Atavist

Atavist Inc. is a company launched in 2011 by Jefferson Rabb, Evan Ratliff, and Nicholas Thompson. The idea was originally to publish multimedia stories that would combine text, video, and audio. Eventually, the company started to sell the CMS it had built to create its own stories for The Atavist Magazine.[1] The company was eventually sold to Automattic.

Not to be confused with Atavism.
Atavist Inc.
Founded2009
FounderJefferson Rabb

Evan Ratliff

Nicholas Thompson.
Headquarters
Brooklyn
ParentAutomattic
Websitemagazine.atavist.com

The California Sunday Magazine, Mental Floss, The Daily Dot, The Christian Science Monitor and Esquire, among other magazines, used the Atavist platform to publish feature stories on the web.[2]

History

Atavist Books, a multi-platform book publishing company, was launched in partnership with Barry Diller, Scott Rudin, and Frances Coady,[3] in the spring of 2014, with Sleep Donation by Karen Russell as the venture's first novella.[4] All titles were produced and distributed using the Atavist platform. In the following months after Atavist Books published its first title, five more e-titles were published. In October 2014, the initiative was shut down. A spokesperson of the company said, "We have identified that the market for highly innovative enhanced full-length literary eBooks still heavily relies on a print component and has yet to emerge."[5]

In 2015, Atavist Inc. reportedly cut half of its staff as funding began to dry up.[6]

In June 2018, Atavist announced that it was being acquired by Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com.[7] In April 2021, the magazine moved to WordPress.com, joining the Newspack community of publishers.

The Atavist Magazine is a monthly publication of longform narrative journalism.[8] It has been nominated for eight National Magazine Awards since its launch in 2011,[9] and in 2015 it won for best Feature Writing with its piece "Love and Ruin," by James Verini. It was the first digital-only publication to receive the award.[10] Its titles have also been honored by the Livingston Awards, the Bayeux-Calvados Normandy Awards for War Correspondents, and the Clarion Awards, among other prizes.[11]

In June 2021, it launched its first-ever narrative podcast, No Place Like Home, about the theft of a pair of the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. The podcast was produced by Cadence 13.

Some of its stories have been optioned for film/TV projects.[12][13][14] The magazine is represented by Creative Artists Agency. The editor in chief is Seyward Darby.[15] The art director is Ed Johnson.[16]

See also

References
  1. Bilton, Ricardo (19 October 2015). "How Atavist is winning over publishers". Digiday.
  2. Bilton, Ricardo (19 October 2015). "How Atavist is winning over publishers". Digiday.
  3. Krasny, Jill (2014-06-18). "The Atavist Is the Future of Storytelling". Inc.com. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  4. Coffey, Michael (7 October 2013). "One Year Later, Coady’s Atavist Books Set to Launch". Publishers Weekly.
  5. "Atavist cuts half its staff and searches for a sustainable path as funding dries up". Nieman Lab. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  6. "Atavist cuts half its staff and searches for a sustainable path as funding dries up". Nieman Lab. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  7. Mullin, Benjamin (21 June 2018). "WordPress.com Owner Buys Atavist, Maker of Subscription-Offering Publishing Software". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  8. The Atavist Magazine. magazine.atavist.com
  9. Brownlee, John (23 March 2015). "The Atavist Redesign Turns The Long-Form Portal Into A Magic Word Processor". Fast Company.
  10. Sebastian, Michael (2 February 2015). "Vogue Wins Magazine of the Year at National Magazine Awards". Advertising Age.
  11. "Accolades". The Atavist Magazine. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  12. Fleming Jr., Mike (5 June 2014). "RatPac, Edward Norton’s Class 5 Options ‘American Hippopotamus'". Deadline.
  13. Sneider, Jeff (14 August 2014). "Bradley Cooper, Todd Phillips to Produce ‘A Thousand Pounds of Dynamite’ for Warner Bros.". The Wrap.
  14. Ford, Rebecca (9 October 2014). "'Oblivion' Director Joseph Kosinski to Helm 'The Trials of White Boy Rick'". Hollywood Reporter.
  15. "Seyward Darby". Seyward Darby. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  16. "About - Ed Johnson". cargocollective.com. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
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