Weg ABC figure leaps by 102%

This increase indicates that the newcomer to the Afrikaans magazine field has not at all reached its ceiling, says Naomi Herselman, publisher of Weg. "In April this year, Weg changed its frequency from bi-monthly to monthly. The expected decline in circulation never transpired and Weg maintained its average sales figure of between 69 000 and 71 000 month after month."

In total, 71 052 copies of the Weg July 2005 issue have been sold. The same tendency is experienced with the August issue, for sale at present. It appears as if the August sales figure is again heading for 70 000.

Weg remains one of the country's largest publication successes. The magazine was launched in April last year. In total, 43 000 copies were printed and the expected circulation figure was 20 000. Nearly the entire number of printed copies was sold and Weg was obliged to increase its printing figure month after month in order to meet the market's needs.

According to Herselman, Weg prints more than 96 000 copies a month at present - an increase of 123% in comparison with the first printing figure in April 2004.

"The readers' trust in the magazine is unbelievable. Weg recruited more than 23 000 subscribers in only 18 months - an unparalleled first in the South African magazine field," says Herselman. "Some of our well-known magazines in the market took years to reach this subscription figure.

"More notable is the fact that this figure does not include special group subscriptions. Each subscriber is an individual subscription, only recruited by means of marketing in the magazine and at art festivals," says Herselman.

Weg's editor, Bun Booyens, says he hopes the magazine's circulation will stabilize at around 70 000. "There are a number of highly viable niches around this core market of 70 000 buyers and we have already begun to develop special features and supplements to cater for these niche markets."