Saveur's New Look

[joey madison]

I really didn't care for the last issue. Especially the cover. It looked like a cover for People magazine or something. The interior layout wasn't too bad, but again, it was a bit on the bland side. I thought it interesting that Bon Appetit and Saveur came out with Magazines covering virtually the same ground on the same month.

Sigh.

[Fat Guy]

The latest thing I've heard is that Saveur recently moved its art department from New York to the parent company's corporate headquarters in, I think, Florida. Perhaps that explains the new look. I wonder if it was also a cost-cutting/consolidation measure -- it sounds like one.

[Osnav]

A couple of points:

1. I am in the negative camp on the new cover design. It really makes the product look "lower end". I think the color border with the white background is much more prefered than the new white border with color background. It is still my favorite food magazine, when you compare it to the other magazines on the market.

2. Paper costs have gone thru the roof in the last two years. Publishers can't raise their cover prices enough to offset paper costs so they use cheaper paper.

3. I don't know where the rumor of Saveur going out of business comes from; but I doubt that it is going to happen anytime soon. World Pub. is a smart, growing publishing outfit and if anyone can make the economics of publishing this magazine work it is World Pub.

Fat Guy is right in that advertising is the main source of revenue for large, national magazines with large circulations (Gourmet, Bon Appetit, etc.). That is why you can get a subscription for next to nothing. The subscription usually doesn't pay for the cost to produce and delivery the product. The way the mags make their money is they deliver an audience to an advertiser.

In order to get the large, non-endemic advertisers (Detroit, etc.) Gourment and Bon Appetit type magazines have to have huge circualtion bases. They could not supply the reader numbers they needed by have food/receipe only magazines. They had to broaden their base by making their magazines food/travel/lifestyle magazines to bring the extra readers to attract the large advertisers. Take a look at a current Gourmet and compare it to one from 10 years ago. The difference is amazing.

However, there is another part of the publishing industry that does make the greatest part of its revenues from subs and newsstand sales. Mags. like Cooks Illustrated (which takes no advertising) make all their revenues from subs and newsstand sales. These magazines usually have higher subscripton rates and higher cover prices.

There are other similar mags that don't attract the non-endemic advertiser but do carry endemic advertising. These mags have a more balanced revenue source between advertising and circualtion (50%-50% or 60%-40% ratios). These are usually healthier products as they are not so dependent on a single source of revenue.

4. It is a fact that Publishers are, have been, moving as many aspects of their business out of NYC as they can. The cost of real estate is just too high. Obviously, the Mad-Ave. advertising types have to have a presence as do some of the larger titles editorial offices. Saveur moving its graphics dept. to FLA. will save them a ton of money (even Comag the distributor of Conde Nast/Hearst has recently moved from NYC to Princeton, NJ. to save money).

5. And lastly, to all of you out there that think you can or will be able to get these magazines FREE over the internet: Don't be Fools! Nothing is FREE!

[Carrot Top]

Osnav,

Thank you for the information on all those various points. It is always interesting to learn more about the things that surround us in our daily lives.

I did sign up to receive Saveur on-line for the six months. Did I think it would be free as in "scot-free"? No. But considering how often I read the magazine it was easier to do than to subscribe, even to the lazy point of not having to fill out a subscription form. It was made so easy and the trade-off so little. Will I get spam? I hope not. Will they imbed cookies? So what.

If there is something else I should be worried about, please let me know what it is, so I can then worry.

Would I do this on-line "free" subscription for Cook's Illustrated or certain other magazines that I read? No. Because they are worth the money and the time spent to subscribe to them, to me.

So to me, it's just about trade-offs and convenience. Not really about money or "something for free".

P.S. It just came to mind that eGullet itself was even worth the the money and the time spent to fill out a "subscription form" to it. Well worth it.

( No, they didn't pay me in any form or manner that anyone even in their wildest imaginings could think of to say that. It's just true.)

Edited September 21, 2005 by Carrot Top (log)

[thecuriousone]

My first re action was jangled nerves at the cover change. I dont like the white border and the title typset doesn't do anything for me. Additionally, I noticed the paper change as soon as I started turning the pages. I think that bothered me more than the cover change. I hope that they dont give up on the magazine I have every issue since issue one. Just the thoughts of a subscriber

Osnav,

Thank you for the information on all those various points. It is always interesting to learn more about the things that surround us in our daily lives.

I did sign up to receive Saveur on-line for the six months. Did I think it would be free as in "scot-free"? No. But considering how often I read the magazine it was easier to do than to subscribe, even to the lazy point of not having to fill out a subscription form. It was made so easy and the trade-off so little. Will I get spam? I hope not. Will they imbed cookies? So what.

If there is something else I should be worried about, please let me know what it is, so I can then worry.

Would I do this on-line "free" subscription for Cook's Illustrated or certain other magazines that I read? No. Because they are worth the money and the time spent to subscribe to them, to me.

So to me, it's just about trade-offs and convenience. Not really about money or "something for free".

P.S. It just came to mind that eGullet itself was even worth the the money and the time spent to fill out a "subscription form" to it. Well worth it.

( No, they didn't pay me in any form or manner that anyone even in their wildest imaginings could think of to say that. It's just true.)

←

[Bill Miller]

I really didn't care for the last issue.  Especially the cover.  It looked like a cover for People magazine or something.  The interior layout wasn't too bad, but again, it was a bit on the bland side.  I thought it interesting that Bon Appetit and Saveur came out with Magazines covering virtually the same ground on the same month.

Sigh.

←

I agree, and sadly Bon Appetit has been in decline since the death of their editor, Wm. J. Garry.

[achevres]

Saveur is my favorite food magazine and I am a subscriber since the very beginning and my subscription goes to 2009...but I'm having a hard time reading the new format. The font is very small.

I could deal with it in the body of the articles, but why why why is the font so small in the recipes and "methods"? I have a hard time believing that any kitchen testers actually tested a recipe out of that small print. Also, the thickness of the letters is quite faint.

Which brings me to the "Method." I'm not clear on the difference between a "recipe" and a "method" as they are being used in Saveur. The methods also have ingredients, amounts etc. But they are even harder to read (and impossible to cook from) because they are in paragraph format. We have come so far in recipe writing since 1900, but the way the methods are written in Saveur are going backwards.

Anyone else bothered by this? I want to write to them. Who would be best? Anyone else want to join me?

[Chris Amirault]

You could post here, since James Oseland is an eGullet Society member.

[mukki]

Saveur is running a special offer of 3 years for the price of one here, which is a good deal if you usually pay full price.

[jmolinari]

wow, that seems like a good deal Mukki. I'm going to try calling and seeing if they can extend my current sub. for 3 years for the price of 1.

[tim]

Hi,

Actually a good deal from Saveur is 3 years for $12. That's what I paid.

NEGOTIATE!

Tim

[budrichard]

2 yr extensions on my subscription for $9.99 here http://www.magazinepricesearch.com/j/netma...-saveur-18.html .

Only way I would have renewed!-Dick