The Business of Magazines

[caioherrero]

What's also interesting is that their issues of Vogue are very large by today's standards (I believe Vogue Philippines had the second-largest September issue after Korea, with over 400 pages). I'm not sure if they have the same budget systems regarding advertising/editorial ratio as magazines in America, though (which determines the total page count at most American magazines).

Whats the budget system?

 

[NYLA22]

Whats the budget system?

The amount of advertising pages determines the amount of editorial pages (ad pages = budget), which is why American Vogue is so small these days (because print advertising has fallen off a cliff the past decade).

 

[crmsn]

What's also interesting is that their issues of Vogue are very large by today's standards

It's only their September issues that are thick. They usually have 148-160 pages every month (their October 2025 issue has 156 pages).

 

[Rigida]

What's also interesting is that their issues of Vogue are very large by today's standards (I believe Vogue Philippines had the second-largest September issue after Korea, with over 400 pages). I'm not sure if they have the same budget systems regarding advertising/editorial ratio as magazines in America, though (which determines the total page count at most American magazines).

Cmiiw, but I think Vogue Korea is the only one that is still very thick by today's standards month after month. Probably because they're doing a lot of advertorials inside disguised as fashion editorials, and because of Kpop stars inside their issue might help their sales..??

and I think US Vogue should relax their ad/editorial ratio. They're doing a lot of shared contents now so they prob don't have to spend more money to produce more contents / editorials. 60-70 pages of content per issue is abysmal..

 

[NYLA22]

Cmiiw, but I think Vogue Korea is the only one that is still very thick by today's standards month after month. Probably because they're doing a lot of advertorials inside disguised as fashion editorials, and because of Kpop stars inside their issue might help their sales..??

and I think US Vogue should relax their ad/editorial ratio. They're doing a lot of shared contents now so they prob don't have to spend more money to produce more contents / editorials. 60-70 pages of content per issue is abysmal..

Well, apparently that is the goal of Chloe Malle. To have fewer issues, but the same number of overall pages per year, so that each issue is thicker with more pages per issue. I believe American Vogue is going from 10 to 8 issues a year.

 

[tigerrouge]

I wonder how that will affect the cycle of reprints for any Vogue edition that will continue to put out 10 or 12 issues a year.

Also, UK Conde Nast are starting to introduce their promos about subscriptions for Christmas, and there's no mention of how many issues you'll be getting in your yearly subscription for Vanity Fair, but presumably it'll be operating on the same reduced schedule as the US version.

 

[MModa]

I wonder how that will affect the cycle of reprints for any Vogue edition that will continue to put out 10 or 12 issues a year.

Also, UK Conde Nast are starting to introduce their promos about subscriptions for Christmas, and there's no mention of how many issues you'll be getting in your yearly subscription for Vanity Fair, but presumably it'll be operating on the same reduced schedule as the US version.

Hopefully 2026 will bring an end to reprints.

 

[callmejaeden]

I'm not sure if this is an error, but the Condé Nast advertising website lists South Africa as a market for Vogue. Could Vogue South Africa be coming soon?!

 

[callmejaeden]

Harper's Bazaar France / 2025 circulation (Feb-Jun)
Alongside a comparison of the circulation in 2023 and 2024. All numbers from acpm.fr

Spoiler

2023
March: 46,013 (Eliza Dau, Loli Bahia, Rebecca Leigh Longendyke, Jeanne Cadieu)
April: 17,671 (Rianne Van Rompaey)
May: 18,291 (Imaan Hammam)
June/July: 22,055 (Awar Odhiang, Angelina Kendall, Eva Herzigova, Jill Kortleve)
August: 83,086 (Laetitia Casta)
September: 74,979 (Catherine Denevue)
October: 78,306 (Amelia Gray)
November: 90,302 (Vanessa Paradis)
December/January: 108,177 (Loli Bahia, Charlotte Gainsbourg)
Total: 538,880

2024
February: 72,685 (Karolina Spakowski)
March: 75,384 (Edie Campbell, Kate Moss, Iselin Steiro)
April: 71,647 (Kaia Gerber)
May: 76,960 (Mica Arganaraz, Naomi Campbell)
June/July: 83,365 (Devyn Garcia, Angelina Kendall, Ella McCutcheon, Awar Odhiang)
August: 71,715 (Zaho de Sagazan)
September: 42,354 (Layla Etengan, Mathilda Gvarliani)
October: 46,930 (Małgosia Bela, Irina Shayk)
November: 37,009 (Gigi Hadid)
December/January: 23,645 (Laetitia Casta)
Total: 601,694

2025
February: 35,600 (Charlotte Gainsbourg)
March: 41,699 (Rihanna, Lulu Tenney)
April: 58,381 (Rianne Van Rompaey)
May: 55,892 (Nastassia Legrand)
June/July: 114,556 (Rebecca Leigh Longendyke)

Note: I have no clue why Bazaar's numbers bounce around like a yo-yo; I couldn't find any noticeable pattern in the circulation documents. Subscriber numbers have risen somewhat steadily since 2023. However, print purchases and digital change wildly every month. Is Bazaar abnormal, or is French Vogue actually the outlier with stable and similar numbers every month?

 

[MModa]

December/January: 23,645 (Laetitia Casta)

I am not surprised that this issue ended up being on a negative in terms of sales. The cover by Teller was so luckluster. There needs to be a visual desire in order for a cover to sell.

 

[tigerrouge]

These days, I notice that newsstand copies of UK Vogue often come with a free gift, like a notebook, which never used to happen with Vogue ('free gift with purchase' used to be the remit of magazines like UK Elle or Glamour).

Then there's also Hearst's newsstand strategy of the multipack deal, where you get UK Elle and Bazaar packaged together for a reduced price.

Does French Bazaar come with any extras to entice newsstand buyers for certain months? Does it ever come in a multipack alongside a more popular title?

 

[MModa]

These days, I notice that newsstand copies of UK Vogue often come with a free gift, like a notebook, which never used to happen with Vogue ('free gift with purchase' used to be the remit of magazines like UK Elle or Glamour).

Then there's also Hearst's newsstand strategy of the multipack deal, where you get UK Elle and Bazaar packaged together for a reduced price.

Does French Bazaar come with any extras to entice newsstand buyers for certain months? Does it ever come in a multipack alongside a more popular title?

Yes, I do not remember the specific product inside (maybe a tote) but I have seen French Bazaar wrapped with an extra.

 

[Xone]

Yes, I do not remember the specific product inside (maybe a tote) but I have seen French Bazaar wrapped with an extra.

Here in Italy comes alone haha

 

[MModa]

Here in Italy comes alone haha

French Bazaar might be selling both individual issues and occasionally wrapping them with gifts in France.

 

[MModa]

Can anyone post the BoF article How WSJ. Magazine Is Expanding Beyond Its Base by Diana Pearl? (October 30, 2025)

 

[callmejaeden]

Can anyone post the BoF article How WSJ. Magazine Is Expanding Beyond Its Base by Diana Pearl? (October 30, 2025)

How WSJ. Magazine Is Expanding Beyond Its Base​

Just over two years after taking over at WSJ., Sarah Ball said the publication’s monthly subscriptions have more than quadrupled. Her content strategy has focused on expanding the magazine’s focus on wealth and luxury to a wider audience.

Sarah Ball, the editor-in-chief of WSJ. Magazine, at the publication's annual Innovator Awards (Courtesy)

By DIANA PEARL
30 October 2025

KEY INSIGHTS​

• Since Sarah Ball took the reins at WSJ. Magazine two years ago, she's grown the publication's readership by spotlighting younger figures, like Hailey Bieber and Sydney Sweeney.
• At the same time, coverage has remain rooted in the subjects of the most interest to its readers, including luxury, wealth and business.
• That balance was on display at the magazine's annual Innovators Awards event in Manhattan on Wednesday evening.

The average reader of WSJ. Magazine has a net worth north of $3 million, according to the publication.
That has its advantages: its pages are still filled with advertisements for luxury brands, even as the industry has cut back on marketing amid slumping sales. Aspirational shoppers might be splurging less, but that’s not true of the 4.3 million-strong audience for The Wall Street Journal’s glossy, with over 933,000 print subscribers.
It’s a perfect recipe for complacency at a time when luxury brands are laser-focused on appealing to wealthy consumers. But Sarah Ball, who took over as editor-in-chief of WSJ. in the summer of 2023, succeeding longtime editor Kristina O’Neill, said she wants to broaden the definition of who her reader is.
The magazine is profiling more Millennial and Gen-Z movers and shakers, like actress Sydney Sweeney, “Call Her Daddy” podcast host Alex Cooper and TikTokker extraordinaire Alix Earle. Though their names might be unfamiliar to the Journal’s longtime audience, Ball said their job is to contextualise them for those subscribers by showcasing “the business justification for their success” — while simultaneously bringing in new readers.
“We’re speaking to that C-suite executive who wants to know the latest in how to use influencer marketing,” she said. “But then we’re also trying to speak to young people who maybe don’t know The Wall Street Journal does cool profiles like this.”
Striking that balance has been at the core of Ball’s strategy for reshaping the publication over the past two years. Her goal is to publish a “really juicy, shareable story” every week that reflects its traditional readership’s interests — namely, wealth, from how to build it (and who is doing so) to how those who have it are using it — but packaged in a way that can also speak to a younger audience. Many stories are lighthearted and even fun, from a feature on pumpkin stylists for your stoop to a trend piece on the growing size of engagement ring stones.
“We tell stories about luxury and wealth that are aspirational, but we also tell stories about the dark side and the challenges,” she said, pointing to an article published at the end of August about entertainment mogul David Geffen’s divorce battle and the finances at stake, with input from his friends.
The magazine is also paying more attention to categories it historically hasn’t covered as much, but where it sees both a content and commercial opportunity. For example, Ball has ramped up coverage of the jewellery sector — currently a standout performer — because “readers are really interested in it.” That, in turn, makes the magazine more appealing to those advertisers, she added. Luxury beauty, too, has become more of a priority: The September cover starring Sydney Sweeney was the first time the magazine included beauty credits alongside a shoot.
It’s even reflected in the staffers she’s hired: Vogue veteran Willow Lindley, for example, joined as style director this past spring, but so did head of creative Matteo Mobilio, who previously worked at digital-first, streetwear-centric publication Highsnobiety.
That balance was on display at Wednesday night’s Innovator Awards, the magazine’s tentpole event, now in its 11th year. Honouring standout players in a variety of sectors — beauty, film, fashion, philanthropy — this year’s batch runs the gamut from Gen-Z favourites like Hailey Bieber and Billie Eilish to names perhaps better known to the Journal’s core readership, including George Lucas, Hèrmes designer Nadège Vanhée and Spike Lee.
Held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, this year’s awards ceremony was draped in purple, with autumnal florals positioned throughout. The magazine hosted a list of notable names, including supermodels Karlie Kloss and Karen Elson; Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vacarello, “Severance” stars Adam Scott and Britt Lower; honoree Priscilla Chan Zuckerberg and her husband, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg; designer Tory Burch and Instagram head of fashion partnerships Eva Chen. It was a mix of fashion industry insider mingling and unexpected moments — winners, for example, were surprised with Labubu lookalikes of their covers, designed by a Broadway costume designer.
“I just wanted to bring a little bit more sense of play, even though it is a more formal evening,” she said.
That balance of whimsy and tradition is at the heart of her strategy for the magazine, which so far, is resonating: Subscription sales driven by the magazine’s stories have grown fourfold since Ball took over, and the publication has exceeded its revenue targets two years in a row.
And while aligning with stars like Eilish and Bieber, as well as popping up at buzzy events like the US Open, helps them appeal to younger readers, the attraction, she noted, goes both ways. Young stars are equally as excited to be featured in WSJ. because it lends them a sense of gravitas and legitimacy.
“People crave being taken seriously, and we are very happy to take people seriously,” she said.

businessoffashion.com

 

[MModa]

Thank you so much @callmejaeden for the article!

 

[aguires]

Can anyone post the BoF article "High Margin: How 'Perfect' Makes Magazines Work"?
I'm very curious about it.

 

[mikel]

archive.ph is a very useful site to access content behind a paywall

 

[NYLA22]

archive.ph is a very useful site to access content behind a paywall

It doesn't work with BoF though. I have tried more than once lol