The Oldest Publication, The Newest Technology

The two publications have a lot in common: a long, unbroken legacy (one has just celebrated its 100 year anniversary; the other has been continuously published for 220 years); the focus on the American values of hard work, native intelligence, cleverness, and heroism; and, for every issue, literally millions of readers.

And you probably remember each of them from your own childhood. I know I remember both from mine.

But Boys Life magazine and The Old Farmer’s Almanac have widely divergent philosophies when it comes to integrating digital into their publishing strategies.

I mentioned in a recent blog post that Boys Life’s publisher, Warren Young, is adamant that his publication’s commitment is to print—for its lasting nature, for its pass-along value, and for the value of those attributes to both advertisers and readers. And Boys Life has no intention, in the near term, of diluting that value by diverting some of their readers to a digital version of the publication.

Sherin Pierce, publisher of The Old Farmer’s Almanac, has a very different approach, and she invited me to her offices in Dublin, NH to share it with me.

The articles and ads in The Old Farmer’s Almanac are vintage. Pierce showed me long range weather reports, articles about how to make do with items found around the house, a sidebar on how to write an old fashioned letter, and  ads for remedies for aching muscles—all with the trademark OFA voice and look, all culled from recent issues. 

And all displayed on the preview screen for the Kindle Fire.

“Our approach is to be where our readers are, and to deliver our content to them in the format they want it,” she said. “So we are currently offering or will soon offer versions of The Old Farmer’s Almanac on the Kindle, the Nook, your web browser, and in your app store.”

That marriage of the oldest of print publications with the newest technology can be found on the OFA’s website (www.almanac.com), where you can pick up classic Almanac-style lore, such as how potatoes are not only nutritious, but also useful to have around the home. On this fact- and fun-filled site you can look at current and long-range weather forecasts; you can get the folklore tip of the day (“ice in November brings mud in December”); you can find out what the weather was on a particular day in history (this date in 1796 was so cold that the ink froze in Thomas Jefferson’s pen); you can ask a gardening question (and get it answered); you can plan a wedding (make haste to do so if you are a bachelor—you’ll have to check out the site to find out why); and you can find out everything you want to know about your birthday.

Also  the Almanac site has an online “General Store” with “a good deal of good deals”.  There they offer the Original Bakewell Cream with its classic biscuit recipe—and a free 2012 Almanac Recipe Calendar with every order.

What, I wonder, will all this do to sales of the OFA’s print edition? And, in keeping with the concerns Boys Life has expressed, how will it affect its print advertisers?

If this year is any indication, nothing but good will come of it for either the offline retailers or the advertisers. While sales are down all over for (practically)everyone else, The Old Farmer’s Almanac is having one of the best years for newsstand sales in its history. “If we continue to give our readers what they want, if we stay true to our mission, and if we make our content available where, when, and how our readers want it, we are doing our job,” Pierce said.

And while there is a wealth of information available for free on the OFA’s website, including a daily podcast from the editors, the OFA itself, digital or print, is not available for free in any format.

Although at a cover price of under $6.00, it’s still a bargain. “From our pricing standpoint as well,” said Pierce, “we keep our readers in mind.”