Publishers' FAQ > Sales and Distribution > Why doesn't my magazine make money through single-copy sales, even with healthy sell-through rates? How can I increase single copy sales?

Sales and Distribution Resources

Single-copy sales are rarely a money-making venture. In fact, many large commercial magazines knowingly take a loss on newsstand sales because these sales increase their paid circulation figures and allow them to charge higher rates for space advertising. Clearly this formula doesn't work for most literary magazines. The majority of literary magazines are very expensive to produce, and once the production, shipping/handling and staff time costs are weighed against single-copy income, breaking even--or making even modest gains--are notable achievements.

With this said, even though your newsstand sales probably aren't a major source of earned income, they are still worthwhile. "Visibility" is a fundamental asset to any magazine. For example, the impulse single-copy buyer may become a subscriber and the recipient of a direct response promotion is more likely to subscribe if she has at least heard of your magazine. There's even anecdotal evidence to suggest that "public" visibility will help keep your current subscribers loyal.

An often overlooked component of successful single-copy sales is "newsstand friendliness." For retail purposes, a magazine's cover is the best selling tool it's got. Ask yourself if your magazine is physically suitable for placement on bookstore racks or shelves. For example, is your logo strong and positioned so it can be identified if another magazine placed in front of it (top of page, left-hand side is probably best). Do you have a tag line that easily identifies the editorial content? Cover lines should always contrast with the background color and should be large enough to be read at six feet from the display. Bright colors tend to do better than subdued, and four-color images or photographs tend to do better than line drawings. Many literary magazines place their UPC code (and often price) on the back of the cover because they don't want to mar their cover art; distributors and retailers prefer the UPC code and most certainly the price of the magazine to be on the front cover. Some magazines place the price near their logo in the upper portion of the cover. The UPC code should be placed on the lower right quadrant.

Of course your success with single-copy sales will also largely depend on your distributor(s). And figuring out how your distributor operates is another matter altogether. In brief, you should keep fairly careful watch of your distributor's reports for a number of reasons:

1. You'll want to know where your magazine is selling well (or selling poorly) and work with your rep to increase draws when appropriate;
2. You may want to pass along information on retail outlets where you believe your magazine might do well (assuming the stores will work with your distributor); and finally,
3. you'll want to keep tabs on payments (some distributors are infamous for chronically late payments). Distributors should live by the payment schedule they quote in their contracts.

There are other methods of selling single copies. In addition to working with distributors, many magazines promote directly to bookstores (sometimes in person!). This direct approach seems to work especially well for regional magazines and genre magazines that can easily target appropriate retailers. Some magazines ask their contributors to provide names of bookstores to promote to. And increasingly, the Web is providing opportunities for single-copy sales. But of course all of this takes research and follow-through.

For more information on single-copy sales, the current state of magazine distribution, and a list of national and regional distributors, we recommend reading the CLMP Monograph, "Distribution for Literary Magazines."