From Web to Print
Revamped with a new co-founder and business model, The Printed Blog has come back from a year hiatus. Founder and publisher Joshua Karp has joined forces with celebrity photographer Tyler Shields to produce an edgier magazine that will challenge their audience and even make them mad. With a combination of cutting content, provocative photography and contributing celebrity editors including Brittany Snow, Sara Paxton, Alessandra Torresani, Matt Dallas, Meiko, Emmy Clarke and Merrell Hollis, The Printed Blog has been set in motion again with a vengeance.
“It’s just nice to sit down on the couch, in a cafe, or on the train and relax the eyes and read something interesting,” Karp said. “We acknowledge the power of the Internet, but I can’t read the iPad in the sauna.”
Instead of being free, advertiser supported, and distributed at train stations, The Printed Blog will be subscription based at $9.95 a month. Subscribers will receive a weekly issue with access to the best of the web and original Tyler Shields Photography focused on everything from fashion to politics. The new model gives a substantial percentage of the subscription revenue back to the bloggers and photographers. The publication will go into print once 3,000 subscriptions have been reached.
“There was nothing magical or ethereal about how I ended up at The Printed Blog. I paid attention to the nature of how news was changing. There was a fundamental shift in what was important to our community and what impacts the way our democracy work,” Karp said. “Free and open press is critical to the way our livelihood operates. Stories are going to come from the citizen journalists, and that’s what The Printed Blog provides.”
Karp orginally founded The Printed Blog in January 2009 as a twice-daily free newspaper where content was voted on by the local community. It was distributed at train stations and transportation hubs across Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. They ceased publication in July 2009 due to insufficient funds.
The response to the return of The Printed Blog has been positive. Karp says the interest in the company remained even during their downtime.
“You’re not going to find this online. If you don’t like any of our editors than our magazine is not for you. The Printed Blog is not for the lowest common denominator. We’re going to challenge our readers and make you mad. We’re including more nudity and swear words. It’s the nature of the Internet which is also the nature of The Printed Blog,” Karp said.
“We’re like the Economist only with more boobs.”
To subscribe or submit content to The Printed Blog visit: https://www.theprintedblog.com/
