As the shift continues at the nation’s newsstands from regularly published magazines to book-a-zines, one can see as we enter 2023 that the future of ink on paper is going to be with those single topic, high-priced publications.  They are everywhere: at the checkouts and at the mainlines.  They cover every conceivable topic from Inside the Mind of Your Dog to Inside the Mind of Your Cat and everything in between. The cover price of these publications ranges between a low of $9.99 to a high of $14.99.  Some of these publications are second, third and even fourth printing.  All returning to the newsstands by “popular demand.”

So can the aforementioned be the reason for the drop in the total of new magazines published with a regular frequency?  Well, the simple and short answer is YES.  A crowded marketplace combined with the three headwinds (paper shortage, printing cost, and postage rates)  publishers had to deal with in 2022, kept the major remaining publishers from entering the new magazine field (in fact just the opposite happened for the major publishers, they folded some of the existing magazines that they have), and those publishers focused more on the book-a-zine market.  

My sources tell me that the two major publishers Dotdash Meredith and a360 media now control 60% of the book-a-zine marketplace.  Well, for those of us who recall the “golden age of magazines” in the 1980s and 1990s, you will remember that Meredith used to be a leader in publishing what was called back then SIPs or special interest publications.  Those SIPs were used as a test before that SIP was changed to a regularly published magazine.  Country Home comes to mind as one of those SIPs later becoming a magazine with frequency.  a360 media is doing now the same with their book-a-zines such as Feel Free, Steam+ and Gold Buckle (all introduced as new magazines in 2022).

So here is a recap of what I wrote in an earlier blog late last year:

The new magazine launches of 2022 were as cold as the arctic weather that hit the nation in the last few days of December.  In 2020 the number of new magazines dropped to 60 titles, but then we had COVID 19 to blame.  In 2021 the number of new launches doubled and some more to 122.  But in 2022 the number of the brave souls who launched new titles, or brought old ones back to life stopped at 74 new titles.

I asked Doug Olson, the president of a360 Media, about his reaction to the aforementioned news. His answer, “2022 was a year of perseverance for the magazine industry. Through hard work, leadership, and continued innovation, the industry navigated input costs, advertiser supply chain issues, labor shortages, and unprecedented consumer inflation in ways that position the industry for a successful 2023!” 

Whether 2023 will see an improvement in the number of new title launches or not is yet to be seen.  What is for sure is that the so called book-a-zines or special interest publications have taken over the nation’s newsstands squeezing out both the established regularly published magazines and the arriving newbies.

Never in my recent memories have I walk into a newsstand and left empty handed.  Twice in 2022 that happened, to the surprise of my wife.  “You mean you did not find a single new magazine,” she asked with honest surprise on her face.  

But, enough of the doom and gloom, let us concentrate on the bright side of the new magazine world and on the brave souls who still believe in ink on paper in addition to all things digital.  Those brave souls were let by Alan Katz and his The Mountains magazine.  The Mountains is an example of how a print magazine is and should be done.  High quality writing, photography and design, The Mountains: From The Catskills To The Berkshires,  deserves to be the 2022 Launch of the Year.  Although it is a regional magazine, its content is one of the best I have seen in some time.  Whether you live in the mountains or in the valleys, The Mountains and its team is the magazine for those who enjoy a lean back and relax kind of read with pages of experiences and not mere content.

As for the rest of the new magazines of 2022, here is the breakdown of the categories of the new magazine launches of last year:

Total US Print Magazines Launched By Category In 2022*

16 Special Interest 

10 Sex

08 Women’s

07 Arts & Literary

05 Metro & Regional

05 Home

05 Crafts/Games/Hobbies

05 Black/Ethnic

04 Auto, Motorcycle, & Bikes 

03 Food

02 Children’s 

01 Travel

01 Music

01 Men’s

01 Hunting & Fishing

*A total of 74 new magazines were launched in 2022 compared to 122 in 2021 and 60 in 2020.