Standing in the middle of Just 4 U Monograms and Gifts, I chuckled briefly at what the scene must have looked like to an outsider.

Between the diaper bag display and the baby blanket corner, Ben Hillyer and I stood talking to store owner Kelly Fuller about this year’s hottest trends.

“Owls are big this year,” Fuller said, or something to that effect.

Ben and I nodded in approval — as if we had a clue. The two of us were collecting items to be featured in a shopping feature of a new magazine.

As I looked around the store the swirls of colors and patterns amazed me.

“We’re not in newspaper world any more, Toto,” I thought to myself, a nod to the line from “The Wizard of Oz.”

That slight feeling of being in a foreign land is a little what it’s felt like lately for many of our staff members.

You see, we’ve all been working on what we hope to be a new, welcome friend in many of the area’s homes — Natchez the Magazine.

After years and years of discussion and months and months in the making, the creation of the magazine has been a leap of faith and a study in getting over our old habits.

I think for many of us, the fear of doing something so different than our norm — build the newspaper fast and get ready for tomorrow’s edition — has been palpable.

Looking back on it now, it’s starting to seem a little less scary and a little more fun and exciting.

In today’s edition is a 16-page sample of what the final 100-page magazine will include when it’s published in a couple of weeks.

Inside, you’ll see a small sampling of the final magazine. You’ll also find a subscription card to help you subscribe, if you like what you see. Subscriptions can also be purchased online at Natchez the Magazine

The sample is printed on the same quality of paper that we’ll use for the final magazine — the covers will be printed on a little heavier stock.

We’ll publish six issues each year.

So why in the world do we want to produce a magazine?

Simple: We think the area is screaming for one.

The nature of newspapers is that they must publish all the news, the good, the bad and the ugly.

We try hard to focus on good news. We schedule regular features like the bright future, The Dart and the viewfinder, just to name a few.

Readers, however, seem to forget those features pretty quickly. News tends to be disposable.

That makes it almost not fair to all of the great things in our community. Our area is filled with good things, great people, gorgeous places and a quality of life that’s the envy of many places. But often that great stuff can get overlooked or forgotten.

All of that great stuff needs a new outlet and a magazine is a great place for it.

Unlike newspaper editions that have relatively short lives, magazines tend to linger around on coffee tables.

That key difference has also been part of what all of us old newspaper folks have had to overcome, too.

Time isn’t nearly as tight on a magazine as it is in the newspaper. If the light isn’t correct for a photograph, no problem. We can reshoot it tomorrow.

Does that story need another source or more details? We’ve got time.

In the end, however, although the timelines might be different, the magazine isn’t all that different than what our staff has done for nearly 150 years — telling the stories of our community.

That never gets old and we love doing that. We hope you enjoy the upcoming magazine as much as we’ve enjoyed bringing it to life.

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.