Woman’s Own: eight extra pages
Woman’s Own is taking on extra staff to cater for its new eight-page slimming section.
The move follows fresh investment in both Woman and Woman’s Own, which have both gained eight extra pages and a 2p price rise to 72p.
Woman’s Own is now looking for extra feature writers, a beauty assistant, sub-editors and designers.
Woman’s Own editor Elsa McAlonan likened the new ‘Dream Bodies’ section to a mini-slimming magazine. Recent research proved the slimming features were a particular hit among readers. "Our readers absolutely love anything to do with slimming, so we decided to give them added value and do it every week," McAlonan said. "There were two areas they loved – the slimming and consumer pages – so we’ve expanded those sections."
Former News of the World and TV journalist Vivienne Parry has signed up to write about consumer issues, and TV presenter Anne Diamond will continue to test diet food.
The magazine is also gearing up to launch a series of eight one-shots dedicated to slimming. The series will be edited by Woman’s Own associate editor Caroline Reid and the first issue will appear later this month.
Although Woman’s Own is also in the process of recruiting an art editor, McAlonan said: "There isn’t going to be a dramatic redesign. We have already tweaked the design and freshened it up for the new year. I would like to change it every month or so, so there will be gradual changes."
Woman editor Carole Russell said she also had the budget to use more freelances if required and the situation will be reviewed over the next few weeks. The extra pages in Woman will be used to feature more makeovers, consumer tests, fashion for plus sizes and celebrities. "There just wasn’t enough room to put things in a 60-page issue," she said
By Ruth Addicott
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