cottage living - not so fresh ideas
June 21, 2010 at 2:20 AM 
So, I saw this magazine on the newsstand the other day and I thought: "Oh, that's kind of a pretty cover." And then I realized that Cottage Living ceased publication a couple of years ago. I thought: "Maybe this is a collection of some of the mag's best stuff. Maybe I should get it." Then I read the bottom right corner:
Holy cow! I know mags are having tough times and editors and publishers are doing some crazy stuff, but seriously a "Reissue of a reader favourite" I felt totally cheated -- and very relieved that I realized before I got it to the cash register 'cause you see, I ALREADY OWN this magazine. Why are they trying to sell it to me again?? And yes, it is the EXACT SAME publication that came out several YEARS ago -- not so Fresh Ideas after all. And the even more irksome fact to point out is that when it came out the first time it was what we in the biz call a Special Interest Publication. In other words, an issue containing photos and stories that have ALREADY run in the main magazine (in this case the now-defunct Cottage Living, which was only available in the US). Most mags re-package photos for SIPs, this keeps production costs down so that revenue is maximized. But in this case it's the third time around for this content and they didn't even bother to try to "re-package". I bet they are fooling lots of people out there. And I have to ask myself -- did they pay the stylists and photographers and writers for third rights?
Reader Comments (3)
Uh oh - I did buy the magazine even though I had seen a number of the images before. I bought it for the article on painted floors and have been known to buy a magazine for one image or article! My mother-in-law in the US subscribed for me and mailed it to me each month (I know, a magazine junkie.) I didn't have this SIP though so I was OK with spending the money on it. Third time around is a bit lame and interesting point about rights.
I just bought a cottage and had never seen the publication before, so it's very useful for me.
Darn, Margot, I bit! Boy, is my face red. I'm usually pretty observant but that reissue notice completely slipped by my eyes. I thought it was defunct but hoped they were back in business. Decided to see what I could find out on line and voila! There was your answer to my question.