Spacing magazine to launch first national print edition

One of four different covers

Multiple magazine covers have been reported on  here several times recently (the Maclean's "tumble" cover; Toronto Life's three random newsstand covers). Now the feisty urban affairs magazine Spacing has taken the concept one better with four different covers used to present its first national print edition (that's the Montreal and eastern Canada edition shown above). 

Until now, Spacing has really only been available in print in Toronto or by subscription; although it has established online urban blogs in cities across Canada (Montreal, Ottawa, Atlantic (Halifax) and soon Vancouver.

The national edition, which is out June 6, is a milestone for Spacing, says its publisher and creative director Matt Blackett, a way of ramping up its national profile. It will be bigger (112 pages, compared with normal 80), perfect bound, a bit more expensive ($9.99 compared with $8) and promoted with a major newsstand push and a cross-country tour. The cover theme of the issue is 100 best public spaces in Canadian cities. 
National coverage will involve different covers: Montreal/east; Toronto/SW Ontario; Ottawa/East Ontario; and Vancouver/western Canada. The magazine will be publishing more than double its usual 8-10,000 copies; this time it will be 20,000 and it will be  in 88 Chapter/Indigo stores with a 2 week promotion and will have window promotions in many indy newsstands across the country (served by Magazines Canada.) For example, Atlantic News in Halifax will carry it; the store has been where Spacing has sold its street name buttons for some time. 
Blackett said that this first national print issue is a response to readers' constant questions; the eventual goal would be to do up to three national print issues a year, complementing three local online issues.
The national issue will be supported by a 10-city tour across the country, with events being held during June and July. 
One  focus for the issue will be the need for a national transportation strategy and includes an interview with Calgary's new mayor Naheed Nemshi and a column by former Toronto mayor David Miller.