Foreword a Folio Finalist: Marching from Margins to Mainstream
What do People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, and Foreword Reviews have in common? They all have been named finalists in the 2014 Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards for both editorial and design excellence. And that is exactly where we want to be—mentioned in the same breath with those other mainstream-consumer magazines. This achievement shows not only how far Foreword Reviews has come since its old days as a review publication aimed only at librarians and booksellers, but also how far indies have come—from the margins of publishing, to leading its sales and evolution.
We were named finalists specifically for our Summer 2014 print issue, which was the first one after our redesign, led by Yoffy, the founder and creative director of The Lyft Agency. “Over the past year, we’ve been working hard on a fully integrated redesign and repositioning of the Foreword Reviews brand. We were tapped to better realign their brands, their products, their services, and the entire company, with who they are today and where they want to go in the future.” Yoffy said. “With their new visual identity, magazine design, and website experience, Foreword Reviews is moving away from solely being a print magazine, to acting like digital media company.”
Regular visitors to this site have probably noticed a few changes not only in design (and we’re only in Phase I of that. Get ready for more features coming soon!) but also in content. The independent and self-publishing phenomenon is big news in the publishing industry, so we are going to devote more and more space to covering this as news. You’ll find our usual objective reviews of indie books written by more than 100 reviewers across North America, but also features, interviews, blogs, and other content by specialists in topics such as Business, Graphic Novels, Science, Self-Publishing, Religion, and—this month—NaNoWriMo.
I can’t help it. I come from a journalism background, and I know a good story when I see one. So, keep coming back for additional news features.
We’ll find out if we win on December 11 but, no matter what, just making the short list means we’re on the right road. In an age of magazine and media cutbacks, I am happy to report that we are growing. Keep reading.
Howard Lovy is executive editor at Foreword Reviews. You can follow him on Twitter @Howard_Lovy
Howard Lovy
