Magazine leads race to publish on Internet
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A stampede into electronic publishing is expected to follow Conde Nast's launch of a "virtual magazine" on the Internet.
The product, focusing on entertainment, news and fashion, will join the publisher's existing Internet site, called Conde Nast World Server, over the next few weeks, where excerpts from other group magazines, including GQ, are already available.
The company has spent "well into six figures" launching the service, but expects advertising revenue to cover costs virtually from the start.
Until now, there have been doubts about the commercial viability of publishing over the Internet but now other publishers will push forward their own Internet plans.
The company will today announce the new editorial and commercial team hired to develop the venture. They include Rhys Williams, formerly a journalist with the Independent, as editor, and Jacqueline Euwe, former advertising manager at Vogue, who will become commercial director
Nicholas Coleridge, managing director of Conde Nast, said the decision to launch a new product was taken on the strength of interest generated by the existing service. "We tested our site for six weeks and logged a lot of use. That has emboldened us to enlarge the service."
He added that the new Internet product will use existing Conde Nast material from its stable of magazines, but will also commission original work and refresh the site regularly. Archive material from the company's impressive library will also be on offer periodically.
The service will be advertiser-funded, but could generate subscription fees in the future, provided secure payment systems can be developed. "We are definitely looking at the question of secure credit-card transactions," Mr Coleridge said. "But we believe there is sufficient interest from advertising companies and clients to make this work."
Conde Nast, which also publishes Vanity Fair, has a similar service up and running in the US, Conde Net.
The American market for electronic publishing has developed more quickly than in Europe, with most major magazines - including the New Republic, Harpers and the Economist - already making at least some of their products available on the Internet.
Last week, the celebrated political journalist Michael Kingsley, formerly of the New Republic, confirmed that he was to edit a virtual magazine backed by Microsoft, the software giant. It will be available through the Microsoft Network, launched earlier this year on the Windows 95 software package.
The move convinced many US publishers that the market was about to take off, and Conde Nast's entry into the UK market is seen as similarly trend- setting.
Ten staff have been hired by Conde Nast in addition to the editor and commercial director. Mr Coleridge said the enlarged service would be available to Internet users by early next year.
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