We’re All In This Together
“It has always struck me that what New Jersey really needs is a good, all-purpose arts web site, with active social media engagement.”
That's what one prominent entertainment writer from a major newspaper in New Jersey recently said to me... It's also my goal for New Jersey Stage. About 7 years ago I ran a print publication called Upstage Magazine that covered the arts throughout Central New Jersey. That publication covered the arts in ways the mainstream media couldn't afford to. In the years that have passed, more and more newspapers and magazines have cut their staffs with those covering the arts among the first to go. I believe in the arts, and believe the arts deserves and relies upon media coverage. I'm plunging back into covering the arts full-time again and hope that some of the artists, theatre companies, and performing arts centers that will benefit from that coverage help contribute to this campaign. We're all in this together.
This time around, I'm cutting the cord from print. Despite being a long-time print guy, I believe it's time to go digital. I'm excited at the possibilities of including audio, video, and interactive features inside a magazine. I look forward to working with social media to have articles and complete issues travel around the world and reach more people than any print publication ever could. And I'm excited to give arts organizations and artists their opportunity to shine again.
Digital publishing also allows me to keep my costs down, which means I'm able to offer great advertising opportunities for extremely low costs. Ad prices will start at just $25 for two weeks advertising online or an 1/8 page ad in the digital magazine.
That's why I'm saying that we're all in this together. By helping me launch this new digital magazine and website, you're helping artists and art organizations throughout the state. Whether you are an artist or you enjoy the arts (going to a show, a concert, a poetry reading, etc.), you'll benefit from New Jersey Stage.
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Click here for info on the old magazine...
Why We're Doing This Campaign and
Where The Money Will Go
I know digital magazines are something new and not everyone will understand why we're abandoning print, but I believe digital publishing isn't the future, it's the present. Digital is the perfect complement to social media and is a great way to showcase the arts (from backstage interviews to music videos and photo galleries). Unfortunately, going digital has its own challenges. The main challenge is simply letting people know we exist.
When I published Upstage Magazine, I had dozens of those boxes on busy street corners where people could pick up an issue. That was incredible exposure 24 hours a day -- sort of like a little billboard in a downtown area. I can accomplish the same thing with online marketing. In fact, I believe I can build an audience in even less time with a digital magazine than a print one if enough marketing is done. So, marketing is where the majority of campaign money will go.
Content is the second place. As a writer, I believe in getting paid for my work and I want to pay writers as well. Contributions to this campaign will help me build a nice staff of freelance writers to keep the magazine content at a very high level. The better the content, the more readers we'll have.
The third area is with the various costs associated with digital publishing itself. These include special subscriptions to software, web hosting, credit card transaction subscriptions, and design costs. These costs may a fraction of what print publishing costs are, but they add up as well.
The Long Story
We have plenty of great incentives to offer fans of the arts from tickets to upcoming plays and concerts to autographed books and CDs to
New Jersey Stage t-shirts. There are special advertising packages for arts organizations and businesses as well. And if you're interested in hearing the whole story, please read on...
New Jersey and the arts go together… they really do. If there’s one thing New Jersey should be proud of it is the artists and dreamers who grow up and live throughout the state. We also have an impressive list of events taking place every week from small clubs and theaters to performing arts centers and basketball arenas, the problem is keeping up with it all. And it’s a growing problem…
Newspapers and magazines throughout the country are cutting staff in order to reduce expenses, and media within New Jersey is following suit as well. Unfortunately, coverage for the arts is usually among the first places cut. Two decades ago, newspapers regularly covered community theatre productions. Today, community theaters are simply ignored and theatre fans should consider themselves lucky if they find coverage of the State’s many Equity companies in the mainstream media. Coverage for theatre (and really all of the arts) is generally found among bloggers who once were paid reporters, but are now reporting simply as a hobby.
If professional theatre in a region near Broadway is difficult for the media to cover, what chance do you think dance companies or poetry readings or even rock and roll clubs featuring largely unknown, up-and-coming artists have for coverage? There are some media outlets that still have writers covering these beats on occasion, but far less often than before. The arts just isn’t profitable enough for the mainstream media to cover. Their pages cost too much to print to give coverage to venues and artists who don’t advertise with them.
This is why there is a need for
New Jersey Stage. I’m an old-school publisher who believes it is time to cut the cord with print. For roughly five years, I ran a print newspaper called
Upstage Magazine that covered the arts throughout Central New Jersey. We covered art, music, film, theatre, comedy, dance, poetry, literature and more. Many times, we provided the first coverage these artists ever received. In some cases, the only coverage. This was because we cared about the arts more than we cared about covering something that would guarantee an ad sale. In the end, this approach was vindicated with three Asbury Park Music Awards for Top Music Journalist and one for Top Music Publication, becoming the only publication other than
The Aquarian to ever receive that award.
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I still love the way a print magazine looks, but I believe the traditional business model doesn’t work anymore. I’ll miss the smell of fresh ink when I pick up the papers, but won’t miss breaking my back delivering the issues. After my time with
Upstage, I went on to cover the automotive industry but the arts organizations kept sending me their press releases and asking for coverage of their shows and events. So I started a website called NewJerseyStage.com and published their releases as a hobby. Every now and then when I had time I would add some features or artist interviews. Six years later, I noticed that the website was beginning to attract a very strong number of visitors — tens of thousands each month. I decided it was worth it to return to the arts and give it another shot. I’m essentially bringing back
Upstage as a purely digital magazine. And, I believe its time to go digital.
Digital magazines have many advantages over print. For one thing, they are a lot less expensive to produce; they’re far better for the environment, without physical copies to recycle or that get thrown away; they offer the use of audio, video, animation, and photo galleries; and, perhaps most importantly, they are the perfect complement to social media.
Just imagine someone reading an article they like in a digital magazine. With the click of a button, they can simply email a link or the actual magazine to a friend. They can post the link on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter and help spread the word to thousands instantly. Articles can literally circle the globe — within a few minutes, more people could read that article and get copies of the magazine than you could ever print!
One prominent entertainment writer from a major newspaper in the state recently told me, “It has always struck me that what New Jersey really needs is a good, all-purpose arts web site, with active social media engagement.”
That’s exactly what I’m trying to do with
New Jersey Stage. My goal is to create a monthly digital magazine and daily website that promotes the arts and utilizes social media in ways the mainstream media simply doesn’t understand. The website currently adds articles and news every day to go along with the largest arts event calendar in the state. Both the website and magazine have been designed with tablets and mobile phones in mind. Users can easily add events to their phone or computer calendar, email event listings and articles to friends, and read everything for free. That last part is something you may have noticed is changing within the mainstream media. More and more newspapers are allowing people to only read a few articles for free each month, hoping to force people into subscriptions. That’s the old school mentality and it is what is killing the industry. It also winds up hurting arts organizations who now have less readers than before.
Anybody that has ever worked in publishing has always known that the future was online and digital. Unfortunately, too many people in the industry continue to fight that inevitability. If you are a fan of the arts — if you enjoy going to live events or are an artist yourself — please make a contribution to this campaign.
New Jersey Stage has a plan to help promote the arts and thrive in the new media era. The website and magazine will offer advertising at rates that arts organizations can afford and provide the coverage they need. Every contribution is greatly appreciated and will help us successfully launch a new digital magazine that can change the way arts is covered in New Jersey. With your help, it will.
Other Ways You Can Help
Trust me, I know times are tough and I understand if you're unable to make a financial contribution right now. But if you believe in the concept behind New Jersey Stage please help spread the word. I'm proud to have so many great arts organizations donate tickets to us for this cause. It shows me that these organizations welcome our return.
Please post the link to this page on your Facebook or Twitter pages and tell your friends. And please, keep supporting the arts wherever you live...
