Submitted: The Two Sides Team November 6, 2013

In the October issue of Publishing Executive, Bob Sacks cautioned the industry against putting too much stock in the grim industry averages we're being bombarded with.

via Publishing Executive – November 1, 2013

In the October issue of Publishing Executive, Bob Sacks cautioned the industry against putting too much stock in the grim industry averages we're being bombarded with. The article was titled, "Grim Industry Averages Overlook Many Cases of Individual Success."

It so happens I recently came across just such a success story: that of regional bridal magazine Dainty Obsessions, which has been in circulation for about a year now. The South Dakota-based magazine has had a great first year, competing against national bridal magazines and doing incredibly well. Editor Valerie Sampson, quoted in a report by KELOland Television, remarked, "We sell more Dainty Obsessions magazines at Barnes & Noble here locally than any of the national magazines."

I followed up with Sampson to learn more about Dainty Obsessions' story. Part of its success is certainly due to the magazine's ability to reach a very targeted audience. "We knew that brides had the option of a national wedding magazine and know they are wonderful options for pretty inspiration," says Sampson. "However, a lot of times the advertising and even the content has little to do with us at a Midwest level. We don't have Malibu weddings and we don't have Cape Cod weddings. So we wanted to create a high quality resource that had just as great of options but relevant to the Midwest."

The magazine has also made it a priority to branch out onto digital platforms-an endeavor that has proven successful. They didn't decide to focus solely on digital or solely on print, but, rather, they strive to make one compliment the other. They recognized that their readers are also on social media sites such as Pinterest and Facebook, and they have reached out to them on these platforms, as well. And their print issues are benefitting from the interest generated by these digital ventures.

This is definitely not an isolated case. Magazines such as Wired, Men's Health, and GQ have found success by branching out into the digital realm, with Wired having their digital edition making up 50% of their total advertising revenue in the last quarter of 2012.

To a newbie in the business like myself, I find this incredibly fascinating, as well as really exciting. It gives me hope that print is not destined for extinction, and I also think that it gives publishers the opportunity to reach and engage their audiences in different ways.

Alyssa DelPrete is a junior at Hanover College in Indiana. She is currently an intern for Book Business and Publishing Executive.

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