Nothing quite signals the recovery of magazines as the launch of new titles, with lots of buzz now over Cargo, brother title to Conde Nast's Lucky, and a new women's shopping guide from Hearst.
   But there's also a lot of new launches, smaller, more niche titles that aren't getting nearly the attention. And they speak not so much to the recovering ad economy as to a certain optimism unique to magazine publishing.
  It's that deep conviction that the world is now ready for this new great idea -- mine.
    “There’s nothing more powerful than an idea that has arrived,” says Jim Capparell, president and publisher of newly launched LowCarb Living. “You can’t be arrogant but you can be enthusiastic.”
   As with many of the smaller niche titles, the inspiration for LowCarb Living came to Capparell from his own personal experience.
   “About six or seven months ago, Susan [Ford, associate publisher] decided to go on a diet, and I told her I’d do the same – and it worked.”
   So in October, Capparell, with a background in publishing computer magazines, scrapped the idea for a baby boomer publication he was working on and decided to turn out a title based on his new lifestyle. The result was LowCarb Living, which hit newsstands on Jan. 20.
   “It’s a lifestyle magazine about making smarter choices, taking responsibility, and considering the health implications of how you live.”
   LowCarb Living’s premiere cover features a couple in their early to mid-40s, the core target for the magazine. While the magazine is positioned as a dual-audience title, for men as well as women, LowCarb Living is expected to compete primarily with Weight Watchers and Cooking Light, with some similarities to Self, Health and Fitness. 
   The aim, Capparell says, is not to disenfranchise the male purchaser.
   Advertisers for the bi-monthly publication are primarily endemic, including pages for Atkins and low-carb food makers like BellaCarb pizzas and Revival Soy.
   With as many as seven out of 10 new magazines folding, usually after a few trial issues, it’s hard to predict LowCarb Living’s chances of survival. 
  But its chances are certainly helped by the craze over low-carb diets, with an estimated 32 million Americans having joined the movement.
  Moreover, says Capparell, we're not talking about just another diet fad.
   “One of the reasons the diet has taken off is that it works,” he says. “The low-fat approach to eating has gone on for 22 years. 
  "I believe low-carb will follow the trend. Will it be 20 years of intense media attention? No. But the pursuit of good health is never a fad.”
   Capparell’s confidence is echoed in his goals for the magazine. Launched with 87,000 copies, he hopes to expand that to 250,000 by the end of the year. Part of his optimism stems from being a small company.
   “No one could have done it as fast,” he says about the three months it took to get the title launched.
   “Big publishing companies have to create a large budget and justify ROI and develop marketing studies. I’m capable of taking my own money, putting in on the pay line and rolling the dice. I don’t need to ask for approval. After all, it is my money.”
   Personal investment is also the motivation for Inspire Your World, a philanthropic magazine from BizExUSA expected to launch in March. 
  Chief executive officer and publisher Gary Schneider was active in his community and was pondering over ways to encourage volunteerism and philanthropy in others.
   “I’m really offended that the world doesn’t do more for the people around them,” he says. 
   “This magazine solves that goal. I’m trying to create a movement in volunteerism and corporate donations.
   "Once companies recognize what other people are doing, they’ll be more inclined to realize that their leadership roles should include their involvement with donations and causes.”
   Inspire Your World will include profiles of people who volunteer and organizations that have benefited from donations and volunteers.
   “The idea is to highlight the good that corporations, organizations and volunteers do in our local communities. People know about the Red Cross, but they don’t know what the Red Cross does besides offer disaster relief.”
   The bi-monthly publication will debut in the middle of March with 65,000 issues and will initially target the Northeast, although Schneider expects the title to be distributed nationally by the end of the year. 
  Much of the initial readership will be targeted to corporate executives and members of volunteer organizations, since many national newsstand distributors are waiting to see the premiere issue first.
   Charter advertisers include PSE&G, Valley National Bank, Timberland and United Water. In an attempt to motivate more volunteers, the magazine will also provide free classifieds for companies seeking volunteers.
  As for the timing of the launch, Schneider is confident that now is the best time for a new publication.
   “It’s the perfect time to launch,” he says. “I wouldn’t have launched in the beginning of 2003 because of the economy, but the publication industry will see a boom this year in ad dollars. Corporations like Pepsi and Target are taking cause marketing to the consumer, so I’m catching the top of the wave right now.”
   As part of the philanthropic movement Schneider hopes to create, the magazine will donate 5 percent of net advertising revenues to the Inspire Your World Charity Rewards Program, which gives money back to the community.
   While the idea for a philanthropic magazine or a low-carb lifestyle title may be new, the magazines’ limited appeal may actually help get the publications early support.
   “It’s easier to imagine a successful magazine in a narrower niche than a broader niche,” says Sam Schulman, managing director at investment bank DeSilva and Phillips. "They offer a closer degree of answering a need in the market, a closer intimacy with customers and a better chance of filling a hole.
  "A broad general-interest magazine is more challenging because you’ve got to draw from a lot of different interests. You’re hitting people farther from their red-hot center.”
   In addition, Schulman says the market will see a growth in new titles as a result of the rebounding economy.
   “There’s a real confidence that the advertising market will come back,” he says. “Consumers are going to feel less stressed and less pressured. Businesses will spend more money, and the job market will become more favorable. We’re in the beginning of an economic recovery.”
   That’s good news for the dozens of other new magazines debuting this year, including The Green and Real Magazine.
  Ian Lawrence, president of The Green, hopes to provide a multicultural lifestyle magazine about golf. The publication will focus on the lifestyle unique to minorities with historical information, news and trends.
   “Historically, golf has pretty much been a game that minorities were shut out of. Now here are over 5.5 million minority golf participants in America, but there isn’t any upscale golf lifestyle magazine that targets that demographic.”
   The Green is expected to launch this spring with an initial circulation of 120,000. As for the timing of the launch, Lawrence is confident about the market embracing the idea.
   “Rather than wait to do it, why not right now? We’ve identified the numbers, and there’s no better time than right now to do it.”
  That’s a sentiment shared by the founders of Real Magazine, a new women’s lifestyle magazine launching in June.
  Associate publisher Sheri Wallace says the tough ad climate that's hurt the magazine industry in recent years is not a major concern for her.
   And like Capparell, Wallace attributes the magazine’s potential for success to a small staff that doesn’t bear the burdens of some larger publishing companies.
  “Because we’re small and starting as lean as possible, that gives us an advantage.”
   Unlike the other titles, Real Magazine faces the highly competitive marketplace of women’s magazines. And while the publication follows a popular model of delivering a range of topics from health and beauty to money and living, Wallace is confident that the magazine taps into a unique need that has been left untouched by competitive titles.
  “I’m not going to any New York fashion parties,” says Wallace, referring to the tone of some fashion magazines. And neither do most women, she argues. Real Magazine will include a national real woman model search to drum up publicity for the launch. “There are beautiful people all around who don’t model for a living.”