Another User-Generated Magazine Issue Experiment

Recently Budget Travel undertook an all user-generated issue, in which it paid readers to write pieces that needed some heavy editing. Now Time Inc.'s This Old House became Your Old House for an issue, according to a story in Folio. All the photos, DIY projects, and tips in the June issue came from readers:

Executive editor Kathryn Keller says the magazine received thousands of e-mails, letters, photos and projects since editor Scott Omelianuk's first call for submissions in his December editor's letter.

In addition to the letter, the magazine created a dedicated microsite for readers to upload materials and then called for submissions at the end of magazine stories, in e-mail blasts and at the end of the This Old House television show.

Ads were up over the same issue the previous year, but so were expenses. Interestingly, the big resource sink was apparently not the editing, but building and managing the associated web site. This Old House is currently thinking of doing this on an annual basis. There's even a company that apparently is finding a way to make this pay in the long run:

8020 Publishing, which formed in June 2006, produces its two reader-generated titles Everywhere and JPG with a total staff of 19, and may be profitable by next year. The company is reportedly considering similar titles for foods and car enthusiasts, if the demand among its online community reaches critical mass.