Numbers on magazine covers -- does it work in the US?

April 15, 2008 8:31 AM

Obscure publishing question related to numerals on covers...

I'm a British magazine journalist and one cast iron fact is that numbers on covers sell copies: 20 Top Tips! 100 Beauty Secrets! etc. Book publishers often do this too on instructive books.

I rarely see this in American publications. Why?

posted by humblepigeon to media & arts (7 comments total)

Depends on the publication, I suppose, but I see it all the time on women's magazines, which I peruse while standing in line at the grocery store.

Cosmo's always got a reliable "17 Ways to Drive Your Man Wild!"; Good Housekeeping has "Top Ten Best Hamburger Recipes!" or "Four Symptoms You Should See Your Doctor About". Even Yoga Journal will have something like "Seven Great Poses for Pregnancy!" or whatever.

What magazines are you looking at?
posted by rtha at 8:39 AM on April 15, 2008

Because numbers just confuse us.

But seriously, I see numbers on every other magazine cover here in the States. You might be looking at classier magazine than I'm used to. Or perhaps you're looking at subscriber versions of covers, which tend to have less crap on 'em because they're already sold. Do magazines still do the two-covers thing?
posted by Plug Dub In at 8:40 AM on April 15, 2008

UK magazines are primarily sold on the newsstand. North American magazines are, by comparison, largely sold by subscription. The exceptions are women's magazines, which you will find are covered in stories about 879 Spring Skirts You Must Have.

I'm trying to find stats to back up this statement, but no luck yet.
posted by girlpublisher at 9:15 AM on April 15, 2008

Okay so here's what I've got:

80% of UK magazines are sold on the newsstand says this article.

Only 30% of US magazines are sold on the newsstand according to the Magazine Publishers' Association (see page 16 of this handbook).

So, while numbers on covers drive sales up, there is less dependency on newsstand impulse purchases.
posted by girlpublisher at 9:25 AM on April 15, 2008

Thanks, girlpublisher. Excellent answer. I knew about the US subs model in the back of my mind but for some reason it didn't come forward to answer this question.

The question becomes why there are so many subs in the US, compared to the UK. I know the UK has one of the biggest magazine markets in the world (I remember reading that it's even bigger than the US), which is odd considering how small the UK is. IIRC the UK and Germany have the world's biggest magazine markets.
posted by humblepigeon at 10:12 AM on April 15, 2008

Numbers ARE a very big driver of POS purchase of magazines here in the U.S. as well. Just go into any Barnes & Noble or well-stocked supermarket (especially in the Midwest where the markets there devote large amounts of space to a newsstand) and you'll see those numbers on covers of home, beauty, entertainment and general interest magazines.

I work for a publisher, and this is an issue we follow all the time to make sure it still is an important factor in newsstand sales.
posted by schoenbc at 11:18 AM on April 15, 2008

The question becomes why there are so many subs in the US, compared to the UK.
humblepigeon: because thanks to the incredibly large national newspaper industry we have in this tiny land we have an extensive and deep distribution system for print media (there are more newsagents than post offices, and in more towns and villages).

It makes more sense and is cheaper for newsagents to handle the delivery of magazines, but none of this is true in America, where papers are generally regional and newsagents far less commonplace. Hence the subscription model (which is also markedly cheaper than UK subs)
posted by bonaldi at 1:53 PM on April 15, 2008