Birmingham News, Nov. 6, 2003

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Hygiene For the Mind
By Jon Anderson, News staff writer

Hoover man's idea results in a quirky publishing hit:

The folks at Birmingham's mental_floss magazine certainly know how to attract attention.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Hoover native Will Pearson and some of his Duke University buddies were putting out the first edition of their quirky magazine fresh out of college with $20,000 from savings and summer jobs.

Now, the 24-year-old Pearson - mental_floss' president and publisher - can be seen every Wednesday night on CNN Headline News, sharing the mental_floss name and some of its content with a national audience.

The magazine, which contains an eclectic mix of stories, arcane facts and trivia on almost any topic imaginable, snagged cameo appearances on NBC's "Friends" sitcom in April and May. It's been featured in Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, Reader's Digest, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and a flurry of other media outlets.

Pearson negotiated a book series based on the magazine with New York publishing giant HarperCollins. The first book is complete and should hit bookstands in April, he said.

Just last week, Pearson closed a deal for mental_floss to provide a regular section in each edition of Reader's Digest to be called "Conversation Starters," Pearson said. He's in negotiations to provide a "Fact of the Day" or "Quiz of the Day" to Internet sites such as online magazine salon.com and the Discovery Channel Web site, he said.

It doesn't stop there. There also are talks for a syndicated radio feature called "mental_floss Minute" and a mental_floss trivia board game.

Pearson has even been contacted by a half dozen or so production companies in Hollywood, New York and Connecticut interested in creating a cable television show based on mental_floss.

Hollywood buzz:

So how does a new magazine generate so much buzz?

Pearson plans to answer that question tonight in a presentation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He will tell the mental_floss story and give a behind-the-scenes look into the magazine's operations during a free lecture at Hill University Center Alumni Auditorium.

Here's the quick take, though.

The original mental_floss staff, consisting of Pearson and fellow Duke graduates Mangesh Hattikudur, John Cascarano, Risako Koga and Milena Viljoen, knew they had their work cut out for them from the start.

There were 702 new magazines launched in 2001, according to Samir Husni, a journalism professor at the University of Mississippi who is one of the nation's leading magazine experts. mental_floss had to do something to distinguish itself to rise above the clutter, said Husni, who serves on the magazine's board of advisors.

The unusual content of mental_floss helped it accomplish that, Husni said. The magazine, now under the day-to-day direction of another Duke graduate, editor-in-chief Neely Harris, has a dual goal of educating and entertaining people at the same time.

"We know people want to feel smart, and we know people want to be educated, but they're looking for a fun way to do so," Pearson said.

Swimsuit issue:

The 11th issue, due out in bookstores and newsstands this week, features "26 of the most outrageous hoaxes of all time." Readers can learn who started the Bigfoot legend or how Benjamin Franklin "duped the entire European continent."

Another recent issue answers all those "why" questions that children ask, such as "Why is the sky blue?" or "Why is the ocean salty?" or "Why are tennis balls fuzzy?" There was even a swimsuit issue, featuring humorous bios and pictures of 15 geniuses "all in their skivvies," including Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Eleanor Roosevelt and Louis Armstrong.

The market apparently has an appetite for such fare because mental_floss is ringing up newsstand sales that far surpass industry standards.

mental_floss is printing between 60,000 and 70,000 copies of each issue and selling 60 to 70 percent of them, Pearson said. The average established magazine sells only 37 percent of its newsstand copies, while new magazines sell less than 20 percent, Husni said. mental_floss has about 15,000 subscribers, but that number continues to climb, Pearson said.

However, fast growth doesn't always equal success, Husni said.

"One major reason magazines die is that they move too fast and that they outgrow their revenues," Husni said. Pearson and the mental_floss staff are determined not to expand too quickly, he said.

Husni said he realized the mental_floss staff had good sense from the moment he met them. "They did not get arrogant with their early success." Instead of breaking out champagne and going monthly, the magazine stayed bimonthly and continues to focus on great editorial content, he said.

"It's so easy to create hype, but to create content, it takes a longer time," Husni said.

The partnerships with the likes of CNN Headline News and Reader's Digest are further evidence that there was a need for such a magazine, Husni said. "The magazine is providing a service," he said.

Making the cut:

Sixty percent of new magazines fail in the first year, Husni said. Eighty percent are gone by their fourth year and 90 percent are dead after a decade, he said.

Pearson said the gang at mental_floss decided they wanted to build their magazine's brand more through strategic partnerships with credible sources such as Reader's Digest and CNN Headline News rathen than the more traditional means of direct mail campaigns.

Some of those partnerships came as a result of contacts made through mental_floss' board of advisers, which reads likes a who's who in the publishing industry.

It includes: Jerrold Footlick, a former senior editor for Newsweek; George Hirsch, publisher of Runner's World; Patsy Jones, a vice president with Books-A-Million; Jack Breard, a vice president with EBSCO; Susan Tifft, a former associate editor at Time Magazine; Brian Harkness, a vice president with Magazines.com; and the recent addition of Jackie Leo, editor in chief at Reader's Digest.

Those advisers help Pearson and his team land meetings with potential partners, but "it's up to us to convince them that we're a company that they should partner with," Pearson said.

Some of the partnerships have come easier than others. CNN Headline News contacted mental_floss first, not the other way around, Pearson said.

The same is true for Richard Levy, a co-inventor of Furby stuffed animals and more than 200 other toys and board games. Levy saw an article on mental_floss in the Los Angeles Times and thought the name alone was perfect for a board game, Pearson said. So he called, and the two parties are now talking about entering the trivia game market.

"It'll have quite a few different elements than Trivial Pursuit," Pearson said.

Gaining new readers:

mental_floss' success so far has come despite limited advertising. In the 10th issue, only 7 of 72 pages contain advertising, in addition to the back of the magazine and inside front and back covers. Most magazines rely heavily on advertising, said Larry Powell, an associate professor in communications studies at UAB. Some magazines, such as Consumer Reports, make it without it, "but it's really tough," Powell said.

Pearson is confident that mental_floss won't follow the demise of so many magazines. After 1½ years of financial support from investors, the magazine is now relying on its own cash flow and making a small profit, Pearson said.

"For a magazine that's only a couple of years old to not be losing money each year is certainly a positive indicator for the future," he said.

But he and his young creative gang still aren't taking themselves too seriously. For example, a reception after tonight's presentation at UAB is being called a "wine and Cheetos" function.

But there won't actually be wine. In typical mental_floss fashion, they'll be serving Grapico.

Copyright © 2003 Birmingham News.