Former Newsweek president Mark Edmiston is launching a new digital suite of publications designed for iPads and other mobile devices called Nomad Editions.
Edmiston, a veteran New York City magazine executive, wants to create a digital-only subscription-based system that equitably compensates reporters and editors, he told Wired.com in an interview.
With Nomad Editions, Edmiston is laying down a marker in the debate over paid vs. free content.
"If you want what's in a Nomad Edition, the only way to get it is to buy a Nomad Edition," Edmiston said. "We're not giving it away for free."
"I was always on the business side," Edmiston added.
After graduating from Wesleyan in 1965, Edmiston, now 67, joined Time Inc. as a trainee. He worked in advertising copy and circulation before eventually moving to Tokyo with Life Magazine. Edmiston later joined Newsweek, where he worked from 1972 until 1986 in various senior positions.
In 1992, Edmiston started a new career on Wall Street, co-founding a firm called The Jordan Edmiston Group.
For the last 18 years, Edmiston has been a media investment banker, mostly in the magazine industry. In one of his more notable deals, he sold Inc. and Fast Company to Joe Mansueto, the Chicago billionaire and founder of Morningstar.
For Nomad Editions, Edmiston has raised $1.5 million from friends, relatives, angel investors, and even his own broker, in three rounds.
The new media company will initially release four publications: Real Eats (food), Wide Screen (movies), Wave Lines (surfing) and BodySmart (health & fitness). The publications will be led by a flagship editor and will feature the work of freelance journalists. Traditional links to other digital content will not be allowed.
Edmiston said the company has devised a system where its freelance writers will earn as much as 30 percent of subscription revenue per edition per week, while editors will make 5 percent on top of their staff salary. Edmiston says that writers can make anywhere from $40,000 to $50,000 a year, and editors up to $70,000.
Nomad Editions will not cover news, Edmiston said.
"We're going to let Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Murdoch and all those guys do that," he said. "We'll let them compete. They have resources we don't have."
The concept of launching as a subscription-only iPad app is shared by News Corp's "The Daily," whose January launch was postponed for a few weeks.
Nomad enters the nascent space for iPad periodicals with plenty of competition from established magazine brands migrating from print, including Conde Nast (which owns Wired.com). Nomad will charge $6 for "at least" one title for three months, which is comparable to theprices charged at Zinio for established magazines.
Despite that, and the fact that Nomad Editions is "not even close" to being profitable and won't be for at least 12 months, Edmiston doesn't seem concerned. The veteran media banker appears to have built a base of investors that should be able to support Nomad Editions well into the future.
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