Esquire goes hard-cover

National Magazine Company is launching a hard-cover edition of men’s monthly title Esquire.

The magazine will go on sale this Thursday, 6 August, at its usual price of £4.25, despite the extra costs involved in its production, according to a report on MediaGuardian.co.uk.

NatMags is also producing a special “super size” edition of Harper’s Bazaar, also available from this Friday, focusing on “female resilience”.

Tess Macleod-Smith, publishing director of the titles, said: “”The special issues reinforce our commitment to pushing boundaries, to being one step ahead of the competition, to offering exciting and fantastic platforms for advertisers and to making sure that our readers are constantly inspired by the amazing content that these magazines offer.”

ABC figures for June to December 2008 show that Esquire had a total circulation of 60,000 copies, a year on year increase of 0.4% (see ABC Results Jul-Dec 2008:Shortlist shows staying power in men’s lifestyle sector).

Harper’s Bazaar was also up 0.4% year on year, giving it a circulation of just under 110,000 copies, according to the latest ABC figures (see ABC Results July-Dec 2008:Glamour stays on top of the women’s monthly sector).