The new generation of cyberzines

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, March 1, 1993 by Peter Kupfer

Forbes had originally planned to publish ASAP jointly with Upside, which was one the earliest computer books to break out of the product-driven mold. But instead, Forbes hired away Karlgaard and launched ASAP independently. Nevertheless, Upside appears to be holding its own. With its demonstrated ability to poke fun at its own readers (it once published a cover story titled, "Is Silicon Valley Going Pussy?") and its distinctive editorial look, Upside has carved out a small niche among senior technology executives. The monthly, which sells for $3.95 on the newsstands and $48 by subscription, has a circulation of 50,000--40,000 of which is unpaid. Ad revenues last year totaled $1.5 million, according to the publishers.

Wired: A fighting chance

Analysts also give Wired a fighting chance because it appears to be well financed and has assembled a strong editorial team. Although Wired's publishers would not disclose the amount of their initial financing, industry sources say it was in the area of $500,000. The seed money for the publication was provided by Nicholas Negroponte, director of the pioneering MIT Media Lab, and Charlie Jackson, founder of Silicon Beach, a software company.

The 112-page premier issue included an article about the electronic battlefield by noted science-fiction writer Bruce Sterling, a piece on how computer hackers have invaded the cellular phone network by John Markoff, a technology writer for The New York Times, and an interview with Camille Paglia, "the bad girl of feminism," by Stewart Brand, the founder of the Whole Earth Review. The San Francisco-based magazine, which sells on the newsstands for $4.95 and by subscription for $19.95, had an initial pressrun of 150,000 and is being distributed nationwide by ICD/Hearst. In 1993 it will be bimonthly, but will go monthly the following year, according to Will Kreth, director of marketing.

"Wired will be very interesting to watch because it is much mort' serious |than some of the other cyberzines~ and the backers are serious," says Bunnell. "If they can build up a substantial readership over the course of three to five years, they could attract advertisers. The question is, do they have the staying power?"

'Sleazy, but it has a niche'

Future Sex, which launched as a quarterly last May and claims an unaudited circulation of 40,000, has attracted considerable media attention, including an article in The New York Times and reports on CBS News and the BBC. But whether the media hoopla translates into long-term success is anyone's guess, The publishers, William Weiss, a San Francisco trial lawyer, and Martin Leung, an internist, refused to disclose their initial investment, but say they have recently secured additional financing of "several hundred thousand dollars."

The magazine sells for $4.95 on the newsstands, and a subscription of four issues costs $18.

The most recent cover of Future Sex features a naked couple strapped into "virtual reality" sensors designed to simulate sex "without the inherent dangers of intimate human interaction." Another article explores the use of small drugs--psychoactive compounds that cyberpunks claim, without much medical support, enhance brain power--as a sexual stimulant. Although the notion of using technology to enhance--or, in some cases, substitute for--sex may not appeal to everyone, some observers say the magazine may attract enough curious cyberpunks and pornography hounds to establish a lasting presence. "It's pretty sleazy," says Bunnell, "but it has a niche."