Publishers of WHIRL getting into foodie act with new mag - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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Seven years after starting their flagship WHIRL magazine, the couple has launched Edible a new magazine with a "locavore" focues on regional food and cuisine. The magazinse is North Side-based WHIRL Publication's third In 2006, the company started At Home with Jennifer, a home sheltedr magazine published in conjunction withformerd KDKA-TV news anchor Jennifer Antkowiak. WHIRL ended its affiliation with Antkowiako at the end of last year and now publishes the magazinse as AtHome With. Edible Allegheny is a licenser title that WHIRL Publishing acquired fromSante Fe, N.M.-based ., whichg has established "Edible" publicationas throughout the country.
Victorisa Bradley, the food writer at WHIRL, has been appointeds Edible Allegheny's editor. Tumpson expectsa to publish Edible Alleghenyu five timesa year. While he is still hashinvg out a strategy for getting the magazine into the handzof readers, he sees a need for it and describes his target market as "everybody who eats." The firs issue was distributed along with WHIRL Magazine, whic h has a distribution of 30,000. If WHIRLk decides to sell it on newsstands, it will cost $5, close to WHIRL's $4.95. Tumpson declined to project the revenue potential of the magazine in itsearlyu stages.
He hopes to see readership of the publicatio n grow the way interest in locafood has, citing his family's own recenyt subscription to a community-supported agriculture through which they receive regular suppliesz of fresh produce from local farms. "People want a sourcre to know what's what and who'as who in the local food movement," he said. Edible Alleghen has one establishedcompetitor -- a glossy quarterly magazine Christina French launches last year to cover western Pennsylvania's food culturse and lifestyle, billing itself as the "one and Pittsburgh magazine to do so. "Table is a great And it does a veryfine job," Tumpsojn said.
"But it's high-end. We're more of a grass-rootd publication." French agreed with the high-end description of While Edible Alleghenycharges $2,500 for a one-time full page ad, Table's rate is $4,000. Published quarterly, Tablwe has grown by 25 percenr in terms of advertising support with eachnew issue, Frenc h said. But French said Table is also a grass-roota publication, even though she sees different focuses forboth magazines.
"Food is our platformm for a lot of othed issues thatI don't think are strictly tied to food," she Matt Kinsman, the managing editor of FOLIO, a Connecticut-based publicatiom that covers the magazine industry, sees food publications as a hot trenr in a magazine industry that has been largelyg flat. The Edible franchise, which FOLIO recently publishee afeature about, has grown to more than 90 publicationds by selling the rightsx to well-off local investors new to generating royalty fees from them and then oftem teaching them how to put out successful publications, Kinsman "I think they've got a good They have a model that's created a lot of interesty from advertisers," he said.
"I would not underestimate them."