Also known as SMS marketing, marketing text messages often advertise a sale or limited-time offer for consumer products. Some of them read as spam messages — and some actually are.

Unlike marketing emails — many of which often are never opened, let alone read — is opened within a few minutes of receiving it. Given this accessibility, it can be a great tool to reach your audience, especially with time-sensitive information.

One of the reasons SMS is such a beneficial channel for marketers is because it’s a non-traditional one. Advertisers face a lot of competition in traditional marketing channels. Imagine an interstate highway crowded with billboards or a website with a barrage of pop-up ads. It’s easy for advertising messages to get lost in that noise. In contrast, text message marketing is like having the only billboard on the road or the only banner ad on the web page. There’s a lot less pressure and a lower chance that your messages will get lost in the noise.

Text marketing can be as simple as short updates sent every so often, while others are sophisticated back-and-forth exchanges based on keywords. No matter the scope, all campaigns require an investment in a text message marketing service or platform to get your message out.

This form of marketing is most often used to drive sales through creating urgency. But they can also be beneficial tools for publishers and associations to engage their members, subscribers or even prospects. When used effectively, SMS marketing is well worth the time and money.

. . .

Here are a few ways you can utilize text marketing outside of sales:

• News updates or quarterly reports
• Quick feedback from your subscribers
• Promoting upcoming live events
• Updates on new content or products

The mechanics of text marketing depends on the magnitude of your efforts. For example, on the simpler side of things, an industry association could send users periodic news updates or crowdsource questions for their webinar or podcast.

In contrast, a pet magazine could text weekly tips (along with cute photos) for specific pets that drive website traffic. This platform could also have a service to answer frequently asked pet-related questions with preset answers that are triggered based on particular keywords.

Ultimately, the breadth and depth of your text message marketing depend on the audience, your relationship with them and the value you provide. While it’s not for every publishing company or association, text marketing can be a very effective medium to engage your audience.

Before investing in text marketing, here are a few things to think about:

Relevance — Text messaging is a highly personal platform. As such, irrelevant content that misses the mark could damage your relationship with subscribers. That is why it is essential to first make sure there’s demand for your platform to engage them on this medium. If you have distinct audiences, it is critical to adjust and personalize your messaging as much as possible.

Transparency — Be clear in explaining why you’re sending these messages. If your audience doesn’t trust or understand them, they will opt out.  Transparency also helps reduce the chance your messages will be interpreted as spam. Identify yourself, your organization and explain the purpose of your messages. Appearing as spam will not only make your customer opt out, but it will harm your brand overall.

Provide Value — This should go without saying, but it’s too important not to emphasize. As an unconventional touchpoint with your audience, a conventional marketing strategy doesn’t play. The clearest value propositions are sales or special offers but depending on your organization, you can also provide value through other means such as information or timely updates.

. . .

Like any other marketing medium, thinking outside the box about your offerings will bring the best results. But don’t lose sight of your core message and brand. Your text marketing should be relevant, transparent and provide value. By keeping these elements in mind as you construct your SMS strategy, your organization can build stronger relationships with your subscribers — to benefit your brand and bottom line.

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Print is an important offering that can forge strong relationships with your audience. At the same time, it has a cost that can be a hurdle for a new publication with an unproven audience.

That’s where reverse publishing can help media organizations build up to a successful print launch. In a general sense, reverse publishing relies on ensuring audience demand with digital platforms before pursuing a print product. It can involve a brand-new publication seeking to organically build a following before launching a print product or an established platform making forays into a new niche. The main benefit of a digital-to-print strategy requires less upfront capital than the conventional model.

One recent example is , launched by Meredith this spring. The print publication is a companion to , which was established last year as a digital brand publishing high-quality pet-care content. The platforms capitalize on the growing popularity of pet ownership and pet pampering in the U.S. own at least one kind of pet, and spending on pets will reach this year, up nearly 10% from two years ago.

“Paw Print is a clear progression toward serving Meredith’s pet consumers with desired content in a print product,” George Baer III, VP, Managing Director of Foundry 360 @ Meredith, told FIPP.

. . .

Three steps to succeed with reverse publishing

Reverse publishing will look slightly different in each instance. But there are three general steps that all entities employing the model take.

1. Find your footing with web traffic

Reverse publishing succeeds when brands have established digital audiences that will become an immediate group of print subscribers. Your web traffic is the best tool to understand this audience. Go beyond the big picture to focus on the data behind your content — both to understand what there’s demand for and to determine the potential for investment in additional mediums. This analysis should involve not only looking at your overall website traffic, but also the traffic to individual stories. Is the successful content suited to a digital medium, or is it best in print? If not, how would it have to change — and would your audience support that change?

2. Build a social media following

It doesn’t matter how awesome your content is if no one notices it, and that won’t help you make a case for investing in a print product. That’s why it’s valuable to have a strong social media presence. The spends several hours each day on social media. Meet them where they are, and they may follow you to new mediums. Social media pages are a great way to build support and anticipation for your print launch. Furthermore, they are a great place to gather feedback on the types of content your followers want.

3. Find a balance between print and digital in your content strategy

Once the statistical and social media support is there, it’s important to outline the relationship between your print and digital platforms and stick to it. Bonus points for transparency in telling your readers what you hope to accomplish on each. There is some overlap, but oftentimes print and digital audiences are mostly distinct. Thus, your content strategy must evolve to incorporate your print publication. Consider less time-sensitive quick hit stories in favor of more long-form content, graphics and striking photography that benefit from being in print — and is something your audience will keep and pick up again.

. . .

Print and digital succeed when they work in tandem with one another. While print is increasingly viewed as a place to showcase the best content you have, digital platforms are important to build your audience and have engage them on a regular basis. A print product can not only support your current audience but also help you expand into new circles.

The reverse publishing model is one way to make your investment in print a safe and secure win.

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A media kit should provide everything a news organization or advertiser needs to jumpstart a conversation with you. It’s an important first impression that should outline the key facts, figures, and background information. Your media kit should be available somewhere on your website, and you should also have it in compressed folder form to email out with press releases. The trick is to balance having enough information to generate interest without overwhelming your audience with extraneous information.

A media kit should also reflect the identity of the brand. For example, a craft or cooking magazine should employ more creative fonts and designs for their media kit. On the other hand, a medical association should be more straightforward, though that doesn’t mean there’s no room for creativity. While all media kits are unique, they should all have the same basic information.

Going through the time and effort to put together a professional media kit is well worth the effort. And chances are it’s less about creating elements from scratch than it is about organizing the information you already have.

What should a media kit include?

While some organizations have a need for printed media kits, these days media kits are mostly groups of digital files — images, video and text. Every media kit must have an introduction to your organization, its key values and a pre-approved boilerplate bio for organizations to use. Your “About Us” page can be a good starting point for building this boilerplate information if you don’t already have it. It may also be beneficial to have a fact sheet outlining common questions, bios of executives and even testimonials.

No matter what information you choose to include, your media kit should portray the brand in the best possible way. Do you have the largest circulation magazine in your niche? Have you been ranked highly among competitors by an industry group? Include the verifiable statistics that set your organization apart.

Lastly, contact information is crucial. Remember, the goal of the media kit is to start a conversation. Make sure they know who to reach out to for more information.

For Press

The better your media kit, the easier it is for news organizations to report on your organization — and the less likely you are to receive a barrage of last-minute information request emails.

To help tell your story, your media kit can also include links to previous media coverage and press releases your organization has released.

While the media kit page on your website can include a lot more information, you should also have a one-sheet or backgrounder that you can attach to emails, especially for news organizations. This should include boilerplate information as well as addresses, media contacts and any other information needed to report on your organization.

Beyond written content, it’s also important to have professional high-resolution images — from your brand logo and products to executive headshots and more. Quality is the key. A news report framing your company as innovative becomes ironic if the images they use from your media kit are grainy and low-quality. Slick media kits will even include photos pre-sized for major social media platforms.

For Advertisers

For media organizations and publishers, the primary media kit audience is often advertisers. In these instances, promotion is even more important.

The goal is still similar for advertisers: to jumpstart a conversation. But if your media kit is primarily there to lure advertisers, its content should be tailored accordingly.

Audience information is essential. Provide the key audience information for all platforms that might attract advertisers, from your website and print publication to your social media pages. If possible, go beyond numbers to include demographic information as well.

The more focused audience information you have, the better you can attract advertisers. You could even outline what you can and can’t accommodate from an advertising perspective. At the same time, it’s important to not get too deep into the weeds here or give away too much information; a media kit is more for public relations than journalistic transparency.

No matter what you ultimately include in your media kit, all of the information should be easily accessible on your website and updated often. A media kit with inaccurate or outdated information can do more harm than good.

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Despite some notable exits, the print catalog remains a critical sales touchpoint for many companies. But that doesn’t mean that a catalog from 2001 will work in 2021.

While catalogs are still valuable sales tools, their function in the purchasing funnel is different. Purchasing habits have changed drastically in the past few years — trends exacerbated by the effects of the pandemic. No longer are catalogs a one-stop sales document. E-commerce has never been more popular across many B2B and B2C segments. As such, most catalogs no longer function entirely as product listings, but they are still an important touch point.

These days, successful catalogs are experiential. They immerse the audience in the brand’s story. Print catalogs are an intimate way to articulate your brand values and engage users without distraction.

Whether your brand is decades old or just getting established, make sure your catalog supports several levels of the sales funnel with these considerations.

• Provide an experience. What does it mean to create an experience with your catalog? On the most basic level, it means having something different than your website. Go beyond product descriptions. Use creative writing and photography to bring your audience in. Better yet, crowdsource photography from your audience to form an experience that transcends the physical product. Overall, the goal is to create an experience that helps your audience envision themselves as customers. Providing an experience begins with the cover. Set the tone with a striking cover photo or get creative with embossing or hot foil. No matter what you choose for your cover, the content has to build on that experience on every page.
• Tell a story. Storytelling is an inherent element to providing your readers with an experience. Your customers may love your catalog. But chances are they aren’t making purchases directly from it. It’s still important that your product lines drive the publication, and equally important is the story you’re telling about your brand as a whole. From photography and page design to product descriptions and even the physical catalog itself, every element articulates something about your brand. Take control of that story. Carefully consider how these individual elements interact with one another to create a cohesive story. Part of telling a better story may even be breaking out your catalog into separate, more focused catalogs. This would allow for more focused stories that better engage your audience segments.
• Evoke emotion. Print catalogs are an intimate way to connect with your customers, especially in comparison to digital marketing channels. Studies show that readers remember and retain more from print. But what are they going to feel after reading your catalog? If it’s a monotonous experience, not much. Use your catalog to create a feeling related to your brand and its products. Construct your catalog to evoke a specific emotion related to your offerings. Appeal to your audience’s feelings to help them envision themselves as your customer. It isn’t just about pushing towards an immediate purchase, either. It’s also valuable to cultivate a positive feeling around your brand that builds over time.
• Make it multichannel. While it’s important for your catalog to go beyond just what’s on your website, it shouldn’t be entirely distinct from the experience they have on your website or social media pages. If the brand identity developed by your catalog is at odds with your website, it can possibly do more harm than good. All of your marketing materials, print and otherwise, should be interconnected. Think of your print catalog as part of a larger conversation between your marketing materials and the customer. Help them navigate these channels and move closer to the moment of purchase.
• Create urgency. Without pop-up windows, catalogs often offer a better user experience than websites. In this same sense, it can be more difficult to create urgency within a catalog. The goal is to find a balance between developing your brand and pushing the audience towards a purchase. Using Inserts or tip-ins with special offers can do just that. But urgency isn’t just about pushing towards a purchase, it’s also about getting customers to your website to continue engaging your brand. Make it easy for them to get there. Include your website and even social media handles as a footer on every page and even in product copy. Get creative and create urgency by breaking the conventional catalog mold.

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There’s so much more that goes into email marketing beyond the text itself. Conceptualizing the campaign and building your contact lists are challenges in their own right. But all that effort is wasted if your emails aren’t getting opened. That’s where optimizing the text and subject line is so important.

These days, it’s harder to generate engagement through digital channels such as email marketing due to pandemic-related digital fatigue. At the same time, your audience has never been more connected to their inboxes. There’s still plenty of value to derive from email marketing campaigns, so long as your emails are written in a way that engages, interests and excites.

Every email campaign or one-off marketing message has their own purposes and goals. But there are universal principles to email marketing every email should follow. Your emails and campaigns have different functions, but when it comes to copy, they should all adhere to the same principles.

Before you launch an email campaign, it’s important to set goals based on key performance indicators such as open rate, click through rate and bounce rate. Look at all the data compiled from previous campaigns to set a standard. There are also some baselines out there to help gauge your success. Conduct some research related to your specific industry about the ideal click through, open and bounce rates. Many email marketing services offer data that go way beyond the basics, such as tracking which parts of your email are getting clicks and how long they spend reading it. Leverage this data to improve the success of future campaigns.

Follow the Three Cs for Body Copy

When writing your marketing emails, keep these three Cs in mind: Be concise, be conversational and build toward a call to action (CTA). All rules are made to be broken, but these principles provide a foundation for writing your marketing emails.

Be Concise: Don’t pack a plethora of sales pitches into one email. Establish the problem your target audience faces, show why your product or service solves it and then move to your call to action. Your audience is likely skimming the email anyway — make it easy for them to get through it. Your subject line should also be short. But short isn’t synonymous with bland. Use strong verbs and vivid descriptors to make them stand out. You can do the same with bold, underlined or italicized text. Remember, you’re not the only one trying to catch their eye. Think outside the box to capture their attention.

Be Conversational: Your messaging must be as conversational as it is concise. Emails are an intimate way to engage your audience; it’s essentially a one-on-one conversation with your audience. The tone should reflect that. Unless it’s for effect, maintain a straightforward and conversational tone throughout your email. Would you shout at a potential customer in person? Then maybe refrain from excessive use of the caps lock key. In this same sense, it’s best to avoid long-winded monologues and complex sentences. Break up any paragraphs more than three lines long.

Build in a Call to Action: It doesn’t matter how successful your messaging is if it doesn’t push your audience toward taking a specific action. Whether it’s to take advantage of a time-sensitive sale, speak with a sales representative or read a blog, every email you write should build toward a specific action. This often comes at the end of the email, though you may even consider inserting your call to action into your subject line to boost opens. The best CTA’s create urgency — though not every single one necessarily should.

Rules are made to be broken, and that’s no different when it comes to email marketing. Some of the most compelling copy completely breaks the mold. While this can be effective on occasion, the one rule to generally adhere to is consistency. From timing to voice and visuals, consistency is important for your brand. Erratic messaging or marketing emails that are all over the place might do more harm than good, and they make it impossible to create contrast when you want to change things up.

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Our conversation with Mr. Magazine ranged from how publishers can build better business models to account for declining ad revenue, to the booming trend of bookazines, in-depth special edition magazines on a single topic, and beyond. The following conversation has been edited for content and clarity.

The historical moment we’re currently living in is changing the world around us. What will the magazine industry look like in the next five to ten years?

There are only two people who can tell you the future: God and a fool. I don’t pretend to be God, and I hope I’m not a fool. Who knows what the future will be? Throughout recent history, we have seen a lot of events that have impacted the magazine industry, but nothing like the COVID-19 pandemic. Stores shut down, bookstores and newsstands disappeared — all the vehicles that magazines depend on to reach their audience disappeared with the exception of the post office. That’s one reason why subscriptions have seen a hike of anywhere from 15% to 30%. It’s also because these days people are bombarded by information but have less understanding, so they want somebody to explain, to curate, to vet, to provide a trustworthy conversation with them.

Advertisers also vanished. It was a double whammy. That’s why we’ve seen a shift in terms of the business model. A magazine that has been published for 20 years like O, The Oprah Magazine, changed its circulation to quarterly with a cover price of $15.99. This is more than what you paid to get 12 issues when it was a monthly magazine. Magazines are going to focus much more on their audience and get away from the business of selling the audience to the advertiser. And instead, they will get back to selling content to the audience. But if magazines are only in the content-providing business, we’re dead, because there’s so much content out there. To survive, it must be an experience-making business that feels like an exchange between trusted friends.

Do you think the shift towards relying more on consumer revenue than advertising revenue is the new reality for magazines, or is advertising just facing short-term, pandemic-related challenges?

I wish I could say it’s something that sticks. We’re seeing it implemented more than ever before. But I recall back during the 2008 recession, magazine executives were saying we have to change the business model and be in the business of circulation and depending more on the consumer. Then the minute the economy started picking up, they went back to their old ways. But this time because of the magnitude of the impact I think it will be different, and because there are so many other outlets for advertisers like emails and text messaging. Advertisers know how to reach their customers; they don’t need a third party to sell their stuff.

There’s a major change taking place, and whether it shifts to bookazines or quarterly magazines, there is less dependence on advertisers and more dependence on people reaching into their pockets and spending up to $15 for a magazine. So, the content of the magazine better be experience-making content that is timely yet timeless — it’s not going to make a difference whether I read the magazine today, tomorrow or next month. That’s where we’re going to be seeing the big change; magazines are going to be the only non-disposable media platform.

Are bookazines the future of magazines, or just a trend?

From a content point of view maybe, but there is still a need for that continuous relationship with the audience. Magazines are love affairs and long-lasting relationships; people want that trusted friend more. Magazines are the original influencers. People used to say, “I saw this in Life Magazine,” or “I read this in Better Homes and Gardens.” It was the brand that carried that influence, and we need that. While bookazines are flooding the market, what’s helping us is that we’re learning that people are willing to pay for good content that they are interested in. So, there’s nothing wrong with me launching a quarterly mountain bike magazine like , for example, which just came out with a cover price of $8. Niche publications like these are numerous, but they have the same goal in mind: I’m providing you with curated, vetted and trusted content, but you have to pay for it.

What would you tell a publisher considering a magazine launch in 2021?

When you look at history, some of the best magazines in this country launched during bad times and became popular after them. Whether it’s or , they came following something major that happened. It will take you at least one to two years to establish the magazine, and it’s much better to do it when times are not good, because when the times change and become better, then your magazine is already established. That’s why we’re seeing so many new titles these days, including over 30 so far this year.

Is there anything you wish magazine publishers would do differently?

They have to accept the fact that print is here to stay, but also that print is changing; you can’t do the same magazine you did 10 years ago. There’s no problem with print because study after study shows us that people comprehend more, engage more and remember more with a printed product than digital. We don’t have a print problem; we have a business problem.

Some magazine media outlets are launching new ways to generate revenue, such as doing all kinds of membership deals that go beyond just getting a subscription to a magazine. The smart publishers are finding new ways to create revenue, but they are still using print as the base. Look at , they have a television program, podcasts and bookazines. But no matter what, the printed weekly edition is going to be with us so long as there is Us. I’ve never given up on print; I’ve given up on the traditional business model.

What role should print companies play in supporting magazine customers?

Education is very important.  If magazines see that print is the only non-disposal media we have now, they will realize that you can’t print it on tissue paper. You have to be very creative with the printing, and in terms of ensuring that when you get that magazine you’re paying $15 for, it better feel worth that amount of money. There are so many different ways we can print today, especially now with digital printing. I’m getting some magazines they print only 500 of, but they are collectable or collectibles. Some even have hardcovers. Printers should think out of the box, and they should think they are creating a luxury item. There is no such thing as a disposable item because the price is over $10. It’s not about cutting costs when it comes to printing, and that’s where the education has to play a role. You are in the business of creating a collectible item.

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The annual competition, hosted by PIA MidAmerica, recognizes outstanding examples of technical achievements in innovation and print production. Independent judges select from hundreds of entries across numerous categories to give out awards for Best of Show, Best of Division, Specialty, Best of Category awards and Awards of Recognition

Five books and three magazines from ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ earned accolades for their excellence.

Dungeons & Dragons’ Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden (Alternate Cover) was named Best of Category among hardcover digital printing books.

In the hardcover offset books category, Grand 1984 Opera House was also named Best of Category. In that same category, both Brandon Dunes and Living Tree Devotional were honored with Awards of Recognition.

Rounding out the award-winning books was Black: A Celebration of Culture, which took home an award of recognition in the soft cover offset books category.

A pair of ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ magazines also earned Best of Category honors. SOAR Magazine: The Holiday Edition and the Fall 2020 edition of V Magazine were named Best of Category for sheetfed magazines, periodicals & publications. In addition, the Model Portfolios edition of Citywire won an Award of Recognition.

All four of ¶¶Ňń¶ĚĘÓƵ’s Best of Category honorees are in consideration for the Best in Show award. The winner will be revealed at the GraphEx Awards Gala on June 10 in Riverside, Missouri.

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We’re continually finding ways to reduce our carbon footprint and build a more environmentally friendly operation.

Why is that so important to us?

Like many manufacturing processes, printing has historically incorporated and emitted environmental pollutants. Some emissions are unavoidable. But we believe that it’s important to do all we can to minimize our impact on the environment.

Creating more sustainable and renewable practices isn’t just important to our values. It’s also required by large corporations for which we’re a national supplier.

A greener mindset doesn’t have to come at the cost of creating value for customers. We believe that printing can be done in a way that both is profitable and has a minimized impact on our environment.

Recycling

Recycling is the foundation for reducing our environmental impact. It plays an important role in both the inputs and outputs of our printing process.

We incorporate recycled material into our printing process whenever possible. For example, all the boards used to make hardcover book covers are made with recycled materials. In addition, much of our packaging is made with recycled fiber which incorporates at least 35% post-consumer material.

The printing and binding processes produce plenty of scrap material. We’re careful to collect, sort and recycle all of it, from paper to aluminum plates. Each year we recycle nearly 1-million pounds of aluminum and 30-million pounds of paper across all facilities.

Responsible Sourcing

We’re also committed to harvesting paper in a sustainable manner. We have been members of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) since 2008, and Chain of Custody Certified with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

These independent organizations protect our forests and ensure that trees are harvested in a manner that is sustainable and improves the overall health of forests. It may seem ironic that a printing company can actually help forests around the world, but through our partnership with these organizations, we’re able to actually improve the health of forests over time. Responsible logging reduces the risk of carbon dioxide-producing wildfires and allows trees to thrive with more nutrients.

In recent years, our Purchasing Department also made major strides in finding materials with a smaller Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) footprint. Among the biggest steps we’ve made is adopting the use of vegetable-based inks. Non-petroleum inks such as those made with soy or corn are safer for the environment than traditional inks in offset printing. These vegetable-based inks also help in the recycling process because they can be more easily removed from paper during de-inking.

A More Sustainable Operation

Our commitment doesn’t only focus on the inputs of the printing process; it also extends to the entire operation itself.

From an equipment standpoint, we have made investments in cleaner, more efficient presses. When reinvesting in our web press offering, we installed a Goss Sunday web press, a low emission press whose atmospheric exhaust is mostly water vapor. The Sunday press is also designed to reduce paper waste with shorter paper cutoffs and fewer make-ready impressions.

We also utilize the latest technology to reduce leftover material through proper planning and efficient equipment. We plan tighter spoilage allowances, mix fewer pounds of spot color ink and plan for the minimum sheet size for each job.

Over the past 10 years, our efforts to create a greener operation has led to a 60% reduction in volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions, and a 99% reduction in hazardous air pollutant emissions.

A Greener Future

As part of our commitment to the environment, we’re constantly seeking new ways to reduce our energy use. Over the years, this has led to things like more energy efficient lights in our facilities and implementing consumer waste recycling policies at all of our facilities. For us, no energy saving is too small to be significant.

Over the past few years, we’ve compiled wind and solar data at our plant in Marceline, Missouri, with the hope that we can someday harness these elements for electricity.

When it comes to the environment, we prefer to be part of the solution. It’s not just good business — it’s good for everything and everyone who is important to us.

Watch this video below to see what we’re doing to create a greener operation.

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Fundamental to the experience are the specifics of the paper, its physical characteristics. While colors are crucial in their own way, the look and feel of the paper can tell your audience a lot about your brand before they read a single word.

The paper stock you choose can positively impact your audience’s perception of your brand. At the same time, it can also do the opposite. The experience of paper is influenced by its basis weight, or basis, among many other factors. As such, it’s important for publishers to understand paper basis.

Paper basis weight is expressed in the U.S. in pounds. Basis weight is what the paper would weigh in a full uncut ream in an accepted standard size (basis size) for a given use. For example, if you purchase 60 lb. text stock for your magazine, that means 500 sheets of the text in the standard size of 25” by 38” will weigh 60 lbs. or 60#. The caveat: each type of paper has its own standard size, so 60# text weight isn’t the same as 60# cover weight. The standard size of cover stock is 20” by 26”, while bond stock is 17” by 22”.

Adding to the confusion, foreign paper designations use the metric system, which sets its basis weights based upon the weight of one square meter, expressed in grams (GSM). Check out the basis weight chart below to see a rough conversion between metric and American basis weights.

To fully understand paper weight, it’s important to be aware of paper thickness as well. Paper thickness, or caliper, is impacted by many factors, including finish and basis. Simply put, paper without a finish for a given basis weight will have a higher caliper or thickness, than those with a finish.  So, a 60# uncoated offset will typically be thicker or feel more substantial than a 60# gloss coated sheet.  In addition, with the standard unit measure (remember that 500 sheet ream measuring 25” x 38” up above?), if both were stacked next to each other, the offset sheet stack would appear taller, but weigh the same – sixty pounds.

Paper thickness is commonly stated in terms of PPI, or Pages Per Inch. Thickness may also be expressed in “point” or “pt.” Not to be confused with font size, one point equates to 1/1000th of an inch. For example, a 7- or 8-point stock will measure .07 and .08 inches thick.  Typically, thickness or a point measure is most relevant when talking about mail. Postcards, for example, require a minimum point measure to be accepted by the US Postal Service.

Types of paper

Since a paper’s basis weight is based on its type, it’s important to know the main types of paper:

• Text (or book): A general name for various types of paper, uncoated or coated. It is designed for books, magazines, catalogs and workbooks, among many other uses. Text stock can be anywhere from 20# to  100# or greater in some instances.
• Cover: A heavier basis weight paper, cover stock is used in a variety of applications, such as book covers and business cards. It is typically thicker than text stock and comes in numerous finishes. Common cover basis weights are 65#, 80# and 100#.
• Bond: Less common in the print world, this stock is uncoated. It’s often used for stationery, forms and other specialized uses including writing.  It is the common basis weight measure for office, copier and home use reams.  Sometimes the stock incorporates cotton. Bond stock is commonly in the 20# to 32# range.
• Index: Similar to Bond, Index is a cardstock that is uncoated. It’s stiff and used in applications such as tags where stronger, more rugged paper is required. Index stock is often between 110# and 140#.

Paper Basis Weight: Three Keys to Consider

Ultimately, basis weight isn’t the primary determinant for your paper stock. But paper basis weight can and should influence your choice. Keep these three tips in mind when considering your paper stock selection.

• Heavier stocks aren’t always better. Heavier stocks can make your print product appear authoritative and prestigious. Thicker paper is more rugged and can handle more wear and tear than thinner paper, which is why many projects add a cover to their mailed piece. Heavier stocks can also better stand up to complex finishing like embossing, debossing, die cutting or foil stamping. Higher basis weight paper isn’t always better: they can impact your production options resulting in higher costs than lower basis alternatives and have other possible limiting impacts as well.
• Lighter stocks can be more cost effective. Paper is sold based on weight and lower basis weight stocks are usually less expensive than the same sheet in a higher basis weight. Lighter sheets generally require less material for a higher yield of pages printed. It’s important to consider the message you are trying to convey and the goals you are trying to achieve with your paper. What impression does the finish, the opacity, the caliper, the weight and the shade collectively make on the end-user?
• Balance is the ultimate goal. Unless your project has unusual features, chances are you won’t be on the extreme ends when it comes to paper basis weight. It’s important to balance other factors in choosing your paper needs such as cost, binding, finish, end use and production options.

Paper basis weight should be considered alongside a number of other factors. It can also be influenced by the unique printing process of your printer: higher basis weights cannot be run on web presses, and some lower basis weight sheets cannot be run on sheetfed equipment. Bottom line: it’s important to work with a printer who can share the pros and cons of selecting certain stocks as they relate to their specific equipment.

For a deeper dive on paper, check out our white papers on  uncoated and coated paper stocks.

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The pandemic has presented challenges for all industries to varying degrees. But book publishing, an industry that faced challenges in the years before COVID-19, had a banner year from a sales standpoint.

According to , book publishing had its largest sales figures in a decade.

To add to the rosy outlook, industry experts project book publishing to grow 2% over the next five years. The outlook for book publishing is brighter than it has been in recent memory, and not just because of the pandemic.

The forecast is so positive that Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle told the Atlantic Council we’re in . In the interview, Dohle claims that “books are seeing their biggest renaissance since Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press.”

Dohle’s positive projection is backed up by the numbers.

As notes, sales of print books saw 8.2% year-over-year growth in 2020. The young adult segment was strong, growing 23% in non-fiction and 11% in fiction. Titles from these segments occupied more than half of the titles on the top-10 sellers list. Adult nonfiction books grew 4.8% year-over-year led by Random House’s publishing Barrack Obama’s memoir, A Promised Land. The first of two volumes from the former president sold nearly 2.6 million copies in 2020.

Other political titles that were top sellers included Sean Hannity’s Life Free or Die and Mary Trump’s Too Much and Never Enough.

But the success of the book segments goes beyond political turbulence.

Dohle cites social distancing and digital fatigue as key factors behind the success of book sales. With people forced to stay home, books provide some much-needed escapism from the stress of the current moment, in a way similar to magazines.

Furthermore, books provide a chance to deal with digital fatigue, get away from screens and read without a barrage of notifications. Our lives and interactions have never been more mediated through screens. As such, the experience of reading a print book is an increasingly novel and unique experience.

In this sense, E-books and audio book sales aren’t a concern for Dohle. While they continue to nibble into the print market, they can’t provide the same experience as print.

Dohle also sees other forms of media contributing towards the increasing popularity of books. The saturation of untrustworthy news outlets, particularly on social media, and the proliferation of this content has led towards people seeking the more factual “deep dive” that books provide.

The pandemic and its effects played a key role in boosting book sales. At the same time, longer trends like social media have also helped books rebound.

While the book outlook is encouraging, challenges remain.

There has never been a larger group of literate readers. But the money spent on is in decline. Americans in 2019 spent 33 times more on “nontext diversions” such as television and Netflix than they did on books and recreational reading.

While the industry faces familiar challenges, there is something to be said about how the segment has succeeded throughout the pandemic.

Is it the best time for books in almost 600 years?

Time will tell.

But the segment’s recent success paints an undoubtedly rosy picture of potentially historic proportions.

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