A monthly magazine aimed at gays and lesbians that eschews overt
sexual content is to launch next week.
Fable, which is published by Queercompany, will be positioned closer to
Vanity Fair and Wallpaper* than to Gay Times, according to the
publisher's PR director, Steve Bustin.
'It will be without porn content, with no sex phone lines,' he said. The
'quality glossy' lifestyle feel will appeal to advertisers who have
previously felt unable to promote their products to this market, he
added. 'Unilever, for example, has never advertised in the gay media
before.' Other advertisers include Apple and Diesel.
Fable will provide many opportunities for PROs, Bustin said. 'We are
offering the first chance to reach the lesbian and gay market in an
upmarket, design-led way.' The 25 to 40-year old target readership is 'a
more intelligent, design-savvy and affluent market than (has been
addressed) before.'
Bustin claimed that other gay interest titles tended to be more
male-oriented than Fable. He insisted that Fable's editorial content
would not be watered down. Features 'will be coming very much from a
queer sensibility,' he said. Core editorial topics will include culture,
travel and fashion.
The first edition's print run is 60,000, although the company would not
comment on sales targets.
Editor Jonathan Keane will head a team of six journalists and a network
of freelances, some of whom will also write for Queercompany.com. But
Bustin said the online operation, which is edited by Jane Czyzselska,
will be separate from the print title. 'We won't be running Fable
content on Queercompany.com,' he said.
Keane was launch editor of Queercompany.com in November 2000. He was
previously features editor of gay title Attitude. Fable's deputy editor
is Michelle Olley, who previously worked on Skin Magazine and Pure.
Queercompany said there are 5.5m lesbians and gays in the UK, with an
estimated annual disposable income of £10bn. The publisher was set
up in April 2000 to exploit the 'pink pound'.
