The past week saw another project that I find very intriguing. Linked to by half the western world, it's The Magazine from Marco Arment.
What's intriguing about it? It's another small, targeted publication. 2012 has seen many a publication like this and I love the trend. Even further, The Magazine is also a curated effort of sorts, with Marco doing the work of coordinating writers and ensuring the content fits the audience.
I've spent a lot of thought on those two subjects this year, and I'm very excited where the world of publishing is headed. There are two main factors involved.
The curation is about discovery. RSS & Twitter has been my bread and butter for 5+ years when it comes to discovery things of interest to me. I follow people I like, people who interest me, and people who have proven themselves to produce or find, or in the best cases, both, great content. This year I've started to enjoy email newsletters of a similar vein, With Links being a great example (the fact that I now work for a company powering email newsletters has only heightened my interest in this format). What I like most about this trend is my decreased time with Twitter, and smaller amounts of discovery. If the quality is there, I'm thrilled to be weaned down on my quantity.
As well, many online acquaintances have created publications this year (books, e-books, iBooks, PDF — the format matters not). The focus here is usually a deeper look into a particular subject, with an emphasis on quality writing. Again, these are people who have proven themselves in the past, usually in the format of a blog. Taking their writing to a slightly different format excites me.
The Magazine is a nice package of both aspects. Marco's curation leads to my discovery. What's not to like?
