[Reader-list] Article on Children's Magazines in India

[Chintan Girish Modi]

>From http://www.timeoutdelhi.net/kids/kids_preview_details.asp?code=101

Mag Mag World

Can children’s magazines compete with television, *Bijal Vachharajani* asks.


In the 1980s, a generation of Indian children grew up reading the exploits
of Detective Moochwala, and Gardhab Das. They were characters from Target, a
magazine published by the India Today group. Although Target shut down in
1995, it continues to be remembered fondly by its readers. The magazine
nurtured a talent pool of writers including Paro Anand, Subhadra Sen Gupta,
Ranjit Lal and Deepa Agarwal.

Established artists such as Atanu Roy, Jayanto and Neelabh Banerjee and Ajit
Ninan have also worked there. “I swear that every seventh person I meet
these days used to read Target and remembers names from it,” said Vatsala
Kaul-Banerjee, who was on the magazine’s staff and is now editorial director
for children’s and reference books at Hachette India.

Over the last two decades, few magazines have been able to replicate
Target’s popularity. Only a handful, including Chanda-mama, Champak and
Magic Pot, continue to be published. In 2006, Infomedia and Disney launched
Disney Adventures, a magazine that catered to children between the ages of
eight and 12. Disney Adventures ranged over fashion, music, sports and
wildlife and had a devoted fan following. But, the magazine was discontinued
earlier this year.

That hasn’t deterred ACK Media, the company which publishes Tinkle comics,
to launch Brainwave, a science magazine for children. Edited by Vinayak
Varma – who hasn’t studied beyond class ten – the magazine is a blend of
science, technology, environment, conservation and design. “Each issue will
contain a mix of articles, DIY, comics, contests, puzzles and speculative
fiction,” Varma said. “Science often becomes inaccessible for a lot of
people the moment they hit high school. Brainwave seeks to make science
thrilling again, to reinvigorate your interest in it and to make a raving
geek of you.”

Last year, Hachette India launched two magazines for children – Hoot for
pre-schoolers and Toot for tweenagers. Both are packed with short stories,
fun activities, brainteasers, puzzles and colourful illustrations.
Kaul-Banerjee, who is also the editor of the magazines, said that in just a
year both Hoot and Toot have got over one lakh subscribers and the team gets
almost 150 reader letters and emails every month.

But don’t look for copies at your local bookstore. The magazines are only
sold via direct marketing channels to schools at ` 99 which “helped save
huge money that is required to increase retail visibility,” said Rohit
Sharma, the head of marketing and strategy at Impulse Marketing, the agency
which distributes the magazines.

Sharma agrees that there’s a dearth of quality children magazines,
especially in English. “The primary reason why a lot of children magazines
fail is poor or no revenue from advertising,” he said. “High production or
editorial cost and wafer-thin margins make the entire project unviable. A
very small fraction of advertisers want to commit money to print advertising
these days.”

llustrator Atanu Roy, who has also worked for Target, doesn’t think it’s
difficult to get print advertising for a children’s magazine. “It is just
that no publisher takes it seriously,” said Roy. “Till we get together and
break the stranglehold of the textbook and stop being condescending towards
kids, we will not move at all,” he said. “Writing and illustrating for
children is a specialised area and you’ve got to have a special rapport and
empathy for kids to succeed.”

Besides, magazines play a substantial role in encouraging reading habits in
children, Kaul-Banerjee says. “Magazines can easily be read in capsules, if
one so wants, and there are different kinds of things to do, and something
for kids with different interests, so that really helps,” she said. “As
parents, we should learn to judge the worth of something, especially a book
or a magazine, and be ready to pay for it. We don’t think twice about
ordering a pizza for ` 250 four or more times a month, but a book for `
250... And a magazine for that much!”