At a time when online media is all the rage, Cincinnati
CityBeat publisher John Fox is bucking the trend with the upcoming launch of A-Line, a women-centered print magazine featuring local food, fashion and culture.
CityBeat staffers have experience in magazine-style publications with numerous special, glossy inserts including its CityLiving guide and wedding issue. For the past several years, the weekly alt-paper has also done a special Women's issue. But A-Line takes those special sections to a new level; the magazine will publish once a month and have an identity that stands alone from CityBeat, Fox said.
"We'd been talking about doing a fashion and beauty special section," Fox said. "But the more we talked about it, the more we thought 'Why don't we just do this as a separate publication.'"
A-Line will be a bound, portable, 8" X 9" publication. It's designed to have a more fashionable look than the newsy CityBeat, Fox said.
"In recent years we've been doing special sections on glossy paper and we just like the way it looks. The photos are better, you can design it a lot better. It just looks great. Newspaper is good for what it is, but it's not the same as a magazine," he added.
A-Line will have one thing in common with CityBeat; it will be free. Distribution initially is planned for 200 sites including boutiques, hair salons, doctor's offices as well as Joseph Beth and Whole Foods stores, with a 10,000-copy run. Among planned features are local fashion, DIY projects, recipes, film, music, and more.
A-Line's first issue will launch in May, at its helm is editor Maija Zummo, a former CityBeat reporter who returned to the newspaper's downtown offices to oversee the magazine full-time. Fox also hired a full-time advertising and sales representative for the magazine.
A-Line is geared toward a wide age range and will feature local writers and subjects across varied walks of life, Zummo said.
"When you think about the way we set it up, it's not for a particular age group but instead for a type of women: eclectic, crafty and edgy," she said.
The magazine will also host regular gatherings at local restaurants and hot spots to create a network of givers and to raise awareness of local charities and causes.
Want to know more? A-Line is working to create some pre-launch buzz with
Facebook and
Twitter pages, as well as a
Pandora internet radio station
Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: John Fox, CityBeat and A-Line publisher, Maija Zummo, A-Line editor
You can follow Feoshia on twitter
@feoshiawrites
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