Check Out All of the Winners in the Print Category From This Year’s Hot List

Joanna Coles, Cosmopolitan  

Photo: Jeremy Goldberg: Shot on location @ NYLO New York City

Joanna Coles’ influence has extended far beyond sex and relationship tips. She’s become a prominent fixture on the Washington circuit, this year hosting a table at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where her guests included Game of Thrones hunk Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Since taking the helm last year, she has transcended the role of editor in chief of America’s largest women’s magazine to become a true political and cultural power player. She’s brought on Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg as careers editor and played a key role in the launch of Miley Cyrus 2.0—the starlet, who calls Coles “Boo,” made her high-fashion debut on the magazine’s Rachel Zoe-styled March cover. As comfortable talking about gun control and abortion rights as sexual positions, Coles is the epitome of the Cosmo Woman in 2013.

Howard Mittman, Wired

Photo: Ben Shaul

Bucking the challenges that continue to bedevil the business of print, Wired’s Howard Mittman is making bold moves to ensure that the brand will survive and thrive long into the future. Under his leadership, Wired has become one of the top five revenue producers inside Condé Nast, fueled by a growing print and digital audience, robust conference business and branded content via the new division Amplifi. It also dived into retail with an e-commerce venture with MasterCard that lets readers shop straight from the magazine’s iPad app, plus a deal with Target that has Wired editors giving their imprimatur to select products. All the while, Mittman deftly navigated an editor change after Condé Nast tablet guru Scott Dadich moved over last fall to fill the shoes of longtime Wired EIC Chris Anderson. Consumers are responding, with total circulation rising 1.7 percent to 851,823 in the first half of the year.

Cosmopolitan

With a reach of 17 million, Cosmo has long been the crown jewel of the Hearst Magazines empire. It lost some luster in recent years relying on the same old salacious headlines and steamy photos. But that changed with the arrival of Joanna Coles, who added political coverage, career advice and higher-end fashion edit to the mix. The Cosmo universe is still expanding, with plans for conferences, a TV series and more. Advertisers and readers alike applaud the new direction: Ad pages shot up 6.2 percent this year versus last, while subscription sales grew 20 percent in the first half.

Readers' Choice Poll
Wired

WSJ.

The Wall Street Journal’s acronymic supplement WSJ. (and don’t leave off the period) has emerged as a serious player in the field of lifestyle magazines. Under the editorship of Harper’s Bazaar alum Kristina O’Neill (who took the reins last year after Deborah Needleman defected to The New York Times’ T), WSJ.’s frequency has grown to 11 issues (12 are planned for 2014) and attracted influential contributors like Karl Lagerfeld and Marina Abramovic. Advertisers are loving the new direction as much as readers, with ad pages growing 19 percent this year versus last.

Readers' Choice Poll
Reader’s Digest

Wired

Wired will get nearly half its ad revenue from digital this year, one of a handful of magazines that can make that claim. Digital circ in the first half of this year hit 102,450, up 49 percent versus last year. Wired also expanded its native ad business, working with accounts such as Fiat and Mercedes-Benz. It also created a crowdsourced tablet magazine for Cisco that generated some 10,000 downloads. Meanwhile, the brand also made a splash in Web video with the launch of six original series.

Readers' Choice Poll
Wired

Southern Living

The South is hot—and nobody knows that better than Southern Living. Time Inc.’s Alabama-based lifestyle title, with a total circulation of 2.8 million, has built an empire that extends far beyond print. From retail lines to live events and an annual show house, the magazine has found a way to fuse every aspect of readers’ lives with its singular brand of Southern chic. And with its latest extension, the Southern Living Hotel Collection, readers can even enjoy the Southern Living experience when on the road.

Readers' Choice Poll
Southern Living

Afar

Since its launch in 2009, Afar has become the go-to guide for travel that’s off the beaten path. It branched out into guided trips, dubbed Afar Experiences, featuring destinations from Johannesburg to Sydney. With its weighty paper stock and lush photography, there’s no question Afar has resonated—total circ in the first half soared 31 percent to 205,399, while ad pages for the year grew 5.9 percent versus 2012.

Readers' Choice Poll
Travel + Leisure

Harper’s Bazaar

It is a rare thing for a magazine to execute a successful revival without overhauling its editorial ranks. Yet that’s exactly what Hearst’s 146-year-old Harper’s Bazaar did under the leadership of Glenda Bailey, editor in chief of more than a dozen years. Following a dramatic redesign in March 2012, other ambitious moves included tapping iconic French editor Carine Roitfeld as global fashion director and the launch an e-commerce site. Publisher Carol Smith has translated all the editorial excitement into smashing ad results, with ad pages up 12.5 percent this year versus last, including Bazaar’s record-setting September issue.

Readers' Choice Poll
Brides

Teen Vogue

With an audience of the most tech-savvy, trend-conscious consumers around—also known as teenage girls—Teen Vogue has always set the bar high when it comes to social media. With nearly 2 million Twitter followers, a half-million Instagram followers and 2.3 million Facebook fans, it has positioned itself as a go-to forum for style-conscious teens.

Readers' Choice Poll
People

HGTV Magazine

Just two years since its wildly popular first test issue (demand was so high it had to be reprinted), HGTV Magazine’s success is still building. Following a stunning 176 percent increase in ad pages this year versus last and a 54 percent circulation bump in the first half, HGTV is prepping another uptick in the rate base—to 1 million from 800,000 with the January/February 2014 issue. Following in the footsteps of sibling Food Network Magazine, HGTV again proves that the combined power of a popular Scripps-owned cable network and the lifestyle know-how of Hearst is a sharp blueprint.

Readers' Choice Poll
DuJour

The Atlantic

The Atlantic doesn’t just offer a fresh take on current events and the culture but on digital, too. This year brought a video series, a redesigned website and The Atlantic Weekly, an ad-free iPad edition. Despite an ill-advised native ad for Scientology, The Atlantic remains a model of the buzzy native category, on track to contribute half of ad revenue this year. Plus, it took National Magazine Awards for Essays and Criticism and Best Website.

Readers' Choice Poll
National Geographic

Bon Appétit

Two years after its revamping, Bon Appétit is still on the rise. Ad pages surged 22 percent this year versus last, with a quarter of that business coming from nonendemic advertisers. Under star editor in chief Adam Rapoport, Bon App continues to forge collaborations with celebrity chefs as well as designers. Clearly, the critics and the magazine’s peers approve: This year brought a James Beard Foundation Award and six National Magazine Award nominations.

Readers' Choice Poll
Cooking With Paula Deen

Esquire

Ever since editor in chief David Granger put flashing letters on the cover of the 75th anniversary issue in 2008, Esquire has pushed the idea of what it means to be a magazine. This year, it turned out a weekly mobile app, experimented with selling a cover story online for $1.99, and put more than 100 stories behind a paywall. The launch of the Esquire Network put the brand in 75 million TV homes. Next: the magazine ups its rate base to 725,000 from 700,000 in 2014.

Readers' Choice Poll
Men’s Health

Sports Illustrated

When Time Inc.’s Sports Illustrated ended its traffic partnership with CNN this year, some thought it might make for a hiccup for the leading sports mag. Instead, traffic shot up 10 percent YOY, even after the loss of the network’s referrals. SI also launched a stand-alone site, The MMQB, as it moved aggressively into video with two live Web shows: SI Now and Pro Football Now. And the brand did not disappoint when it comes to the journalism that is its hallmark, producing buzzy content like the Jason Collins coup and a dramatic Boston Marathon cover.

Readers' Choice Poll
Sports Illustrated

People

Seeing as the latest news about Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber is now available to anyone at anytime for free on an endless stream of websites and TV shows, the celebrity weekly has become a challenged business, to say the least. And yet People, the granddaddy of the category and long the financial workhorse of Time Inc., is still a juicy story. Ad pages are up 5 percent through September. And it hasn’t let itself get fat and happy when it comes to exploring new revenue models, trying out tiered subscription offers ranging from $10 to $200.

Readers' Choice Poll
People

Forbes

The editorial purists tut-tutted when Forbes launched the AdVoice (now BrandVoice) platform three years ago. But with everybody suddenly jumping on the native-ad bandwagon, Forbes now appears prescient. Digital revenue there has now surpassed print, fueled by BrandVoice, which is expected to contribute one-fifth of Forbes’ ad revenue this year and 30 percent next. Add a booming conference business (nine this year, up from four in 2010) and new international editions (33, up from eight in 2008), and Forbes is on track for its most profitable year in the past six years, fueling the company’s decision to explore a sale.

Readers' Choice Poll
Entrepreneur

Rolling Stone

To some, he came off like a rock star. To others, his was the face of pure evil. Hands down the most memorable cover of the year is the Aug. 1 issue of Rolling Stone featuring accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Critics and advertisers howled that the mag was glamorizing a terrorist, and retailers like CVS pulled it. Still, the issue sold twice the number of copies at the newsstand as usual, proving again that while sex sells, controversy does, too.

Readers' Choice Poll
People—Royal Baby (August 5)

Men’s Fitness

Photo: Michael Clinard

You sure won’t get results on the StairMaster this quickly. Men’s Fitness was your basic workout guide for gym rats—until American Media Inc. enlisted David Zinczenko to spin it into a full-blown, upscale lifestyle manual for dudes. Following his icky split from Rodale and Men’s Health, Zinczenko imported his adrenaline-fueled formula at Men’s Fitness, employing irresistible cover lines like “Her Most Intimate Secret Sex Spot.” What followed was a 20 percent bump in newsstand sales in the first half, while for full-year 2013 the magazine grew ad pages a beefy 29 percent thanks to gains in fashion and grooming. A rate base hike to 600,000 from 550,000 comes with the January/February issue.

Readers' Choice Poll
Good Housekeeping

Martha Stewart Living

Photo: Michael Clinard

Never underestimate the power of the Martha Stewart brand. No matter how many times the domestic diva is counted out, she bounces back as strong as ever. (Take her most recent role as “something of a patron saint for entrepreneurial hipsters,” according to The New York Times.) The same resilience applies to her flagship magazine, Martha Stewart Living, which, after years of unremarkable performance, underwent a millennial-friendly redesign this past summer. Among the best-received changes: more how-to content and a modernized layout, plus easily digestible video clips online. Business is booming: Ad pages in Living (including the Everyday Food insert, published five times this year) grew 15.6 percent in 2013.

Readers' Choice Poll
All You

View the 2013 Hot List winners here: TV | Digital