The California Sunday Magazine

What The California Sunday Magazine does

The California Sunday Magazine is a digital-first, long-form journalism publication focused on California-centric investigative reporting, narrative features, and photojournalism, with secondary national and international coverage. It is operated by Pop-Up Magazine Productions, the parent company that also produces the touring Pop-Up Magazine live multimedia storytelling show. The product surface spans a proprietary website, native iOS and Android applications, and an optional physical print magazine subscription delivered by mail; individual long-form stories are hosted on the Atavist publishing platform, with payments processed through Stripe and audience analytics handled via Google Analytics. Content is produced by a small editorial team (the organization reports 11-50 employees) working with freelance photojournalists and writers, and is distributed through social channels (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) and an email newsletter.

The company's revenue model combines three streams: one-time individual story purchases on a pay-per-article basis (with limited free sampling), recurring annual print magazine subscriptions, and native sponsored content from a small roster of brand partners including Toyota Mirai, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, and Eventbrite. The legal entity is California Sunday, Inc., a privately held corporation organized in California, with no disclosed venture capital, private equity, or public-market funding. The publication has been continuously operated since its 2013 launch, with editorial output observed through at least April 2020, including a notable editorial pivot toward COVID-19 storytelling during the pandemic.

Name

The California Sunday Magazine

Legal name

California Sunday, Inc.

Website

https://californiasunday.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The California Sunday Magazine is a private, digital-first long-form journalism publication covering California, national, and international stories through investigative reporting and photojournalism, operated by Pop-Up Magazine Productions and serving educated general readers via web, mobile apps, and print subscription.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Magazine Publishing

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (51312), Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAJAEAO

News, Politics & Current Affairs Magazines

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Magazine Publishing (Consumer & B2B/Trade Magazines)

SECONDARYMPAJAEAN

Arts, Culture & Literary Magazines

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Magazine Publishing (Consumer & B2B/Trade Magazines)

Keywords

• Long-form journalism
• Digital magazine
• Photojournalism stories
• Print magazine subscription
• Investigative reporting

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Story Purchases: Readers must create an account and purchase individual stories to access full content. Subscription to print magazine also available for physical delivery.
2. Print Magazine Subscription: Physical magazine subscription service with mail delivery. Collects subscriber name and mailing address.
3. Sponsored Content: Brand-sponsored editorial content sections featuring partners like Toyota Mirai, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, and Eventbrite. Clearly labeled as sponsor content.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The California Sunday Magazine is a digital-first publication producing long-form investigative journalism, narrative storytelling, and photojournalism with a California-centric focus and national scope. Readers access stories via a website, iOS/Android apps, or paid individual story purchases, with optional print magazine subscriptions delivered by mail. Sponsored content from brands such as Toyota Mirai, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, and Eventbrite supplements editorial revenue.

Product overview

The California Sunday Magazine is a digital-first publication that produces long-form journalism and investigative reporting. The company operates a unified product offering consisting of the main magazine website (https://www.californiasunday.com/), mobile applications for iOS and Android, and a print subscription service. The magazine is produced by Pop-Up Magazine Productions, which also creates the Pop-Up Magazine live show—a touring multimedia storytelling event. Stories are hosted on the Atavist platform, and the publication monetizes through a combination of paid stories, subscriptions, and sponsored content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Pop-Up Magazine ProductionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent company that produces The California Sunday Magazine. Also produces the live multimedia storytelling show Pop-Up Magazine.
• Toyota MiraiminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor content partner presenting environmental sustainability content. Featured in April 2020 issue.
• Marriott Bonvoy TravelerminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor content partner presenting travel and lifestyle content. Featured across multiple issues.
• EventbriteminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor content partner presenting California events and experiences content.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment processing service used for collecting payments for story purchases and subscriptions. All credit cards stored securely by Stripe; California Sunday does not store credit card information on its own servers.
• AtavistcoreTechnology or IntegrationPlatform used to host and deliver story content. Stories are published via Atavist (e.g., californiasunday.atavist.com).

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• The New Yorker: Iconic long-form magazine blending investigative reporting, narrative journalism, photography, and cultural criticism. Comparable in premium positioning, long-form editorial mix, and ad-supported plus subscription business model.
• Wired: Long-form magazine combining reporting and visual storytelling on technology, science, and culture. Overlaps with California Sunday's mix of narrative journalism, photography, and illustration in a premium-magazine subscription model.
• The Atlantic: Long-form magazine of national and international reporting with similar investigative-journalism standards. Comparable as an established premium-magazine subscription business targeting educated, culturally-engaged readers.
• New York Magazine: City-anchored magazine of long-form reporting and cultural criticism. Comparable in combining print heritage, regional identity, and a deep digital long-form journalism product serving an educated urban audience.

Others

• Atavist Magazine: Long-form journalism and storytelling platform that hosts California Sunday's individual stories. Comparable as a content-publishing platform using similar long-form, multimedia narrative packaging for paid digital reading.

Direct peers

• Pacific Standard: Long-form magazine that covered current affairs, culture, and the environment with a national scope. Closely comparable as a magazine of long-form journalism focused on culture, politics, and social issues, though it ceased independent operations in 2019.
• Texas Monthly: Regional long-form magazine known for award-winning investigative and narrative journalism, similar to California Sunday's Pulitzer-grade ambitions but anchored to a US state. Closely comparable in editorial style, awards traction, and digital-plus-print business model.

Regional players

• San Francisco Magazine: Bay Area-focused city magazine with deep reporting on regional culture, politics, and lifestyle. Directly comparable as a long-form regional magazine targeting the same California readership and overlapping with California Sunday's coverage territory.
• Los Angeles Magazine: Regional lifestyle and culture magazine covering California, especially Southern California. Comparable in subject-matter focus on a California audience and editorial style of long-form magazine journalism.

Emerging players

• Pop-Up Magazine: Live multimedia storytelling show produced by the parent of California Sunday. Compares to California Sunday as a sibling product under the same publisher, sharing editorial identity, contributor network, and storytelling format.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CalSunday
• Facebookfacebook.com/californiasunday
• Instagraminstagram.com/californiasunday
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/3884738

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The California Sunday Magazine