One thing to consider is what is the market for this journal likely to be? 
How big is it, and how are we going to reach it? I know we all loved it, 
but that love actually didn't translate into many subscriptions for 
Aesthesis - or at least, not enough, even with careful management of costs 
and suppliers etc.

Would everyone in AACORN be prepared to pay a subscription a receive the 
journal as part of it? Include the cost of a year's subscription to the 
journal in the AoMO conference fee?

That's how SCOS developed their journal Culture and Organization and it is 
still partly supported that way, although it is now 2* rated, is in process 
of getting ISI recognition and is included in the publisher's electronic 
packages too. But that's how it built. It was the first journal in our 
field to feature black and white photos as a norm. And it struggled.

The reason that most publishers won't go to full colour, full design is 
that it is too expensive for the market that scholarly journals serve 
(mainly libraries). This includes the fact that the content is provided by 
the authors for free - some even pay to get it reviewed. These days 
academic journals rely on a combination of hard copy sales to libraries 
(dwindling) and a few individuals, and being packaged in a group of online 
subscriptions (increasing). Getting an academic library to pick up a new 
subscription is hard unless the journal is a) used on courses as 
recommended reading b) in demand by academics for research. The latter is 
always parlous unless you can c) get onto the ISI list and obtain an impact 
factor d) get onto one of the recognised international ranking lists. This 
tends to have an effect on the content of these journals, which are at best 
evolutionary rather than revolutionary (and sometimes devolutionary).

So you need either a fat grant, commercial or private sponsorship, or 
advertising. The likelihood of the first is remote (in the UK at least) 
given this week's funding cuts, and would in any case be a limited time 
measure to get things moving rather than longer term. The second is not 
impossible but needs careful targeting, a very well thought through pitch, 
and some clear benefit for the sponsor (or a real philanthropist with a 
quirky passion that matches yours). The latter is possible, but is very 
much co-evolutionary with the target market.

So although Steve's questions are all very important, I think the 
completion backward principle applies - ie question 6. sets the tone for 
all the others.(6,4,1,5,2,3)

Best

Steve


On Jun 24 2010, Taylor, Steven S. wrote:

> It's been great to hear all of the support for continuing the AMO 
> conference and I'm excited that Steve Linstead has stepped up and taken 
> on running a 2012 conference in Bristol. This gives us more time and 
> space to talk and think about how to create an organization that will 
> ensure that the conferences keep happening.
>
> The other great contribution from Ian King (and others) that I think 
> needs to be continued in some fashion was the creation of the journal 
> Aesthesis: International Journal of Art and Aesthetics in Management and 
> Organizational Life. I've talked to a few folks and started thinking 
> about how to fill the void left by the demise of Aesthesis. I'd like to 
> gather some more information/ideas from the AACORN community about your 
> desires for a journal. So here's a few questions I'd love to hear some 
> discussion around:
>
> 1. What should the journal include (academic articles, practitioner 
> pieces, art, other)? 2. What should the journal be called? 3. Who would 
> you like to see in editorial positions (for the journal overall, and/or 
> sections of the journal)? 4. How important was the look of Aesthesis (it 
> was a full color, fully designed look, but that's a huge problem for most 
> publishers)? 5. Who should publish the journal (where's the best fit, and 
> if you know people at a publisher who you think would be a good choice 
> are you willing to help in the process)? 6. What else should we be 
> thinking about in terms of this journal?
>
>Please feel free to reply to the list or to just me as you prefer.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Steve Taylor
>
>
>Steven S. Taylor, PhD
>Associate Professor
>Worcester Polytechnic Institute
>Department of Management
>100 Institute Rd
>Worcester, MA 01609
>USA
>+1 508-831-5557
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>