Writer: Odoobo C. Bichachi. PHOTO/COURTESY
You have all read a book at some point in time. You also regularly read newspapers – at least whenever you can. And, you often read magazines – news or leisure-themed ones. You can, by now, quickly guess what a “bookazine” is.
In the media and literary world, a bookazine is a cross between magazine style and book style much the same way as in the animal kingdom, a mule is a cross between a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare).
A mule, scientists say, gets its athletic ability from the horse and its intelligence from the donkey. Mules are generally reputed for their strength and endurance as domestic animals. Similarly, a bookazine gets its depth and shelf span from the book, and its allure and colour from the magazine. There is so much that bookazines add to publishers and their audiences in terms of the bottom line and reader satisfaction.
With the continuous drop in newspaper and newsmagazine copy sales and circulation revenue across most parts of the world, many media houses are turning to creating collectable products that attract readers, have a long shelf life, bring depth and timeliness.
As Chris La Greca wrote in his article, “The surprising success of the Bookazine and what it means for publishers”, this approach “features all the things that people love about magazines – high-quality paper, large vivid images and easy to read and exciting layouts – with the niche subject matter and permanence of books.”
Bookazines are usually thematic or tagged to events and trends. This allows for in-depth exploration and a unique presentation. They are produced annually or quarterly depending on the market assessment and dynamics. Times magazine of the United States of America is one of those legacy media houses that have regularly churned out bookazines and reaped their benefits that include increased reader-generated revenue from the newsstand and subscription, as well as more advertising revenue from niche advertisers.
One of Time magazine’s most sold collectible bookazines was the Barack Obama special edition. Its annual Time 100 edition is not one to miss. “It is a list of the top 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the news magazine. It was first published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, the list is now a highly publicised annual event.” -Wikipedia
So, has Uganda media seen the opportunity and produced some bookazines in the past, is doing so presently or looking to do so in future? We will stick to the past and present, and to my memory.
Yes, we have not really had many bookazines in recent years to the best of my recollection. We have, however, had some attempts to do so, even though the products have remained largely magazines in format, their special thematic or personality-focused nature notwithstanding.
In February 2016, on the eve of the general election, Daily Monitor published a free pullout magazine titled, “Election 2016: The Journey. The People. The Moments”. Earlier in November 2015, Daily Monitor had published a special souvenir magazine titled, “Pope Francis: His Visit to Uganda, Land of the Martyrs”.
Both magazines were no doubt collector items even though they fell short of the bookazine standards. This perhaps also was reflected in their impact on the market. New Vision has for years regularly produced a magazine predicting the year ahead at the turn of the previous year. It too falls behind the standard of a bookazine.
Is there opportunity for Uganda print media in going all the way rather than only halfway? Perhaps! Kayleigh Barber, writing in, “How Time’s collectible covers make the case for a print comeback”, (www. digiday.com) says: “…publishers, like Time, that have been regularly operating print businesses in these modern times, may have proven that this model is the way to go, especially when prioritising newsstand distribution. It is ramping up its special edition “bookazine” business and collectible covers in order to earn more reader revenue generated from newsstand, retail and direct-to-consumer sales.”
A Uganda yearbook would, perhaps, be a good starting point.
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