What's Hot What's New

The good, the bad and the ugly. You'll find them all here. Each week you'll get my take on the intriguing, and sometimes peculiar, titles to recently hit the newsstand.

I thought you would enjoy a fresh selection of new magazines to take your minds off of the fact that you have already broken your New Year’s resolutions (shame on you). And since a new year always brings fresh hope and opportunities, I decided to have a more eclectic mix of new consumer magazines. Corporate Leader, Rounder and Science Illustrated are the three publications reviewed in this installment. So, without further delay, here’s the 2008 premiere of What’s Hot, What’s New.

Corporate Leader $10.00 www.corporateleaderdaily.com Rarely does the name of a magazine accurately describe both the subject of the magazine and its intended audience. Corporate Leader, published 10 times a year, is a business magazine covering the men and women running today’s corporations. This publication does an excellent job in profiling today’s leading CEO’s but does not stop there.  It also covers the luxury lifestyle they live. While the editors state that this magazine is for all business leaders big and small, Corporate Leader has the feel, look and content of an elite publication providing a rare peek into the lives of today’s top CEOs. That is a niche not seen in the many business magazines released recently, and it’s a clever niche because consumers working for corporations or those aspiring to have their own company will want to learn what makes a successful business leader. That well-developed niche could provide Corporate Leader a prominent position on newsstands.

Rounder $4.95 www.roundermagazine.com For poker enthusiasts everywhere I present Rounder a monthly magazine for progressive poker players or those interested in the gambling lifestyle. It seems like you cannot turn on the television these days without seeing some sort of poker tournament. Rounder, re-released under new ownership, is attempting to capitalize on America’s fascination with poker. But this magazine is more of a men’s magazine, and less of an actual poker magazine. The content, although having an emphasis on poker, resembles magazines such as Maxim or FHM with its model pictorials and articles on sports and entertainment figures. Those looking for a hardcore poker magazine could possibly find themselves disappointed in the magazine’s approach.

Science Illustrated $4.99 www.scienceillustrated.com Science Illustrated is a new bi-monthly publication that provides a unique gateway into the world of science and discovery. Science Illustrated, already the largest-circulation magazine in Scandinavia, is making its debut on U.S. newsstands with the hope of garnering similar success and readership. There are other well-done science magazines on newsstands, but what makes SI different is the way the visuals are used and the feel the magazine has for a mass audience. It is like Science 101 to the rest of the science magazines. Science Illustrated covers a wide range of topics from paleontology, space exploration to medical breakthroughs. It will be interesting to see if Science Illustrated can build a similar base with American consumers that it enjoyed in Europe. Only time and more issues will show.