It’s not about the books: In the comments related to a previous post, I pointed out that Amazon.com’s book search is as much about the value of its search box, or should I say, “valuation,” as it is about selling books.That value (and its potential) can be seen immediately in the news that Google is seeking cooperation from book publishers to do the same (NYT, reg. required). I predict you’ll see a pooling of resources before these two big boys split ways. However, I think the two companies should go ahead and merge. And while they’re at it, go ahead and merge with eBay. At that point, maybe they will become a force that may one day be a market counter-weight to the dominance of Wal-mart…or at least provide them some viable competition.

Gawking magazine covers: Slow gossip day, I guess, as Gawker analyzes every New York Magazine cover of this year. Why anyone would want to do this beats me.

Maganomics: No way to say down is up when both pages AND revenues are down (revenues -3.5% for month, -.2% for the year), as they were in August’s B-to-B magazines. So, unlike in the past, today, Media Post’s Larry Dobrow gets an “A” in maganomics.

Discovering custom publishing: Kay Harvey of the Pioneer Press in Minneapolis has discovered custom publishing and Samir Husni (more on that later) all in one article. Her profile today on a new magazine called figure is filled with head-scratching about its business model.

Quote:

Like its models, figure’s advertising policies defy the norm. The magazine guarantees plus-size clothing chains Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug and Catherinesthat they’ll be the magazine’s only fashion advertisers. As part of the deal, the three retailers get exclusive editorial fashion content as well. In other words, every fashion story and fashion spread in the magazine features clothes from those three stores. Period.

Other than the publisher’s quotes indicating her cavalier attitude towards disclosing to readers the sponsored nature of the magazine (”This isn’t curing cancer. It’s clothes.”), the publication sounds like a classic custom published, sponsored magazine with a few nuanced twists: It’s sold at point of purchase (see A&F Quarterly) and has three, rather than one, sponsors (see any advertorial ever produced. Later: I’ve been informed by an [the?] alert rexblog reader that the three stores are, in fact, owned by the same company.).

Despite the reporters shock at her discovery of something that’s been around for over 100 years, the article is interesting and noteworthy for a couple of great Samir Husni quotes and a classic typo of his name.

First, a quote:

“We live in a sponsored age. It’s a fact of life,” says Samir Husni, a University of Mississippi journalism professor also known as “Mr. Magazine.”

(Don’t you expect the next thing he said was, “Get over it.” The reporter didn’t use that part, if he did.)

Later in the story (and I hope it stays even after I point it out), there is a classic typo in the context of a Samir quote:

“We’re definitely heading in that direction,” says Husir, the magazine guru. He attributes a potential shift partly to tough economic times for launching a new magazine.

HUSIR? Shouldn’t the contraction of Samir’s name be Samni, rather than Husir?

View from the top: Still catching up from my weekend travels. Here is a NY Times piece by David Carr on the Newhouses and Conde Nast.

Quote:

Little more than a decade ago, the magazine company managed to lose $20 million in a year, but this year it will make more than $120 million, according to industry executives familiar with the numbers.

For a very funny spoof of the Newhouse world, read Garrison Kellor’s new novel, Love Me, in which he reveals they are, oh, I don’t want to spoil it.