A populist book magazine, to sit on the news-stand alongside Empire and Q, is the first title to be launched by independent publisher Infinity Media and Entertainment.
Ink, a monthly glossy aimed at book lovers and aspiring writers, has been unveiled on the back of the rising popularity of books on the mass market.
The title will be edited by author and journalist Jeff Hudson, previously editor at Sanctuary Publishing, who said it will have an authoritative, accessible and slightly irreverent tone.
“We can’t believe that no one else is doing this,” he said. “We’re all professional readers. Everyone has favourite authors just as you would have favourite groups; we’re just taking the same approach as you would in a music magazine.”
Hudson cited the Harry Potter phenomenon and the BBC’s Big Read as examples of a general movement towards book reading.
“It’s moving up the agenda as far as people’s pastimes are concerned. People don’t just read a book in splendid isolation, put it down and move on to the next one. Now they’re looking for someone to talk about it with or something else to read about it and that’s where we are coming in.”
Five full-time staff and freelance contributors have been working on the magazine for six months. It will appear in major retailers in November, priced £3.50, with a print run of about 50,
By Sarah Boden
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