Portent

The future of magazine publishing? Just as books are now available as POD - print on demand (any quantity) from the likes of Lulu.com, it seems logical to do the same for magazines and MagCloud is in beta. Magazines are brilliant full color on 80lb paper with saddle-stitched covers; that’s one thing about digital electronic printing equipment. It’s expensive but looks fantastic.

It’s US based and the idea is you sign up as a publisher and send them your magazine for free. To print costs 20c a page and is a flat $1.40/copy (USPS first class mail) for quantities 1-9, or a flat $13 for quantities from 10-100 (per box of 10-100).

Anyone can have printed any magazine. Anyone want to see “Portent the magazine”? Of course we are nearing the point where E-Paper is becoming viable and won’t that change the world- just think how many huggable trees could be saved or at least used as toilet paper instead! So if you want to self-publish here’s one way to do it. Of course it’s probably cheaper for all of your subscribers to order a copy themselves.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

Don’t recognise the face? That’ Bill Heine, the man who put Headington on the map with his shark through the roof.

MagMyPic is an excellently implemented generator of magazine covers. Just upload a photo, select a magazine- there’s 14 to pick from Vogue, Time, National Geographic and many more and the results are plain to see.

The man pictured is responsible for increased reporting of sharks (not the legal ones!) in the Oxford area. See the previous story!

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Popularity: 23% [?]

Clearly a magazine that people are “dying” to buy. Girls and Corpses appears to be a somewhat satirical take on Lads magazines. The girls are hot and the corpses are dead!

I thought at first that this was a fake, like The Onion but it appears to be for real. Odd that I’ve never seen it in W.H. Smiths…

Wired Magazine sums it up “Straddling that fine line between brutal tastelessness and hilarious misogyny, Girls and Corpses is very much a throwback to the humor mags of the late ’70s/early ’80s, with a very pointed, sarcastic POV that recalls some of the best issues of National Lampoon. ”

Interesting note. I always thought that corpses was a British word while the US used cadaver. I suppose corpse isa bit snappier!

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Popularity: 23% [?]

The excellent alternative Russian Web Magazine The Exile Exile.ru published an illustrated guide to the type of people you might encounter on the streets of Moscow.

These range from impoverished starving soldiers, gangsters wives, art directors, rastas etc over 30 in all. Great descriptions and pictures. I like the Exile though it won’t suit everyone’s taste. The military writer Gary Brecher “War nerd” gives his insights into the best wars, soldiers etc and is not afraid to lavish praise or mock and if you are easily offended, you won’t like The Exile!

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After many years publishing the exile was forced to cease by Putin’s administration. They upset too many high ups… The end result of the action forced the staff to relocate permanently out of Russia proper and establish themselves in Panama.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Now up to its 64th weekly issue, the Escapist is a web magazine (and email) magazine about games and game culture. It is produced like a magazine in pdf format. Graphic design is terrific though its the content that obviously counts and that’s varied and always interesting.

And to cap it all they also produce an extra piece every Friday as well. Best of all is that it’s free. This is a quality production. The current issue stretches to 27 pages (mostly text but nicely illustrated) covering teledidldonics, light guns, and one man’s deviotion to Guitar Hero and its sequel.

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Popularity: 7% [?]