It may have taken a little longer than anticipated, but Winchester Living magazine will make its debut in May.

A bimonthly publication filled with local content, Winchester Living will showcase the shopping, dining, arts, culture, history and amazing people who make our region special. Best of all, it will be available for free all across Clark County.

I have been blessed to have been part of the creative process of creating a magazine a few times and the excitement as we come down the stretch is always almost tangible.

Ten years or so ago, a couple of my colleagues and I were among the first in our company to launch lifestyle magazines, each one unique and serving vastly different communities.

The economy had just tanked. Newspapers were facing more challenges than ever. We wanted to find a way to showcase all the great things going on in our communities without neglecting our responsibility to report the “bad news” in our newspapers.

We felt that a lifestyle magazine was a way to diversify the portfolio, from a business standpoint, and tell stories that either wouldn’t make the newspaper or wouldn’t get the attention they deserve.

Part of this initial process included consulting with Dr. Samir Husni, director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the Ole Miss School of Journalism and an interesting character who has earned the moniker of Mr. Magazine.

Widely recognized as a national expert on all things magazine, Husni had lots of interesting things to say, but one of the most compelling was that a good community magazine should be like chocolate or comfort food.

Say what? We weren’t planning on eating our publications.

Husni went on to explain that these culinary delights often create warm feelings or bring back happy memories in very vivid ways. That, he said, is exactly the emotional and subliminal response that we wanted to create with our magazines.

His advice was spot on and each of those magazines are going strong.

It is with that background and approach that we have been working towards the premiere issue of Winchester Living.

This is a project started before I came to join the staff here at The Sun and one that I put on hold until we could get our feet under us. My goal was to make sure that it’s the best possible magazine showcasing all the great things in Winchester and Clark County.

We changed the logo. We redesigned the interior look. We went back to the drawing board on much of the content. We continue to work with advertisers who understand the great marketing opportunity to be a part of a product of this nature.

I am confident the end result will be something that will make Winchester and Clark Countians proud to say they call the area home.

Early in my time here someone asked, “So, when is that magazine your guys talked about going to come out?”

I wasn’t trying to be flippant or coy when the only answer I could offer was, “When it is ready.”

Well, I’m proud to say that time is almost here.

Michael Caldwell is publisher of The Winchester Sun and Winchester Living magazine. He can be reached at (859) 759-0095 or by email at mike.caldwell@winchestersun.com.