Magazines Ain’t Going Anywhere!

Neither are books. And apparently, neither am I.

By Gloria Fonseca

I have some terrible news for everyone who has been predicting the death of print for the past twenty years.

We’re still here.

Books are still selling. Bookstores are opening. People are buying magazines. And apparently, despite having the entire internet in their pockets, human beings still enjoy holding something that doesn’t require a charger.

Shocking, I know.

I started my first magazine in 2021. Yes, during COVID. When businesses were closing, everyone was glued to Zoom, and the world was convinced that everything was going digital.

Naturally, I decided to start a print magazine.

Excellent timing, Gloria.

Five years later, I have McLean Living, Great Falls Living, and I’m launching my third, Nova Living.

Clearly, I didn’t learn my lesson.

But here’s what I’ve learned instead.

Not everything old is outdated. And not everything new is better.

Every few months, someone announces the next big thing. A new platform, a new algorithm, a new way to reach people. We’re told to pivot, adapt, reinvent ourselves, and preferably do it while filming a 30-second video with trending audio.

I’m exhausted just writing that sentence.

Don’t misunderstand me. I love technology. I use it every day. Digital media is an important part of my business. I’m even considering starting a Substack, which is wonderfully ironic because I would essentially be launching another publication to explain why publications aren’t dying.

But I refuse to believe that the future requires us to abandon everything that worked before.

A magazine sitting on someone’s coffee table has a different life from a social media post.

You don’t scroll past it in two seconds. You might pick it up again tomorrow. Your husband might read it. Your neighbor might borrow it. Someone might recognize a friend, discover a business, or finally learn the name of the woman they see every morning at the coffee shop.

And for those of us who live in McLean, Great Falls, Vienna, and the surrounding communities, that’s what makes local publishing so interesting.

We live surrounded by fascinating people, but half the time we barely know our neighbors.

We know what someone in Los Angeles had for breakfast, but not the story behind the business three doors down.

Something seems a little backward about that.

Of course, publishing isn’t all beautiful photographs and interesting conversations. There are printing bills, deadlines, distribution challenges, and the occasional moment when I wonder why I didn’t choose a business involving fewer pages.

But then someone tells me they kept an issue because their family was featured. Or that they discovered a local business through our pages. Or that they actually sat down and read the magazine.

And I remember why I started.

I don’t think print and digital are enemies. I think they’re perfectly capable of living together, provided we stop insisting that one has to kill the other.

Which brings me to something I want to say to fellow business owners.

Please stop being so afraid of not being trendy.

You don’t have to dance on Instagram to be relevant. You don’t have to turn every thought into a reel. And you certainly don’t have to abandon a good business model because someone with a ring light told you it’s dead.

Use the technology. Learn the tools. Pay attention to what’s changing.

“But don’t confuse popularity with permanence.“

Gloria Fonseca

Some things last because people genuinely enjoy them.

Books. Magazines. Dinner with friends. Handwritten notes. A good conversation without someone checking their phone every eleven seconds.

And yes, even a beautifully printed advertisement.

So here I am, five years after launching a magazine during a global pandemic, preparing to launch number three.

Perhaps I’m stubborn. Perhaps I’m old-fashioned.

Or perhaps there is still a market for things people can actually touch.

My money is on the last one.

And if I do start that Substack, I promise not to announce that email is the future and magazines are dead.

I have printing bills to pay.