The cover of the November issue of CosmoGirl.
The December issue of CosmoGirl will be the last. Hearst will continue to publish the Web site cosmogirl.com and will fold CosmoGirl’s subscriber base into Seventeen, a Hearst magazine with similar readership.
Seventeen is a survivor of a rough couple of years for teen magazines. Time Inc.’s Teen People and Hachette Filipacchi’s Elle Girl both folded in 2006.
But despite a shaky economy and a dim outlook for print publications, Hearst is moving forward with the launch of Food Network Magazine. Hearst said this week that the magazine will debut with two test issues, the first of which will have 160 pages (110 editorial and 50 ad pages) and will hit newsstands on October 14. It will be followed by a second test issue in January. Hearst plans to officially launch the title with a June/July 2009 issue and publish four more issues in 2009 after that.
Under editor-in-chief Maile Carpenter, the magazine will publish recipes and cooking advice from Food Network personalities. The magazine has hired Deirdre Koribanick as the design director, Jennifer Procopio as the art director and Alice Albert is the photo editor, according to a Hearst spokesperson.
CosmoGirl publisher Vicki Wellington will become publisher of Food Network Magazine. CosmoGirl editor-in-chief Susan Schulz will stay with Hearst to work on special projects. Other CosmoGirl staff will be able to interview for other positions within the company, Hearst says.
CosmoGirl’s photography director was Georgia Paralemos, who worked under creative director Jacqueline Azria-Palombo. Other photo staff included photo editor Jessica Levey, bookings editor Alicia Bridgewater and photo research editor Josephine Solimene Rustin.
CosmoGirl had steady paid and verified circulation of about 1.4 million, according to the most recent figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Circulation rose slightly in 2007. About 22 percent of the copies were sold at the newsstand, where the magazine was priced at $2.99.
