For the first time, there was a stand-alone February issue. A men’s issue.
Keely Childers Heany, editor in chief and associate publisher
“It created an entirely new experience for our readers,” said Keely Childers Heany, who last year became a mother for the first time and Susquehanna Style’s editor in chief and associate publisher. “And the men loved it.”
Heany succeeded Donovan Roberts Witmer, who continues to contribute photography to the magazine. Heany, who started freelancing for the magazine in 2007, had worked side-by-side with Witmer. Hannah Wigton is Heany’s “right-hand gal,” serving as editorial and marketing assistant after starting with the magazine as an intern in 2011.
Along with Susquehanna Style’s rebranding came the addition of new departments and features, such as a bi-monthly blog called “Crafts and Crumbs.” More issues meant more opportunities for the team of freelance writers and photographers who contribute content.
Susquehanna Style is owned by Allentown-based Innovative Designs & Publishing Inc., which also publishes Lehigh Valley Style and Berks County Living. The former had switched from bi-monthly to monthly publishing; the latter always had been a monthly. Susquehanna Style followed suit.
“There are some financial aspects to it as far as bi-monthly advertising and cash flow,” Heany said. The decision was attractive from an editorial standpoint, too.
“We found ourselves more often than not turning down stories” in the bi-monthly days, she said. “We couldn’t do things because it wouldn’t be timely enough. We were so far in advance bi-monthly. There were only six issues a year, so you could only feature six restaurants, for example, in our restaurant reviews. Everything was just very coveted.”
Now the magazine can react much more swiftly.
“The Gettysburg Hotel restaurant just got remodeled and rebranded,” Heany said, “and we can actually break that news in our June issue.”
When Perfect Circle caught up with Heany in mid-April, she had just finished editing the May issue. A marked-up proof copy lay on the round table in her office in East Petersburg, Lancaster County.
Heany majored in English at Fairmont State University in her native West Virginia. A job with a Lancaster County ad agency was supposed to be a short stop on her way to a big ad agency in New York City. Instead, she settled into central Pennsylvania (she lives in Manheim Township with her husband, Don, and their daughter, Hazel) and became the keeper of the Susquehanna Style brand.
Heany sees the magazine as regional in scope but national in terms of the quality of its content. To be sure, there is something for everyone in each issue – including men.
“More and more men do the cooking at home,” Heany said. “My husband enjoys reading the magazine, and he’s a really manly man. He does all of our home renovations. He enjoys looking at the ads for ideas.”
While newspapers trend more and more toward online (the Patriot-News in Harrisburg publishes a print edition only three days per week), Heany sees the web as merely complementary to Susquehanna Style.
“I’m not taking my iPad on the beach,” she said. “I don’t mind if (the print magazine) gets sandy and wet and gets suntan oil on it. I think people are always going to sit by the pool or lay on the beach or wherever they read, holding a magazine.”
Susquehanna Style is active on social media, with nearly 4,000 followers between Facebook and Twitter and a growing presence on Pinterest. Heany sees social media as “an expansion of our brand.”
Recent Facebook posts included a link to an article about swimming pool trends from the April issue; a plug for a cheese stretching party offered by advertiser Caputo Brothers Creamery; and a link to the magazine’s “Best of York” survey. On National Jelly Bean Day (yes, there is such a thing), a post asked followers to share their favorite flavors.
Between social media and monthly print editions, Susquehanna Style can be in touch with its audience more often. Still, the magazine requires a long-range view. Heany’s goal is to have the magazine’s 2014 editorial calendar in place by this Aug. 1. A writer already has been to Washington, D.C., for a garden story that will be featured in spring 2014.
Sure, it’s work and a job. But clearly, this lifestyle magazine is a way of life for Heany and her team.
“We love what we do,” she said, including Wigton and creative director Alyse Moyer in the discussion. “Making pretty things for people to look at and inspiring people to improve their homes or update their wardrobe and shop locally and cook good things for their families.”
Heany’s mind appeared to race through her editorial calendar, past and future.
“We put some unhealthy stuff in there every now and again, burgers and ice cream. We’ve got asparagus coming up, so it’s healthy,” she said with a laugh.
