Will someone PLEASE explain this to me!

[Ewan's My Man]

How come...I get magazines in January...and their dated March 2004. I mean, come on, does that make ANY sense? Why send out a magazine for March in January?!?! Do they need a calender? If someone can give me a logical reason WHY their dated that why, I will understand, until then, I'm gonna walk through this world confused...

[PZelda]

I want to know too! I got my February 2004 issue of Seventeen WAY back in December. (I subscribe to Seventeen) And you know the UK-based teen mag, Sugar? I get that over here...apparently, they like to release their mags 3 to 4 months early...I picked up the September 2003 issue of Sugar in September, and it had "SUMMER SPECIAL" all over the cover, and it had dates for special events for MAY and JUNE inside!!

[Polniaczek033]

I've always sorta wondered the same as you, but I think I have some sort of clue..

They send them out early so you have all the news or whatever early? BLAH. You know what I mean. Erm.. they like.. nevermind. If anyone finds this out, be sure to let me know.

[Blair_Warner02]

Someone asked this same question to a magazine that I sometimes pick up at the store, GameNow.

Here the question and the answer from the Dec. 2003 issue of GameNow magazine which I picked up from the store in Nov.

Kevin Z: I've got a quick question for you. Why doesn't your magazine come out in the month it is supposed to? For example, your October issue hits store shelves on September 16. Wouldn't it make more sense if the September issue came out at the time? I'm sure subscribers even get the issue in late August sometimes. What's the point of releasing a monthly magazine for a month that's two months away? Is there a reason for this, or was it some kind of mistake that never got fixed?

GameNow: Here's a peice of trivia: The dates on magazines were originally designed to tell the people at the stores when to take them OFF the shelf. So the September issue says October on it so that the dude at the newsstand knows to take it off the shelves in October. Over time, that's kind of evolved into magazines always having the date on the cover earlier than the actual day.

[Ewan's My Man]

Originally posted by Blair_Warner02
Someone asked this same question to a magazine that I sometimes pick up at the store, GameNow.

Here the question and the answer from the Dec. 2003 issue of GameNow magazine which I picked up from the store in Nov.

Kevin Z: I've got a quick question for you. Why doesn't your magazine come out in the month it is supposed to? For example, your October issue hits store shelves on September 16. Wouldn't it make more sense if the September issue came out at the time? I'm sure subscribers even get the issue in late August sometimes. What's the point of releasing a monthly magazine for a month that's two months away? Is there a reason for this, or was it some kind of mistake that never got fixed?

GameNow: Here's a peice of trivia: The dates on magazines were originally designed to tell the people at the stores when to take them OFF the shelf. So the September issue says October on it so that the dude at the newsstand knows to take it off the shelves in October. Over time, that's kind of evolved into magazines always having the date on the cover earlier than the actual day.

ahhh! finally! I won't haveta walk through life confused anymore!!!

[PZelda]

Originally posted by Blair_Warner02
Someone asked this same question to a magazine that I sometimes pick up at the store, GameNow.

Here the question and the answer from the Dec. 2003 issue of GameNow magazine which I picked up from the store in Nov.

Kevin Z: I've got a quick question for you. Why doesn't your magazine come out in the month it is supposed to? For example, your October issue hits store shelves on September 16. Wouldn't it make more sense if the September issue came out at the time? I'm sure subscribers even get the issue in late August sometimes. What's the point of releasing a monthly magazine for a month that's two months away? Is there a reason for this, or was it some kind of mistake that never got fixed?

GameNow: Here's a peice of trivia: The dates on magazines were originally designed to tell the people at the stores when to take them OFF the shelf. So the September issue says October on it so that the dude at the newsstand knows to take it off the shelves in October. Over time, that's kind of evolved into magazines always having the date on the cover earlier than the actual day.

Thank you!

[Brent88]

I have always wondered about too. Just today my mom got a "Soap Opera Digest" in the mail and the date was for like Feb. 12th.

[dawsongirl]

Those magazines also are not a high priority for the post office, so they sort of send them out slowly. If they're pre-dated, you won't get mad that your March issue came at the end of March.

[Mysty Eyes]

Originally posted by Blair_Warner02
GameNow: Here's a peice of trivia: The dates on magazines were originally designed to tell the people at the stores when to take them OFF the shelf. So the September issue says October on it so that the dude at the newsstand knows to take it off the shelves in October. Over time, that's kind of evolved into magazines always having the date on the cover earlier than the actual day.

That makes sense, except... It seems that many magazines have either forgotten that original purpose, or simply never knew about it in the first place. I am sure that neither the magazine publishers nor the newsstand operators ever intend to leave a magazine on sale for two to three months, which would be the case with a "March" dated mag being sold in January.