THE BEST & WORST SELLERS OF 2000

Brandweek, Oct 23, 2000 by Lori Lefevre

You still can't go wrong with Jesus and Elvis. But beware the Jennifer Lopez jinx

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY It pays to exploit what's hot. This Natalie Portman cover coincided with her movie Where the Heart Is, but that film was kept to the sidelines. "We just shamelessly milked it for every Star Wars angle we could," says EW executive editor Richard Sanders. The title hyped the next Star Wars, offered a chip shot of Portman as Queen Amadala and talked about the Phantom Menace video release. On the flip side, the slow-selling Sundance Film Festival cover was a risky choice for the magazine. Coverage of the annual event may be well read on the inside, but it's not nearly hot enough for the cover.

ESQUIRE Franchise sells well, Esquire has found. The Dubious Achievement Issue, which for 30 years has been the first issue of the year, is always popular for the men's lifestyle publication. It may be more of a surprise that Heather Graham did not fare well as a cover girl. Graham "just didn't look like herself," says Esquire executive editor Scott Omelianuk. "I just don't think it was the most effective cover."

GLAMOUR Editor Bonnie Fuller caught the love bug with her top-selling February issue, with its pink-smothered cover timed for Valentine's Day. "Having a buzz--getting a celebrity or a sophisticated and inviting model in a brand-new dress or outfit of the moment--is important," says Fuller. The low-selling April issue, she says, was "due to a competitive coincidence whereby other magazines had similar cover color schemes."

JANE "I think 90 percent of what makes a cover sell is the person on it," says editor in chief Jane Pratt. The Madonna issue was the first cover the star did to hype her flick The Next Best Thing. But while Pratt might argue that getting there first is key, Jane's Monica Lewinsky cover tells another story. It was the first cover Lewinsky posed for, but it stalled on the stands. "People don't like her, and people were sick of her," Pratt says. "I do think people buy covers with people they like on them,"

NEWSWEEK Religion, health and science are traditionally best sellers for Newsweek, says publisher Carolyn Wall. So staffers were not surprised to see its March 27 "Visions of Jesus" issue do well. But they were a little puzzled when its Time Warner/AOL coverage collected newsstand dust. "I think it was an inside story, very heavy media-industry interest," explains Wall, noting that competitor Time also didn't sell well with the same cover subject. "Our editors like to say they respond to what people are talking about," she says. It seems not too many Americans were really talking about Time Warner/AOL.

SPIN When it comes to covers, Spin editor in chief Alan Light has learned to ignore his inner music critic and look at the charts. "We need to make sure we're keeping our own heads clear and listening to the readers, not our notions of what they should want," he says. Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor had sold well for the magazine in the past, but his latest album was not a hit. "Generally, if the albums don't sell, covers about them won't sell either," Light says. And though No Doubt wasn't at the very top of the charts, "it was a no brainer" says Light. "Gwen [Stefani, the lead singer] is still a star."

TALK Timing is the trick, says Talk editor in chief Tina Brown. "The best is to be first with something interesting to say," she explains. This was the case with her Leonardo DiCaprio cover in February. The hot actor hadn't done a cover in more than two years, and Talk scored his first post-Titanic cover. "There's no question that the celebrity saturation point is such that people get tired of faces," Brown says. "It certainly helps to freshen up the act." Timing worked against Brown when Talk's Jennifer Lopez cover came out--it followed her arrest after a shooting in a nightclub.

TEEN PEOPLE There's very little mystery surrounding Then People's winning March issue: Teen heartthrobs 'N Sync were on the cover. But TP managing editor Christina Ferrari recognizes that it was also perfectly timed, coming out just as the group's long-awaited second album was released. "We made sure to capitalize on the pent-up demand and the excitement," Ferrari says. "It just always pays to be first." Despite the very different demographics, Jennifer Lopez did as poorly for Teen People as for Talk. "I think we overestimated readers' sympathy for her," Ferrari says. "It's possible that they didn't want to know more about her."

TV GUIDE Millennium coverage was a big seller for the weekly, which looked back at entertainment in the 20th century for its first issue of the year. The cover subject didn't hurt, either. "Elvis is still the king," says TV Guide editor in chief Steven Reddicliffe. But while The Real World may be hot with viewers, it didn't sell with TV Guide readers. This season also wasn't among the more popular for the show. Reddicliffe places some of the blame for the low numbers on summer, always a slow magazine time.

VANITY FAIR Just as with Esquire, the magazine scored with a franchise issue but failed to capitalize on a hot actress sporting an unfamiliar look. Its readers' love of showbiz has made the annual Hollywood issue a hit for Vanity Fair regardless of the cover subjects. "[It's] always a best seller for us," says editor Graydon Carter. But despite her star status, the magazine hit bottom with actress Cameron Diaz. The star bared her behind, and a full head of brown hair. "Perhaps readers just prefer Cameron Diaz as a blonde," says Carter.