Single copy sales way down last year and how this affects writers.

February 14, 2001 - Except for one six month period in 1998, newsstand sales for magazines have not been as bad as in the last six months of 2000 in ten years.

This report comes from magazine publishing guru Dan Capell of Capell's Circulation Report. As a matter of fact, Capell states that the drop in circulation from 1999 could be "the worst year-to-year performance in the 15 years that I've been tracking these numbers."

The official circulation-monitoring company, The Audit Bureau of Circulations, also reports single-copy sales are down as well as total paid circulation, which includes newsstand and subscription sales. The ABC audits the circulation figures for member magazines to provide verifiable numbers to prospective advertisers.

Other entities, however, dispute the sales slump. Wenner Media's (Rolling Stone, Men's Journal and US) general manager, Kent Brownridge, comments in the Folio First Day newsletter: "My recollection is that single-copy sales always go down because new magazines, which represents the gains in our business, are not measured by ABC." And Ann Finn, executive VP of consumer marketing for the Magazine Publishers of America, a trade group of magazine publishers, told the same publication: "You can't forget the huge launch of The Oprah Magazine. When you have something so strong on the newsstand, it's going to negatively impact other titles."

The last comment is interesting on its own, as it points out that the total universe of magazine readers has stayed constant in the last ten years and that new magazines must cannibalize existing magazines to grow.

But these reports, which are widely read by publishers and others involved in magazine management, will most definitely cause a stir. So, what is the fall-out for freelance writers?

As in any industry when sales show signs of slowing down, most managers go into knee-jerk cash-saving behavior. Any expenditure that is optional or can be reduced will be considered for elimination. Therefore, writers should definitely not expect increases in writing fees. Also, scrutinize your contracts because magazines will probably try to snare additional rights for no additional money. So when magazines sense hard times, writers should be even more attentive to details than before.