Zinio expands reach in digital media market with 1,000 new mag titles available to library patrons

Zinio, the digital magazine newsstand, has announced an aggressive move to expand by offering an additional 1,000 magazine titles to library patrons, more than doubling the number of titles available to users to 1,800 -- including international titles with non-English language content. 

The digital Zinio for Libraries service has experienced a 300% growth in registered users in the past year, according to Beth Murphy, the executive vice-president of product and chief marketing officer for Zinio. Zinio specializes in replica editions of popular magazines, readable on browsers or mobile devices using one of its apps.

While Zinio is offered in Canadian libraries, many of the best known and largest titles from Rogers Media were withdrawn from the service when Rogers launched Next Issue Canada in collaboration with the five biggest U.S. magazine publishers. Also, Magazines Canada allowed a partnership with Zinio to lapse and launched its own digital newsstand, featuring member magazines.

"Library patrons are demonstrating rapid adoption of digital magazines by accessing magazine content through Zinio for Libraries, with new checkouts of online magazines averaging over 1,000,000 per month," said Rich Freese, Recorded Books President and CEO. RBdigital, partners with Zinio. "The digital media market for libraries is showing exponential growth. Every minute a new library patron is added, 13 magazines are checked out on Zinio for Libraries. We expect that the addition of international digital magazines with new language content will appeal to an even broader selection of patrons with multinational interests and diverse cultural backgrounds."

Playboy magazine selling newsstand replica of first issue from December 1953

Playboy magazine last week published a newsstand replica of its first issue, published a tad over 60 years ago, with the cover subject Marilyn Monroe. That first issue was 50 cents; the reprint SIP is $9.99 and it should be on newsstands for about a dozen weeks. According to a story in Folio:

"This isn't the first time Playboy has leveraged its existing assets to spike revenue while celebrating its history. Two years ago it dug into its archive and released eBooks that highlight some of its best interviews over the past 50 years. But beyond that, the company has been monetizing its archives constantly.

"That is, iPlayboy membership enables readers to access 60-years worth of content online or on their mobile devices. There are three membership options: month-to-month for $8.00, an annual membership at $5.00 a month and a two-year membership at $4.16 a month."

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner started the magazine with $8,000 raised from 45 investors (including $1,000 from his mother). He was originally going to call it Stag Party. The first issue, which featured pictures of Monroe that had been taken from a 1949 nude calendar, sold over 50,000 copies. 

Issuu now lets users search thematically

Issuu, the free. site based in Denmark through which many magazines offer free digital replicas, has launched a new look, one which will allow readers to browse for publications based on their interests. According to a post on 10,000 Words, this will allow readers to move magazine to magazine that cover the same or similar topics. 

Already home to digital extensions of publications like Vice and brand materials for Red Bull and Georgio Armani, Issuu is slowly becoming one of the go-to places for publications to get their brand to readers. In terms of value, smaller publications and scrappy startups looking for a foothold may benefit from this update, thanks to discovery and thematic recommendations that could drive new readership.

Among Canadian titles which use Issuu are Canadian Jeweller, Musicworks, Canadian Architect, Printaction,  Canadian Restaurant & Foodservice News, Hardware Merchandising, Wine Country Ontario Travel Guide, Home Builder Magazine Canada, The Real Estate Book, Vancouver Island, City Life (Vaughan), Kawartha Life, In the Hills, Healthy Directions, Global Brief, U of T Magazine and Canadian Author.