakeasy blog from the Wall Street Journal, the intention of the publishing house Scribner (a division of Simon & Schuster) in reviving it is not to create digital equivalent of its old self, but rather to be a site about authors and their books. 

Many publishers these days are looking for new ways to connect directly with readers. Nan Graham, senior vice president and publisher of Scribner, said she wanted to offer readers a behind-the-curtain peek at writers’ lives, answering the questions that come up again and again at readings: “What do you read? How do you write? What’s the origin of the book?”

“We’re trying to respond to that appetite,” she said. “I’ve wanted to do something with the old Scribner’s Magazine for a long time because it was such an important part of the culture.”

The site will be updated weekly and will feature author essays, archival photographs, reviews by booksellers and author-curated playlists as well as book excerpts in text and audio. The site will feature many Scribner authors, but not exclusively. In an opening salvo from the editors:

"We are reviving Scribner Magazine for the digital age, with the intent to pull back the curtain, to reveal a more intimate look at writers and publishers: where writers work, the music they listen to, the seeds of their books, what they talk about with other writers, even what they cook and how they parent; how editors edit; the role of the art director, the book designer, the sales rep; what booksellers are reading. Every month there will be a story or chapter read out loud by its author. We will feature writing that you might have missed, and new writing from authors throughout the literary community. 

"Scribner Magazine: for behind-the-scenes insights on reading, on writing, on living."

AWAY magazine to take flight mid-December at Toronto airport

If airports are all about hurrying up and waiting, at least you'll have something to read when, in mid-December, the first issue is launched of a new quarterly, controlled circulation magazine called AWAY. 

Published on behalf of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) by St. Joseph Communications Media Group (SJM), 200,000 copies of the 64-page magazine will be available in designated racks in the outbound departure lounges and gates throughout Terminals 1 and 3 in Toronto. An associated tablet edition will be available throughout the terminals in English and French. 

“AWAY is an exciting project, given the rich content possibilities, as well as the attractive audience demographics delivered to advertisers by the mix of business and leisure travel passengers flying out of Pearson,’’ said Douglas Kelly, who along with Deborah Trepanier, SJM Group Publisher, are co-business leads on the magazine. Kelly, former editor-in-chief and publisher of the National Post, leads Strategic Content Labs, a content marketing division of SJM. Trepanier heads up SJM’s Where Magazine division.

Content is being managed by Maryam Sanati, editorial director, special projects for Toronto Life and Deborah Stokes, former travel editor at the National Post and senior editor at Content Labs. Ad sales are being managed by Gayle Matthews. 

HOLO Toronto launch unveils hard copy extension of art, science and tech site

Yet another example of a hard copy spinoff from a web-based site, this time HOLO, a magazine about emerging convergences of art, science and technology. It is a twice-a-year print extension of the British art, design and technology blog CreativeApplications.net, and the first issue weighs in at a hefty 200 pages. The magazine describes itself as "a periodical about ‘people interrogating technology’, and it focuses on the faces, personalities, and anecdotes behind important work." A single copy is $35; a two-issue subscription is $60. It can be picked up at Art Metropole in Toronto and Librairie Formats in Montreal. The Canadian launch (free) is Wednesday, June 25th from 7-9 p.m. at InterAccess, 9 Ossington Ave., Toronto. 

Literary food journal Beer and Butter Tarts being launched in Toronto

A new, twice-a-year literary food journal called Beer and Butter Tarts is being launched this week in Toronto. Though its first issue came out in December, a launch party is being held on January 28 at The Rhino Restaurant & Bar (skylight room), 1249 Queen Street West.

The magazine contains essays, short fiction, poetry, photography and art and tells the stories of food in Canada, from coast to coast to coast.Beer and Butter Tarts costs $18 an issue in Canada. 

The journal springs out of a publishing enterprise called Stained Pages Press, which consisted of a 'zine started in 1994 by Greg Clow and Sheryl Kirby. It was distinguished by the fact that its pages were randomly marked by food stains (e.g. wine or coffee rings) so each issue was one of a kind. The other publication of SPP is Kitchen Party, a collection of food stories by Kirby. In addition to publishing, Clow and Kirby present the Toronto Indie Arts Market Small Press and Literary Festival.

[H/T Quill & Quire]

Canada Wide Media launches "multi-platform" lifestyle magazine BCLiving -- in print, too

Canada Wide Media has launched its new lifestyle magazine BCLiving with an event in Vancouver. (see video below) It is a multi-platform publication available 10 times a year in print in select Vancouver retail locations, as the already established and eponymous website and as an iPad edition; there will also be a newsletter expected to have 12,500 subscribers and a quarterly Chinese language version. 

The print magazine will have a total distribution of 31,000, including 15,000 inserted in the west coast edition of the Globe and Mail.

Despite its name, the magazine is resolutely urban and concentrates mostly on the lower Mainland, covering home decor, fashion and design, food and outdoor life. It has more than a passing resemblance to the Avenue magazines in Calgary and Edmonton (published by Red Point Media Group). 

This launch is a courageous step for Canada Wide, whose last venture into consumer print and online publishing -- Granville -- petered out. It started as a classic city magazine, then shifted to a "green" magazine, then to online only and eventually ceased altogether in January 2012, after about two and a half years. When it closed, it promised that its content would now be found in BCLiving.ca. 

There is probably room in the Vancouver market for another city magazine. Vancouver Lifestyles and Vancouver View both no longer publish in print and pretty much have left the field to Transcon's Vancouver magazine and sister publication Western Living's BC edition, plus Canada Wide's own BC Home & Garden. Another competitor is H&L (Homes and Living magazine), which distributes 40,000 copies in the Vancouver market. 

Tom Gierasimcsuk, the vice-president, editorial of Canada Wide told Marketing magazine a few weeks ago: 

“It’s essentially to fill what we feel is a gap in the marketplace. I think there’s a real lack of a 360-degree media lifestyle brand in this space. There are great local public publications, great local blogs, but there’s nobody that offers a higher-end audience.”

He said that he felt its "robust" digital presence through the established BCLiving.ca site gave it a distinct market advantage, particularly in offering advertisers "multi-platform partnerships". (The website is Canada Wide's most popular digital product, with 500,000 monthly page views.) 

Here's the promotional video shown at the launch:

Nature Conservancy to launch new Land Lines blog November 5

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is launching a new blog called Land Lines on November 5, writing about a wide range of conservation topics. The NCC is Canada's largest national land conservation organization which, since 1962, has helped to protect more than 2.6 million acres (1 million hectares) across the country. 

The Land Lines editor is Christine Beevis Trickett, who is the manager of editorial services and was the editor of the bilingual print publication The Ark, a print newsletter still published by the NCC. Trickett was a board member of the Atlantic Magazines Association, and operates her own editing and writing service, based in Halifax Calgary. 

Big box impact on neighbourhoods theme of This Mag film series, panel and issue launch

Big box stores have been steadily creeping into downtown cores and a panel discussion on Wednesday 25th intends to look at the bigger questions behind plans for a Wal-Mart to move into the historic Kensington Market area of Toronto. It's part of the launch of the September/October issue of This Magazine -- its Corporate Hall of Shame issue -- and a new film series sponsored by the magazine called Every Film is Political.

The panel will follow a screening of WAL-TOWN, a National Film Board-produced film by Sergeo Kirby looking at the business practices of mega-retailer. Panellists will include journalist John Lorinc (Spacing, Globe and Mail), Dominique Russell, organizer of Friends of Kensington and Shahil Thomas, who works with the Metcalf Foundation on Resilient Neighbourhood Economies. The moderator will be This Magazine editor Lauren McKeon. 

The magazine issue is an annual survey of Canadian companies This says have been up to no good. 

“It’s about holding 50 companies to account and about digging that hook in real deep and not letting go, watching and observing and saying ‘we know you did that,’” says McKeon.

The event takes place at the Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto and doors open at 6:30 p.m. $15 includes the screening and a copy of the issue.