publishing

Japanophiles This Way: Drainspotting and Idle Idol from Mark Batty Publisher

Filed under: Books

Mark Batty Publisher has added two Japanese-subculture themed coffee table books to its collection: Drainspotting by Remo Camerota, and Idle Idol by Edward and John Harrison. The former takes a colorful look at decorative manhole covers found throughout Japan, with more than 1,700 municipalities having taken the time to adorn their manhoru with regional colors, symbols and markers.

Anyone who's taken a stroll down Tokyo streets – or spent a few hours in the Otaku area – knows of the Japanese affinity for figurines. Idle Idol is a pictorial introduction to life-sized mascots used to greet, sell, get attention, or just show off. Broken up into categories, Hero, Legend, Spokesperson, TV Star, Entertainer, Chef, Doctor, Meeter and Greeter, you'll run into everything from Hello Kitty and Astro Boy to Totoro and Colonel Sanders. Yes, that Colonel Sanders, because there is simply no place like Japan...

Gallery: Drainspotting from Mark Batty Publisher

Gallery: Idle Idol from Mark Batty Publisher

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Tags: astro boy, coffee table books, drainspotting, hello kitty, japan, mark batty publishing, publishing

The World Will Cost You $5,800. In Atlas Form...

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Books

Millennium House publishing presents its ginormous atlas EARTH as a legacy for the next generation. Depending on how big your own next generation is at the moment, it could be a few years before he's grown large enough to be able to turn the pages.

The two-foot-tall, 1.5-foot-wide, 580-page hardbound tome is packed chock-a-block with 400,000 words, 750 photos and illustrations, 160 pages of maps, and four pull-out gatefolds that are each six feet long. That basket of cartographical goodness is wrapped in a handbound leather cover that is then numbered by a calligrapher in Hong Kong. And that rather weighty leatherbound goodness is then placed inside a 33-pound preservation case composed of leather-wrapped hardwood.

Lest it sound like the Earth has been ravaged in order to create an atlas – wouldn't that be irony – there will only be 3,000 copies created, in two series: 2,000 Royal Blue, 1,000 Imperial Gold. That latter one will cost you $5,800. That might sound like a lot of money, but when you consider having the entire world at your fingertips, and your child's fingertips once he's out of college, then it might be worth it. And how else would you get the chance to hear your friends say, "My, what a big atlas you have!"

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Tags: atlas, book, earth, millennium house, publishing

Southern Accents Magazine To Stop Publishing

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

Another shelter magazine has closed down. Time Inc. has announced that it's all over for Southern Accents. The magazine will stop publishing with its September/October issue. The magazine offered decorating content with a Southern flair showcasing beautiful luxury homes. The magazine's number of ad pages was down 37 percent in the first half of the year according to Publishers Information Bureau.

It's been a rough time for home decor magazines over the past couple of years. As the NY Times mentions just about every major publisher has closed a decorating title including the dearly departed Cottage Living, Blueprint, Country Home, O at Home and Domino. Time Inc. also owns Southern Living and Coastal Living which have so far escaped the ax.

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Tags: home decor magazines, HomeDecorMagazines, magazine, publishing, shelter magazines, ShelterMagazines, southern accents, SouthernAccents

Visionaire's $150,000 Magazine Collection

by Lisa Palladino (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

The Wall Street Journal reported that Visionaire magazine -- a publication where design, marketing, style, trends and art intersect -- is charging $50,000 for a special Goyard trunk designed for its collectors. The handmade trunk will house the magazine's first 50 issues. This summer, Visionaire also will offer 10 complete sets of its first 50 issues in the Goyard trunks for $150,000. The customized steamer trunks, assembled by hand, will have shelves and insets designed for all 50 issues. Collectors also can buy an empty trunks for €34,500 ($54,000).

From its premiere issue in April 1991 (now up to 54 issues, with each issue typically priced between $150 - $350), Visionaire "challenged notions of what it meant to be an art and fashion publication and was conceived of as a venue for artists such as Mario Testino and Steven Meisel to publish personal work," WSJ stated. It has morphed into something more like a design challenge for its many contributors.

Each issue (which can take between nine months and three years to complete) is typically a mixed-media riff on a theme, posing an ongoing set of challenges to a small crew of designers. For example, White began with the question: How do you publish without using ink? Answer: a combination of Braille, embossing, varnish and paper-cut illustrations. Scent came with perfume capsules, Taste had specially-designed flavor-strips and Sound featured a Mini Cooper toy car that played record albums.

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Tags: collectible, collectibles, Goyard, magazine, magazines, publishing, trunk, Visionaire

Milkweed Editions Inc., Charity of the Day

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Charity, Charity of the Day

Milkweed Editions Inc. was founded in 1979 in Minnesota with the intention of "making a humane impact on society." The independent non-profit publishing house puts out 12 - 20 new books each year and strives to use literature's unique ability to reach people and change their thinking to make the world a better place. They support writing creations of all kinds (fiction, nonfiction, children's, poetry) as long as it conveys a message in keeping with their mission of the essence of the human heart and spirit.

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Tags: book, books, charity, charity of the day, CharityOfTheDay, literature, milkweed, milkweed editions, milkweed editions inc, MilkweedEditions, MilkweedEditionsInc, publish, publishing, reading

Trump's Luxury Magazine Off To A Good Start

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Could the third time be the charm for Trump magazine? Donald Trump has twice before published a luxury magazine with his name on it that lost money. But late last year Trump announced that he would be partnering with luxury publisher Ocean Drive Media on a relaunch. Mediaweek reports that the debut January issue had a healthy 144 ad pages (including luxury brands such as Gucci and Cartier), and the second issue has another 290 booked.

Trump has stated that he is interested in having the magazine not for his self-aggrandizement, but as a service to his hotels and condos. Trump's magazine does have a captive audience. The magazine, which has a distribution of 100,000, will be delivered to all Trump properties and newsstands. It will also sell for $5.95 in limited locations. Jerry Powers, Niche Media president , says that the luxury market is strong despite an overall weakness in magazine ad sales. With The Apprentice doing well in the ratings once more, could this, once again, be the year of Trump?

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Tags: luxury, magazine, publishing, trump

House & Garden Folds, Are Other Shelter Mags In Trouble?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

A moment of silence for a grand old magazine. Condé Nast has announced that House & Garden magazine is shutting down after 106 years. The magazine will cease publication with its December 2007 issue. The move came after the publisher recently left. Condé Nast is still going strong with Architectural Digest and with Domino and the new Vogue Living. Fashion Week Daily brings up the fact that in 2004 when Condé Nast bought and then folded YM they converted the subscribers into Teen Vogue readers and that a similar thing may take place here.

Certainly over the past few years, House & Garden hasn't seemed quite as luxurious as it once did. Without the boozy reminiscences of one Jay McInerney, there really isn't that much in the magazine that can't be found elsewhere, especially in Arch Digest, which with the heavier and glossier paper and more lavish photography makes it more of a magazine set for taking up residence on the coffee table (and which was the magazine that did H&G in for the first time when it folded in 1993 after Condé Nast acquired AD). Also in terms of the two magazines websites, Arch Digest is the far more streamlined and contains more eyecandy images and video.

My question is whether or not the traditional "shelter" magazines in general are in trouble. There are several key indicators that could indicate that this is the case. The first would be the unsteady real estate market and the fact that many people are cutting back on renovating or remodeling their homes because they are not certain that they will receive a return on their investment when the sell. Also younger home owners are more and more accustomed to getting their home information and inspiration on the web where a variety of sites offer not just images of homes but the chance to immediately purchase the things you see and to submit your own pictures and receive feedback and help. Also as more and more people think about sustainable living and greening of their homes they might be inclined to turn toward Dwell. What shelter/lifestyle magazines do you read and do you think this is just an isolated case of Condé Nast trimming the fat or a more endemic problem effecting the entire industry?

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Tags: conde nast, house and garden, HouseAndGarden, magazines, publishing, shelter magazines

Love Sells Nirvana's Music

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Courtney Love, the rock singer and widow of Kurt Cobain, has sold 25 percent of Nirvana's music library to Primary Wave Music Publishing. Though their entire catalog does not have an exact monetary value, Courtney reportedly banked $50 million for the sale of the rights. Love has closely guarded the rights to the 98% of the band's library since she inherited it upon the death of her husband, the Nirvana front man, in 1994. His former band-mates own a mere 2% of the collection, including some of the band's most famous works, like Smells like Teen Spirit.

In and out of rehab, as well as prison, for the past several years, it is likely that she decided to sell this share of Nirvana's music to cover some of her legal costs, since her money problems are well known, though she said she found managing her entire estate "overwhelming."

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Tags: catalog, courtney love, estate, kurt cobain, library, music, music catalogue, music library, musicians, nirvana, publishing, rock, rockers