Mr. Magazine

People keep asking me how are you sure that the numbers you report about the new magazines are accurate. My simple answer is that I don’t. I only report the numbers, only and only if, I have an actual physical issue of the new magazine. I do not depend on announcements, other web sites, or even the Magazine Publishers of America (MPA). Last week the MPA said that 262 magazine launches were announced in 2006 up 2% from the previous year…They say they include only magazines with frequency of four times or more. Yet, I see Vogue Living is listed as a new magazine. I count all magazines including the special one shots like Vogue Living in all my counts. They don’t, except maybe in the case of Vogue Living. But, even if I go by the MPA definitions of what a magazine is, my final count for 2006 stands at 332 new titles published four times or more from a total of 901 titles. In either case the numbers of 2006 are down from 2005 and not up. In 2005 there were 350 new titles published four times or more from a total of 1013 new titles. As I mentioned earlier, all of the numbers mentioned in all my stats and books are based on actual physical first editions and you can see each and every one of them on my web site and in my new book Samir Husni’s Guide to New Magazines, Vol. 22.