Newsstand at one: Three approaches to iPad publishing

Journalism.uk reporting:
It is exactly a year since the launch of Apple's iOS 5 and with it came Newsstand, an in-built app for the iPad and iPhone giving consumers empty shelves reminiscent of the real-world newsstand, to be filled with their selection of magazines and newspapers.
Publishers had been creating iPad editions for some time, but the new app was an easier route in to the App Store for consumers and one that accelerated app downloads and sales at levels which prompted some to describe it as "revolutionising" the publishing industry.
Here we take a look at how three publishers approached developing apps with Newsstand in mind, and gather pointers on what some consider the holy grail of app publishing: getting a digital edition in the 'featured app' category and seeing sales soar as a result.
Starting with PDF page-turners

Future Publishing was an early Newsstand success story. Four days after launch the publisher of Future Music, Total Film and T3 reported 2 million app downloads; after six weeks its magazine apps had been downloaded 6 million times.
Last month Future, which now has more than 65 titles on Newsstand, reported that digital sales had topped £5 million.
And at a conference a fortnight ago, Mike Goldsmith, editor-in-chief of digital editions at Future Publishing, reported 150,000 sales every month.
"The most important thing is that we got on there quick," he told Journalism.co.uk, explaining that Future decided the best approach was to be ready for the launch of Newsstand by creating PDF page-turner apps of its titles.
"Some people didn't see this as a particularly elegant solution or the most futuristic solution to what a digital edition should be on something as gorgeous as the iPad, but it enabled us to get on there, learn, get some analytics back, talk to customers and find out what they want," Goldsmith added.
"And what we are finding out is that whatever you do, whether it's flat, whether it's interactive, it's not enough just to make something and get on there - because there are 4,600 magazines on the Newsstand right now - but you need to do what you would do in print which is actually publish something good."
Future has since created interactive, iPad-only editions and a range of new products. More on those shortly.
The Vogue approach

Conde Nast has also pushed out a range of page-turner digital editions, gradually enhancing them as interactives.
GQ, Wired, Vanity Fair and Vogue are now all "re-imagined" fully interactive and multimedia magazine experiences, and Glamour will follow suit shortly.
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/newsstand-at-one-three-approaches-ipad-publishing/s2/a550769/