• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, August 1, 2011

Conde Nast said Monday it has attracted 242,000 subscribers for iPad editions of its titles in the first six weeks after launching in May. The bulk of the digital sign-ups -- 136,000 -- have come from print subscribers adding the iPad app version at no extra cost.

"The digital counts are increasing every day, and while this represents a small portion of our subscription circulation, we find it incredibly promising -- especially given the short time we have been marketing subscriptions," stated Monica Ray, executive vice president, consumer marketing at Conde Nast.

Apple in February rolled out a subscription model for the iPad and other devices, but initially some publishers balked at the conditions, including Apple's 30% cut of sales and control over subscriber data. Conde Nast began offering subscriptions via the App Store in May for eight titles: Allure, Glamour, Golf Digest, GQ, Self, The New Yorker, Wired, and Vanity Fair.

Since introducing the first digital edition of GQ in November 2009, Condé Nast has had nearly 1 million paid downloads of its digital magazine editions on Apple devices, Barnes & Noble's Nook Color and the Kindle.