Smoky Mountain Living

What Smoky Mountain Living does

Smoky Mountain Living is a privately held regional lifestyle magazine published by SM Living, LLC, headquartered in Waynesville, North Carolina. The bimonthly print and digital publication covers the southern Appalachians across editorial categories including Food+Drink, Art+Music, Outdoors, Stories, News, and Travel, serving two primary reader segments: residents of Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, North Georgia, and Southwestern Virginia, and geographically dispersed readers worldwide who want to maintain a connection to the mountain region. Content is produced by named regional writers and photographers, and the publication distributes through both direct-mail subscription (priced at $25 for one year, $43 for two years, and $60 for three years) and national retail newsstand channels including Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Ingles, Publix, and Wegman's.

The company operates a digital platform at smliv.com featuring the magazine's editorial content, a regional events calendar for arts, craft, and cultural events, and an RSS feed for content syndication. Event listings integrate with Google, Yahoo, Outlook, and iCalendar. The technology stack is conventional web publishing infrastructure with no disclosed proprietary platform, no native mobile application, and no API for third-party developers. Editorial submissions are handled via a single editorial contact email and the Managing Editor, Jonathan Austin.

Revenue is generated through three streams: recurring magazine subscriptions, advertising sold to brands seeking access to mountain-lifestyle readers, and one-time newsstand sales through major retail chains. The business model is fundamentally a traditional independent consumer magazine, supplemented by cultural partnerships with regional institutions including the Southern Highland Craft Guild, the Folk Art Center, the William King Museum of Art, the Asheville Museum of History, and various regional civic partners supporting community-facing art and history projects.

Name

Smoky Mountain Living

Legal name

SM Living, LLC

Website

https://smliv.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Smoky Mountain Living is a privately held regional lifestyle magazine, published six times per year by SM Living, LLC in Waynesville, North Carolina, covering the culture, outdoors, food, music, and history of the southern Appalachians for residents and diaspora readers through subscriptions and national retail distribution.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Lifestyle Magazine

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Travel & Outdoors Magazines (MPAJAEAH)

Keywords

• Regional lifestyle magazine
• Southern appalachian content
• Magazine subscriptions
• Print and digital publishing
• Mountain culture coverage

Headquarters

HQ city

Waynesville

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, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Magazine Subscriptions: Primary revenue stream from print magazine subscriptions offered in one-year, two-year, and three-year terms. A one-year subscription (six issues) costs $25, two-year is $43, and three-year is $60.
2. Advertising: Revenue from advertisers seeking access to readers with vested interest in mountains and mountain lifestyle. National audience reach through major retail distribution channels.
3. Newsstand Sales: Single-copy sales through retail distribution at Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Ingles, Publix, and Wegman's.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Smoky Mountain Living is a regional lifestyle magazine published six times per year in both print and digital formats, covering the environment, people, culture, music, arts, history, food, and special places of the Southern Appalachians (Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, North Georgia, and Southwestern Virginia). The publication is distributed through major retail chains and subscription mail delivery, with content organized across categories including Food+Drink, Art+Music, Outdoors, Stories, News, and Travel.

Product overview

Smoky Mountain Living operates as a single unified magazine product published both in print and digital formats. The core offering is a regional lifestyle magazine covering the Southern Appalachians, distributed six times yearly through major retail chains and subscription services. The company also maintains an online presence featuring an event calendar platform for regional arts and cultural events, with content organized across lifestyle categories including Food+Drink, Art+Music, Outdoors, Stories, News, and Travel.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Smoky Mountain Living Magazine A print and digital lifestyle magazine published six times per year celebrating the Southern Appalachians, covering environmental riches, people, culture, music, arts, history, and special places of the region for residents of Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, North Georgia, and Southwestern Virginia as well as displaced readers worldwide.
• Online Event Calendar A regional events listing platform on the Smoky Mountain Living website featuring arts exhibitions, craft demonstrations, and cultural events throughout the Southern Appalachian region, with integrations to add events to Google, Yahoo, Outlook, and iCalendar calendars.
• Magazine Subscription Service Subscription service delivering six issues per year of Smoky Mountain Living magazine to subscribers via mail, with tiered pricing (one-year $25, two-year $43, three-year $60, with three-year term at 44% off cover price).

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Town of AbingdonminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 May 2026Collaboration on the Abingdon Wolf Project, an interactive public art experience featuring artist-designed wolf sculptures throughout the town, celebrating Abingdon's history and creativity.
• William King Museum of ArtminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 May 2026Partner in the Abingdon Wolf Project, with proceeds from wolf sculpture auction benefiting the museum. Mandy Barker of William King Museum of Art quoted as project champion.
• Guastavino AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperative venture partner for Palaces for the People exhibition about Guastavino's life and works at Asheville Museum of History.
• ChristmountminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperative venture partner for Palaces for the People exhibition at Asheville Museum of History.
• Swannanoa Valley MuseumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperative venture partner for Palaces for the People exhibition at Asheville Museum of History.
• St. Lawrence BasilicaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperative venture partner for Palaces for the People exhibition at Asheville Museum of History.
• Southern Highland Craft GuildcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary partner for craft exhibitions and demonstrations at the Folk Art Center. Guild hosts daily craft demonstrations from March through December, featuring exhibitions of new members and featured artisans.
• Arrowmont School of Arts and CraftsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducation Center of the Southern Highland Craft Guild since 1960. Annual group exhibitions showcasing nationally and internationally recognized instructors at the Folk Art Center.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Country Living: Mainstream lifestyle magazine with coverage of rural, mountain, and travel destinations. Broad incumbent with overlapping themes (travel, food, regional culture) but a national rather than regional audience.
• Backpacker Magazine: National outdoor adventure and hiking magazine with strong Appalachian trail coverage. Comparable as a periodical targeting outdoor enthusiasts, though serving a national rather than regional audience.
• Southern Living: Flagship regional lifestyle magazine covering the entire American South, published by Dotdash Meredith. Broad incumbent whose Southern travel and lifestyle coverage partially overlaps Smoky Mountain Living's footprint but at a national, multi-state scale.

Direct peers

• Smoky Mountain News: Long-running regional publication covering Western North Carolina, including the same Smoky Mountains territory Smoky Mountain Living serves. Directly comparable as a regional media outlet targeting the same geographic and lifestyle audience through both editorial and advertising.
• Our State Magazine: North Carolina-focused regional lifestyle magazine covering travel, food, and culture. Direct peer in the regional lifestyle magazine category, sharing a Southern/mountain subject area, subscription model, and newsstand presence.
• Blue Ridge Country: Bimonthly regional magazine celebrating the Blue Ridge and southern Appalachian mountains. Closely comparable to Smoky Mountain Living in subject matter (Appalachian travel, outdoors, culture), cadence, and regional/national distribution model.
• Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine: Regional outdoor and adventure magazine covering the southern Appalachians. Directly comparable as a print and digital regional title whose outdoor and travel content overlaps heavily with Smoky Mountain Living's outdoors and travel verticals.

Emerging players

• Appalachian Heritage: Literary and cultural journal focused on Appalachian life, history, and arts. Niche peer whose cultural and storytelling content intersects with Smoky Mountain Living's "Stories" and regional arts coverage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/smokymtnliving
• Facebookfacebook.com/smokymtnliving
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smoky-mountain-living

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Smoky Mountain Living