Woman’s Weekly expands into book publishing

Woman’s Weekly, one of the UK’s most iconic consumer newsbrands, has agreed a deal with Pedigree Books that will see it publish two yearbooks as it treads into the the world of book publishing amid declining magazine sales.

Woman’s Weekly 2014 Yearbook and Woman’s Weekly Seasonal Recipes will be published to coincide with the Christmas buying period and will be marketed through Pedigree Books’ existing retail channels.

The expansion into book publishing further extends the multi-platform reach and strategy of the Woman’s Weekly brand and follows its expansion into live events last year.

The latest ABC data for Woman’s Weekly shows that circulation figures have dropped -7.5% year on year, with an average of 328,000 copies now sold each week. With similar declines seen across the industry, many magazines are now looking to expand into new platforms, building upon their established brand equity to maintain and build revenues and readers.

The news comes just a few weeks after both More magazine and the entire Auto Trader range of magazines have ceased their print editions.

“For over 100 years Woman’s Weekly has prided itself on delivering the very best content to its readers, these books will continue that tradition and will be a fantastic addition for our readers as well as appealing to a much wider audience,” said publisher Adrian Booker.

Matthew Reynolds, publishing and sales director at Pedigree Books added: “The adult market can be a very difficult customer base to buy a gift for but Yearbooks now offer retailers and consumers a range of Christmas gifts featuring some of the UK’s most recognisable consumer brands.”