Early Response to Proposed Women's Magazine Said Favorable

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Initial test marketing of a proposed Christian magazine for women has exceeded expectations, said an Augsburg Fortress news release on Nov. 11. The Minneapolis-based company is the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and is in the early stages of developing the new magazine, "Sunday/Monday WOMAN.
Last month, a brochure featuring the proposed publication was sent to 60,000 randomly selected Christian women, the publisher said. The brochure contained a response card offering charter subscriptions at a reduced rate.
"The response has been overwhelming. We received 1,566 orders in just 12 days," said Dana Dreibelbis, vice president, publishing, Augsburg Fortress. "We are pleased by the positive response to this promotional mailing."
Intended for an ecumenical market, Sunday/Monday WOMAN will include articles that respect the many roles women play, the variety of opinions they hold and the insights they have to share, the news release said.
Augsburg Fortress' decision to possibly produce the magazine drew a response earlier this month from Women of the ELCA, which produces its own magazine for women, "Lutheran Woman Today." Its paid circulation is 180,000, and Lutheran Woman Today is also published by Augsburg Fortress.
The new magazine will complement the publisher's existing commitment to Lutheran Woman Today, Dreibelbis said.
At its Oct. 21-24 meeting, Women of the ELCA's executive board asked presidents of its 64 synodical women's organizations of the church, including the executive director and president of Women of the ELCA, to write letters of protest to Augsburg Fortress about the new magazine.
In a written statement to ELCA News and Information following the board meeting, Catherine I.H. Braasch, executive director, Women of the ELCA, said the women's organization has "repeatedly expressed" concerns about the new publication to Augsburg Fortress since being told of the plan in early 1998. Braasch was appointed executive director of Women of the ELCA in September 1997.
Braasch said the women's organization and Lutheran Woman Today want a "strategic partnership" with Augsburg Fortress. Concerns about Lutheran Woman Today go beyond the issue of competition for readers, she added.
"We are concerned that the new venture is already competing for the publishing house's attention to research, growth and development of Lutheran Woman Today, as well as to customer service," Braasch said.
She described Lutheran Woman Today as an award-winning blend of Bible study and articles connecting Christian faith to the lives of ELCA women of many ages, many interests and in many settings.
In its news release, Augsburg Fortress said it has not made a final decision to regularly produce the new magazine.
"Continued market research is necessary before Augsburg Fortress will commit to publishing Sunday/Monday WOMAN on a regular basis," said the Rev. Marvin L. Roloff, president and chief executive officer. "However, we are excited by the response the proposed magazine has received to date and are optimistic that continued research will show that this magazine will fill a market niche not reached by current Christian women's magazines."
Augsburg Fortress is the third-largest Protestant church-owned publishing house in the United States. Augsburg Fortress provides education materials, music, books, ecclesiastical arts, electronic worship resources, computer products and other resources for congregations and non-church markets. In addition to Lutheran Woman Today, it also publishes several magazines, including The Lutheran, the magazine of the ELCA.

***Gayle Aldrich, publicist for Augsburg Fortress, provided information
for this report.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html