MELBOURNE: Schwartz Publishing, publisher of Black Inc books and Quarterly Essay has launched a national magazine focused on politics, society and the arts, titled The Monthly.
The first issue of The Monthly launched today (4 May) with full page advertisements in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian.
Publisher Morry Schwartz said the magazine would be similar in mood to the New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly. He said the magazine is unique in Australian publishing and faced competition only from newspaper inserted magazines such as The Good Weekend and The Weekend Australian Magazine.
"Free magazines in our weekend papers are the biggest problem for independent publishers in Australia," Schwartz said.
Text Media launched a similar fortnightly magazine, The Eye, in 1999 which folded after only 12 months.
The Monthly will have an initial print run of 50,000, but Schwartz believes in time this could grow to more than 70,000 every month.
"I’m very confident this is a magazine which has a place in Australia. I wouldn’t jump into it if I wasn’t sure," he said.
Schwartz Publishing is backing the launch of the magazine with an extensive marketing campaign, including full page ads in daily metropolitan newspapers and viral email campaigns. Schwartz said the publisher is prepared to spend as much as necessary for every potential reader to see the magazine.
The Monthly will target a primary audience of baby boomers and Gen Xers, however Schwartz said he was keen to tap into a younger demographic.
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