We refreshed our small crossword display on the weekend. I’d left this since the magazine relay six weeks ago and found that a mixture of titles were being placed in this premium front-pocket space. Most were overseas titles. I early returned a bunch of under performing overseas crossword titles and allocated this prime space to Australian titles, as you can see in the photo. This is in addition to two columns of space allocated to the Lovatts smaller format titles.
While I am happy to have overseas titles in the mix, they, like every other magazine, must pay their way per pocket. Magazine distributors too often do not allocate with this goal for newsagents, especially when it comes to overseas crossword and puzzle titles.
So, our policy when it comes to crossword titles, is Australian titles first. We will act sooner on poorly performing overseas titles.