Sidewalk to be printed
Content from Microsoft's online local guide to Seattle will appear in a print magazine, part of the company's efforts to push its city guides.
That could sum up the philosophy behind the deal struck between Microsoft's Seattle Sidewalk and Seattle Magazine, in which articles written by Sidewalk will be featured in the magazine's special holiday edition.
Other Web publications, such as Salon, have gone a similar route, selling their content to print publications.
Seattle Sidewalk general manger Kevin Eagan said the deal is not unlike others that Sidewalk has struck with publications. For instance, local publisher Sasquatch Books has created a restaurant guidebook using Sidewalk's reviews, Eagan said.
Eagan emphasized that Seattle Sidewalk remains completely committed to the Web. But it also is taking advantage of opportunities to publish its stories in other media.
"Our primary media property is the Web. Everything else is opportunistic for us," he said.
Eagan said that Sidewalk worked with the magazine to decide which features they would both cover during the holidays. Writers were told to keep in mind that their stories would appear in both media, he said.
He would not discuss the financial specifics behind the deal, but clearly it would benefit both parties. While Seattle Magazine would get content, Sidewalk would get premium publicity from a readership ostensibly with at least enough disposable income to be shopping at Christmas.
"It's really a synergistic relationship that came about by recognizing a common publishing goal," Eagan said.