As you know, magazines are published in a variety of formats and have a variety of content. Often, though, some aspect of a given magazine is fixed or limited. For example, there might be a restriction on the number of articles that will be published each issue (which could affect total number of pages published each issue). Or, the number of pages might be fixed to suit special presses, and whatever combination of articles that fits in those pages gets published.

There is something of a dilemma that a publisher can experience in today's world of increasing population. On the plus side, more people means more potential customers. And more people means more authors writing articles, which allows the cream of the crop to be picked for each issue. On the minus side, it really does happen that more good articles might be received than can fit in an issue. What to do?

Note that technical journals have long had this problem, and the typical answer has been to put the articles in a queue, to wait however-long it takes, to get published.

Well, I think I have a better answer, and that is what this "Magazine of the Future" Idea is about. Basically, if so much good material is available, then suppose the publisher simply publishes more often....

Let's consider an ordinary monthly publishing schedule. Each issue is marked with the Month and the Year. Also, typically, the month that the latest issue hits the newsracks tends to be the month before the actual month indicated on the magazine. Well, just extend the practice!

Each time enough material is acquired to assemble an issue, send it to the presses right then and there. AND put the appropriate next month/date on it! So, suppose it is March and the April issues are arriving, as is normal. Most customers will get their copies within a week or two, say by the beginning of April. Well, let's suppose that the May issue is now ready, a week early. Send it out!

In six months or so, when it is October, the latest issue being published might have February-of-next-year's date on it. Kind of like a gift from the future. Except you still have to pay for it, of course. Your magazine subscription might run out sooner than you expected, but, hey! --you received all the issues you paid for!
-- Vernon, Mar 07 2011

• And it's actually pretty useful to have great articles which you're not going to publish in your current issue, so you can give readers an incentive to buy the next issue.
-- hippo, Mar 07 2011


Advertising would be completely hopeless. I would expect next year's magazine to have next-year's products in it.
-- RayfordSteele, Mar 07 2011


Ads for next years products are already commonplace; we call them vaporware.
-- mouseposture, Mar 08 2011


It used to be Popular Science.

I cancelled them, what's the new one?
-- Zimmy, Mar 08 2011


//we call them vaporware//

Vernon's ideas could be called hot air ware
-- neelandan, Mar 08 2011



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