Even in our digital age, print magazines continue to be published, printed, and read by millions of people. With more than 7,400 magazines in print and dozens of magazine types available, there is a publication for every interest, hobby, or profession. Magazine publishing lets you share high-quality information with your readers. If you’re interested in magazine publishing, this list may help you choose your preferred topic.
Magazine Publishing Types
When you talk about magazine publishing, you’re talking about a wide range of possibilities. What subject would you like your magazine to cover? Here are some typical magazine types that people regularly buy and read.
Cooking
From recipes to chef profiles, cooking magazines bring you practical, how-to articles and news of the culinary world. People who enjoy creating everything from family meals to fine dining rely on these popular magazine types. The best-known include Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, and Taste of Home.
Art
Lovers and collectors of art enjoy reading about their favorite artists, museum trends, and news of the art world. Some well-known art magazine publishing types include Beautiful Bizarre, Apollo, and Art in America, which has been in publication since 1913.
Celebrity News
Magazine publishing that delivers news about celebrities are among the most popular in the country. They put us in touch with the news, scandals, and gossip about our favorite famous people. The best-known of these magazine types include People, Us Weekly, and Life & Style.
Health and Fitness
The health field has boomed in the last few decades, and health magazine publishing has been there to document every new finding. These magazines deliver information on ways to eat healthy and prevent diseases. Some of the top publications in this category are Prevention, Men’s Health, Runner’s World, Yoga Journal, and Shape.
Lifestyle
Whatever your lifestyle is, you can find a magazine that celebrates it. Many people turn to these magazines to learn how to live according to their values and personal beliefs. This is a large category, but some well-known examples are Southern Living, Country Life, Martha Stewart Living, Christianity Today, and Mother Earth News.
Fashion
Fashion magazines continue to dominate the magazine printing world. These magazines bring readers the latest looks from the runway, show how to incorporate trends, and analyze the business of fashion. Top names include W, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Allure.
Travel
Travel magazine publishing allows us to explore the world from the comfort of our homes. Subscribers enjoy reading about all the places in the world they can visit. These magazines also provide tips and reviews that make it easier to plan our own trips. Some famous examples are Conde Nast Traveler, National Geographic, and Travel & Leisure.
Parenting
Parents often need a helping hand, and millions of them turn to magazines for that help. These magazines cover children’s growth stages, review products for children, and offer support to families. They include Parents Magazine, American Baby, and Working Mother.
Women’s Issues
There are many titles aimed at women. These might be magazines that focus on women’s political and social issues, or they might be aimed at working women. Others show women how to get more out of their lives and relationships. Among them are Good Housekeeping, Working Woman, First for Women, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan.
Automotive
Auto magazine publishing is aimed at people who enjoy reading about new models, new advances in car manufacturing, and other news. Collectors and driving enthusiasts can share their passion with other car lovers. Some of these roadworthy publications are Car & Driver, Motor Trend, and Hemmings Motor News
In-Depth Features
Magazine publishing is a natural for in-depth features and investigative reporting. The longer article length combines with documents and photos to create a multi-layered reading experience. Some of the best-known magazines in this category are Vanity Fair, New Yorker, Time, and Harper’s.
Sports
Sports coverage gets the full-length treatment in magazines that cover the leagues, the players, and the news. Some of them focus on a single sport, while others look at sports in general. Some examples are Sports Illustrated, Boxing News, and Tennis.
The Future of Magazine Publishing Is Bright
Although printed publications have lost readership in the past decade, magazine publishing continued to have a strong showing. There are more than 220 million magazine readers in the U.S, and the average popular magazine reaches more than 50 million people monthly. In 2021, more than 100 new print magazines launched.
How has magazine publishing managed to stand strong in the face of fierce competition? Here’s a rundown of why magazines still matter to many readers.
1. People Consider Magazines Trustworthy
Surveys have found that people consider print to be the most trustworthy source of news and information. Magazines are not just collections of random snippets from sometimes dubious sources. They are curated by editors who are experts in their field. Under these editors, magazine staffers sift through information, hire writers, check facts, and collect the right images to tell each story. People feel they can trust what they’re reading because it has been through this editorial process.
When you pick up a favorite magazine, you know what to expect, but you also know that every issue is new and different. Glancing at the cover, you know you’ll find several articles worth reading and at least one that you can’t wait to read. Magazines deliver what they promise, and that makes them a reliable source of enjoyment and learning.
2. Magazines Engage Us Mentally
The average reader of a printed magazine is far more focused and engaged than someone reading an online article. Most of us skim digital articles, which are written and laid out with that lack of engagement in mind.
By contrast, a printed magazine holds our focus the way a printed book does. We find ourselves immersed in the world created by the magazine’s words and pictures. When you read a cooking or lifestyle magazine, you imagine using the information you’ve learned to create beautiful meals that you share in a beautiful setting. When you read a car magazine, you might imagine how it feels to drive that new or classic car on an open road. You may never actually do those things, but you will put the knowledge to use in some other way. At the very least, you’ll have a sense of what you’d like your life to look like.
Even so-called serious magazines have that same effect. Reading the details of a real-life crime story, the life story of an interesting person, or an investigation into political corruption, for instance, is to feel you’re learning something valuable that inspires a range of emotional reactions.
3. We Connect Emotionally with Magazines
As you read a magazine, you may experience a range of emotions evoked by the pictures, the text, and the visual layout. Magazine publishing uses many techniques to draw readers in.
People keep magazines for a long time. Most subscribers keep their current issue around at least until the new one arrives. Some people keep their magazines for months, and many people share their magazines with others. It’s common for people to clip articles and save them for reference. Magazines are an information source, but they’re also an emotional touchpoint for many readers.
4. Readers Like the Feel of Magazines
People like books because of the way books engage their senses. The act of turning pages is enjoyable. We like the way the paper feels, and we even like the way books smell. Magazine publishing offers the same experience. It’s enjoyable to turn the pages of a magazine, and the freshly printed pages have a unique, pleasant smell. Every page brings us to an interesting layout or a great-looking photo. Even the ads in a printed magazine are often beautiful.
5. Magazines Offer a Learning Experience
The average reader spends half an hour reading a printed magazine article and only two minutes reading an online article. That’s a stark difference. As we said earlier, a digital article doesn’t have the same ability to make you focus and demand your mental engagement.
The multidimensional aspect of magazines makes them enjoyable to read. It also means that we engage in active learning when we read them. Reading printed material always results in better recall than reading something online. Because we spend more time with a magazine, we learn the material better and have better recall of it later.
Get Started with Magazine Publishing
Successful magazine publishing starts with expert print services. When you’re ready, contact Dazzle Printing. We offer high-quality, full-color printing services at affordable rates. To get an estimate, use our online pricing calculators, or call us today.
