THE Scots lifestyle magazine, Scottish Field, has enjoyed a year-on-year sales increase of almost 11 per cent, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation.
Says ABC, which issues magazine circulation figures twice a year, the Edinburgh-based monthly enjoyed an average 13,577 sales in December 2010 only to see its average increase to 15,035 (by 10.7 per cent) by December of last year.
However, among the Scots titles detailed in the ABC review, it was less good news for The Big Issue in Scotland magazine, which saw its year-on-year average fall from 13,234 to 8,971 – a drop of 32.2 per cent.
It’s believed it is the first time since 1987 that the monthly sale of Scottish Field has reached 15,000, and says editor, Richard Bath, much of the increase in sales was achieved by converting regular readers into subscribers. Newsstand sales are understood to have increased by nine per cent.
“It’s a great effort by the team,” said Bath. “We’ve focused on making the editorial interesting and challenging, while also showcasing the best that Scotland has to offer.”
Adds Bath, who is also a senior features writer at Scotland on Sunday newspaper and which sees him pen each week a restaurant review, a sports feature and a live sports report: “It has proved be a winning combination that has increased sales and brought the age-profile of the readership down significantly.”
The Scottish Field team is also behind last month’s relaunch of Scots Heritage, the quarterly subscription-only magazine for the Scots diaspora, which is also the official magazine of the Standing Council of Scottish (Clan) Chiefs.
Other well-known Scots magazines registered the following:
My Weekly – down 8.5 per cent, from 124,066 to 113,528
No.1 – down 6.8 per cent, from 18,666 to 17,395
The People’s Friend – down 6.8 per cent, from 257,348 to 239,920
The Scots Magazine – down 8.2 per cent, from 28,357 to 26,028
Times Educational Supplement Scotland – down 8.6 per cent, from 6,121 to 5,593
bunkered – up 1.1 per cent, from 24,029 to 24,295
Homes & Interiors Scotland – down 0.8 per cent per cent, from 10,232 to 10,149
The free arts, music and culture newspaper, The Skinny, was down 0.2 per cent, from 32,162 to 32,090, while the membership magazine, Scotland in Trust, was up, 2.4 per cent, from 179,970 to 184,129.
Among the comics published by DC Thomson, the figures read:
WWE Kids – up 21.3 per cent, from 25,268 to 30,644
Shout – down 23.4 per cent, from 57,884 to 44,360
Animals and You – down 10.3 per cent, from 32,376 to 29,054
Beano – down 5.9 per cent, from 38,333 to 36,081
Beano MAX – up 7.1 per cent, from 22,094 to 23,670
Jacqueline Wilson – up 1.8 per cent, from 45,569 to 46,370
