Virtual Pants

In a post today, Marco Arment addresses TypeEngine, a Newsstand publishing platform launching soon. You can think of TypeEngine as WordPress for Newsstand apps. It gives writers the opportunity to start an iOS magazine without the need to develop an app. In the post, Marco argues that the app itself doesn’t matter much:

The Magazine isn’t successful because I have red links, centered sans-serif headlines, footnote popovers, link previews, and a white table-of-contents sidebar that slides over the article from the left with a big shadow even on iPhone. It isn’t successful because authors write in Markdown, the CMS gracefully supports multi-user editing, we preview issues right on our devices as we assemble them, and any edits we make after publication are quickly and quietly patched into the issue right as people are reading it. Very little of this matters.

It’s succeeding because Glenn, the authors, the illustrators, the photographers, and I pour a lot of time and money into the content, relentlessly publishing roughly two original illustrations, four photos, and 10,000 polished words every two weeks.

Marco is correct that content is what matters most (excellent humblebragging, by the way). But great content alone isn’t the secret to The Magazine’s success. As he notes later in the post, the audience is also important. And the Magazine had a huge advantage here.

The Magazine is the rich kid of the Newsstand magazine world. It was privileged from the start. Launched by an internet celebrity and touted by his internet celebrity friends, the first issue had articles by great writers like Jason Snell and Michael Lopp. It had an audience before it launched and was guaranteed a baseline level of success out of the gate. And that initial success is what enabled Marco to hire a great editor, pay print-competitive rates to attract print-quality writers, and to integrate illustrations and photos. I doubt any TypeEngine magazine will have these advantages, despite the quality of content.

There is no doubt the continued success of The Magazine hinges on the tireless efforts of Marco and his team to create great content. But great content isn’t the only factor in The Magazine’s success, or the success of any other Newsstand magazine.