Shannon Dahmer | Feb. 21, 2008
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| Photo by Bradi Andrews |
| Bloom magazine editor and publisher Malcolm Abrams thought Bloomington would be too small for his ideal magazine, but circulation is up two years after the launch. |
Malcolm Abrams, editor and publisher of Bloom magazine in Bloomington, thought so. Abrams spoke to Irene Bushaw’s J200 Reporting, Writing and Editing I class Feb. 7 about starting his magazine.
“I wanted to go somewhere with an appreciation for the arts and a good community, and Bloomington seemed to fit,” he said. “There was only one problem: Bloomington is small.”
Abrams worked in New York City as the editor-in-chief of Spa Finder Magazine for nine years before moving to Bloomington in 2005. Living in Greenwich Village, he decided it was time for a change.
“My neighborhood was getting younger and I was getting older,” Abrams said.
A friend told him about Bloomington and, after visiting, he was hooked. Abrams wanted to start a magazine but was not sure if it would be successful in such a small town. He also questioned whether he had the experience to start the type of magazine he envisioned.
“I’ve never done the business side of magazines, and Bloomington is way too small,” he said. “But I thought it might offer interesting things to write about. Bloomington exceeded my expectations.”
Even with renewed confidence, the longtime magazine editor still did not know where to start, he said, until he had a “moment of clarity.”
“There has to come a moment to see how to do it. I saw it,” he said.
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| Photo by Bradi Andrews |
| After eight issues, Bloom now has a circulation of 13,000, editor and publisher Malcolm Abrams said. |
“What became apparent was what a bad idea this was,” he said, “No place the size of Bloomington had a magazine like this.”
Undeterred, Abrams continued, this time with the hardest step of all: moving to Bloomington.
“I threw some clothes in a suitcase and drove the 14 hours to Bloomington,” he said. “Looking back, it was hard to top that first night in Bloomington.”
Abrams stayed in a small, dingy apartment and from there he began to make things happen. Since he only knew two people in Bloomington at the time, he had to start from scratch with advertisers and designers.
“One designer from New York agreed to put the project together so I would have something to show advertisers,” he said. “I gave myself February and March to get half of the advertising I would need.”
It turned out Abrams only needed five weeks. To his surprise, advertisers in Bloomington were ready to support the magazine. Some agreed simply because of the name.
“I was starting my pitch and she told me ‘Stop, you sold me on the name Bloom,’” he said.
Two years and eight issues later, Bloom magazine is doing better than ever. It has a circulation of 13,000 that will be raised to 14,000 soon. And Bloom has offices.
“We’re no longer working out of my home, which is great, and we have two full-time employees plus interns,” Abrams said. “I can’t believe how well it’s doing.”
