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Spring, 2005
 Content: • Berkshire Living on paper
GREAT BARRINGTON The coast of Maine has Down East. Cape Cod Life guides visitors at Massachusetts' idyllic seacoast destination. Vermont Life captures recreation and living in the Green Mountain state, and Adirondack Life features New York state’s northern vacation reaches. There's barely a high-profile destination spot in the country without a full-color magazine dedicated to regional culture, lifestyle, dining, decor and backroad secrets -- and to advertisers who will pay top dollar for high-end full color displays likely to catch the eye of a moneyed reader. The Berkshires are served by free "shoppers" and monthly publications catering to women and other constituencies, along with weekly newspapers and two dailies -- all wooing the same pool of advertisers. But for the past 12 years or so there's been nothing as hefty or as slick as Berkshire Living magazine, which first appeared at newsstands and in subscribers’ mailboxes in December for $4.99 a copy, and again in February. Seven more issues are planned this year. Berkshire Living was the creation of Michael Zivyak, a native New Yorker who spent his summers as a youth at a family vacation house in Otis. He now owns a house in Hillsdale, N.Y. Zivyak had been eyeing what he viewed as a void on local newsstands during his escapes from New York City, where he lived and worked as an associate publisher at the music magazine Spin. He said he found no publications in Berkshire County that reflected the breadth of his interests. That void, he believes, represents a niche market for upscale readers and advertisers, a market strong enough to defy the odds against the survival of start-up magazines. "We've identified a niche, and are filling it very well," he said. "We don’t see failure as an option." Last year, Zivyak took a personal and professional leap. He developed a business plan for Berkshire Living. He left his city apartment and now lives full time in Hillsdale. Through some local networking, he found an editor-in-chief. Seth Rogovoy, former pop music critic for The Berkshire Eagle as well as a freelance arts, music and culture writer and author and longtime Berkshire resident, agreed to join the venture as editor; it was the ideal step for him, he said. Rogovoy brought editorial credentials and local connections to match Zivyak's publishing background, and the benefits of sojourns in Pownal, Vt., Williamstown and now, Great Barrington. Zivyak's start-up has been self-financed with a sum he declined to reveal. He bought two IMac G5 computers for production purposes, and recruited others who were willing to work without pay until advertising and circulation revenue began arriving. In February, with two issues behind them, the team moved into new offices above Pearl's restaurant on Railroad Street in Great Barrington. Magazine mechanics Last fall, Rogovoy arranged contracts with writers and photographers on topics ranging from the weaving career of actress Karen Allen, a Monterey resident, to winter skiing options, the area's entertainment attractions and a feature on the town of Hinsdale. The second issue had several food and wine features, and an interview with Great Barrington-based playwright Joan Ackerman. A 20-page prototype magazine was produced last fall to show prospective advertisers what they were buying into when Zivyak visited their shops, galleries and museums. Seventy advertisers appeared in the December-January issue. Zivyak said 95 percent have signed incentive contracts to advertise in all or most of the nine issues being published this year, with discounts for multiple ads. Holsten Galleries in Stockbridge, known for its glass sculpture artists, has full-page exposure in the first two issues, with high-priced ads on the back cover and on Page 2. Zivyak declined to comment on individual advertisers' deals with the magazine. According to Berkshire Living's rate card, a multicolor back cover ad costs $4,375, and a Page 2 ad commands $3,500. Ad prices begin at $561 for a one-sixth page vertical black and white ad. Jane Iredale Cosmetics, Tanglewood, Clark Art Institute, the Norman Rockwell Museum, McTeigue & McClelland Jewelers, home furnishings store Wingate Ltd., ski shop Kenver Ltd. and Berkshire Bank were among the major advertisers both months. Berkshire Living published 26,000 copies of its first and second issues, and 4,000 sold on newsstands, said Zivyak. The remainder were distributed free, supplied to guest rooms at high-end hotels and resorts, and as complimentary "get out the word" gifts, aimed at sparking subscriptions. Zivyak said there are several thousand subscribers now. Erik Bruun, who edited the former Berkshire Magazine, said advertisers make decisions based on circulation assurances, and circulation is a huge challenge to running a magazine. Berkshire Magazine was owned by Adirondack Life and based outside of Berkshire County in Northampton. Bruun said there was no local commitment to the publication, which folded 12 years ago. Bruun now heads up the investment firm Lenox Capital. The Berkshires have a permanent population of around 135,000, and annual visitors numbering around 2 million, which Bruun said is not a huge audience for a glossy regional magazine. But the Berkshires are indeed wealthier and tonier now than in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he said. "It's going to take a lot of work, because the Berkshires are not as big and important as we like to think they are," said Bruun. On the other hand, he pointed out, Zivyak and Rogovoy are local, hands-on entrepreneurs. Zivyak initially scoured area businesses in person, and Rogovoy has the editorial background to give Berkshire Living a shot at success. James Dowden, executive director of the City and Regional Magazine Association, an industry trade publication, said Berkshire Living's start-up is fairly typical, and that circulation -- readership -- is the key to drawing advertisers. Creating a "buzz" generates demand, he said, and the best place to create buzz is on newsstands where a magazine is visible. Locally, Berkshire Living is in a variety of shops, including Guido's Marketplace in Great Barrington and Pittsfield and the Berkshire Co-op Market in Great Barrington. Regional Borders, Waldenbooks and Barnes & Noble stores also are carrying the magazine, as are newsstands in New York state and Connecticut.  RETURN TO TOP |
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