Speaking With ... Ayal Korczak, Publisher, LáTeen
-- School Library Journal, 1/14/2009
While attending the National Middle School Association Conference
in Denver, SLJTeen picked up an issue of a teen magazine with a hot demographic target - Latino and Hispanic tweens and teens. Ayal Korczak, a former schoolteacher from Boulder, Colorado, has made it his passion to bring positive messages to young adults through LáTeen, a newcomer that is quickly getting traction in the teen magazine marketplace.
A year ago LáTeen had a circulation of 26,000 with subscribers in Colorado, Utah, North Carolina, Seattle, and Canada. What is your market placement looking like now? Were there any initial barriers?
We made the initial mistake of going into Barnes and Noble, which didn't gain us much. We found that 7-11 stores are a much better venue for LáTeen since these reach a larger Latino market. We now have a circulation of 100,000 nationwide.
I love the sort of Spanglish that is used in the magazine, often heard on Spanish radio. What led you to decide to include that kind of slang, as some might call it, in the magazine?
We use a combination of English and Spanish (Spanglish) in the magazine. This stems from my experience as a teacher, hearing this all day long from the students. It is what our audience relates to. We have some articles that are Spanish only but most are English only.
LáTeen is neither a girl or boy magazine - the articles are for the most part gender-neutral, like exploring a career or an interview with a hip-hop artist. How has the response been from readers on this?
Originally people have told me that aiming for the middle would alienate both genders, but it turned out the opposite is true ... whereas the boys like reading the 'girl' articles and girls read the 'boy' articles. The response has been very positive.
As a former teacher, you seem to have that innate urge to pull your audience up, to encourage them. Is that part of the thought behind featuring a different college or university in each issue? How do you pick those?
We try to pick a college from a different region each time so that kids have an idea both of schools in their area as well as schools in places they may have never heard of. Yale in New Haven for example.
Tell me about the staff, interns, students that contribute to LáTeen.
We have a staff that is a great mix of teens, college students, and professional writers. Together we are able to produce a magazine that is both current, not an easy task in the fast moving teen world, and refined. The great thing is they all believe in our message of encouraging a love of reading.
In the Spring/Summer 2008 issue Horoscopes column, Señor K recommended that Pisces readers go to the media center and "wait in nonfiction for your love to show up." This is a horoscope a librarian could love. Can you tell me more about LáTeen's resident astrologer?
Señor K spends hundreds of hours studying the stars for each issue as well as attending expert seminars in astrology. Most important is that the horoscopes are accurate and precise.
Do you have any special options for libraries that wish to subscribe to LáTeen?
We plan on having several options where libraries with limited budgets can subscribe for free and then for those who can afford it we offer multiple packs at a discount to serve their large numbers of Latino partrons. I think we will keep this model going for some time as I think it really helps spread the empowering message of the LáTeen brand.
Are you not so secretly the Skateboarding Turk of Boulder?
I am indeed the Skateboarding Turk of Boulder. It is official.
Visit the LáTeen Website for more information and to get a free issue.
