Burda fashion magazine

Hearst reaches for the stars; astrology title Jupiter targets young career women

Hearst reaches for the stars

N NEW YORK CITY--Today's working woman has magazines to tell her how to dress, how to launch a business and how to handle her personal relationships. What more could she want? A magazine that talks about her astrological chart, say the executives at Hearst Magazines.

Enter Jupiter, the newest Hearst product, which debuts December 5 on newsstands. The magazine, a joint venture with Burda Publications of West Germany, will contain profiles of celebrities with birthdays falling within the issue month. But emphasis will be placed on personal horoscopes because "people's first interest is in themselves," says Curtiss Anderson, editor of Hearst's magazine development division.

To differentiate Jupiter from many of the other horoscope titles on the market, Hearst is investing in glossy paper stock, four-color editorial and a standard trim size. Most other astrology titles are digest-size publications. Titles already on the market include Dell's horoscope and Astrology, published by Diamandis Communications.

In fact, Jupiter will carry the heaviest paper stock of any Hearst magazine on the newsstand, with text pages on 60-pound stock and the cover on 110-pound stock.

Perhaps Hearst can attract a different type of advertiser with its editorial package. Many astrology magazines rely primarily on mail-order ads, notes George Dillehay of the Jordan Group, a magazine consulting firm. Jupiter may be able to pick up a large number of display advertisers, he adds. At press time, the magazine was signing on advertisers, but Wolf says it is going after fashion and beauty, liquor, cigarettes and automobile advertisers. A black-and-white page costs $8,650; a four-color page, $11,500.

Jupiter may seem like a bold move for the company that publishes such titles as Sports Afield, Town & Country and Cosmopolitan, but studies indicate that readers of the last two look at the horoscope sections first. Cosmo's special January issue, "Bedside Astrologer," is its most popular.

Furthermore, the magazine's German version, out since January 1989, has become most popular with career women, according to Anderson. "We're assuming [our readership] will follow the pattern of another western country," he says. Circulation is 120,000 paid.

"We're looking to have fun with this," says Tom Wolf, publisher of Hearst's special publications group. The magazine might be considered a cross between People Weekly and Cosmopolitan.

There's room for an title that is glossier than many of the digest-size publications, which sell mainly in supermarkets, and the more serious astrology titles that appeal to dedicated astrology buffs, he says. That's not to say the developers are making light of the magazine's content: They're not to say the developers are making light of the magazine's content: They're hiring professional astrologers to write for it, Anderson says. At first, most will freelance, but one already works full-time on the three-member editorial team.

Burda began publishing the West German version and then approached Hearst with the suggestion of a partnership in America. "We saw the potential for something pretty big," Wolf says. The magazine was becoming popular in Germany, and Hearst developers believed it would meet an unfilled need in the American market, so they agreed to a joint venture.

Wolf would not release figures, but said each publisher put up an equal amount of money for testing and each will receive 50 percent of revenues. Hearst will handle all operating details.

The American version is being tested on the newstand, a tactic Hearst has used to launch Victoria, Country Living and other titles. The first run, 400,000 copies, will sell for $1.95 each. The magazine will be published quarterly; but if the concept is successful, the magazine will eventually become monthly.

Wolf hopes for an eventual circulation of at least 500,000. Like many Hearst titles, he expects Jupiter to be sold largely on the newsstand. "But I wouldn't be suprised if we got 50 percent through subscriptions," Wolf says, noting that people like to follow their horoscopes regularly.

Until the magazine commits to a publication frequency, Wolf will serve as its publisher and Anderson, who worked with Wolf developing Victoria and American Home will be the magazine's editor in chief.