• by Larry Dobrow , May 19, 2003

Hoping to appeal to an affluent, well-educated segment of the population that lacks a magazine to call its own, publishing veteran James Ryu has unveiled Audrey. The bimonthly mag, targeted at Asian-American women between the ages of 18 and 34, launched about a month ago to minimal fanfare and a small print run of 10,000 copies.

With magazines catering to just about every niche - Pit & Quarry, anyone? - the question isn't whether there's a potential audience for Audrey, but why it took so long for somebody to tailor a publication to it. According to U.S. Census figures and other research assembled by the magazine, Asian-American households average $52,000 in income, compared with the national average of $42,000. Similarly, 44 percent of Asian-Americans boast a bachelor's degree or above, as compared to 28 percent of whites, 17 percent of African-Americans and 11 percent of Hispanic-Americans - all of whom have bushels of magazines devoted to their interests.

"As much as [Asian-Americans] consume, it's kind of surprising that you don't have many publications or many Fortune 500 companies trying to tap into this market," notes Ryu, who wears both the publisher and editor-in-chief hats.

Audrey - named after Ryu's daughter - features many of the usual staples of the women's-mag diet: fashion and beauty tips, celebrity profiles and relationship advice. What Ryu hopes will make it a must-read for his target audience is its multicultural flair. "When you see a wedding feature in other magazines, you just see a bunch of wedding gowns - we show the tradition and customs that come with Asian weddings," he notes. "There are so many Asian influences that get overlooked. What we try to do is highlight them in every story, whether about food or fashion or lifestyle."

When speaking about the magazine's business prospects, however, Ryu is almost brutally frank. As opposed to many of his peers, who would sooner admit to past personal indiscretions than to a lack of advertiser interest, Ryu freely concedes that he's had difficulty attracting the sponsors upon whom Audrey's success hinges.

"It's hard. Lots of companies have said they want to see a few issues before they invest in us," he explains. "We're starting with [ads on] about 30 percent of our pages and only five percent are paid."

Right now, the magazine counts Japanese cosmetics manufacturer Pola, Korean cosmetics company DeBon and Hyundai among its advertisers. Not surprisingly, Ryu's wish list includes In Style perennials like Estée Lauder, Lanc"me, Gucci, BMW and Georgio Armani. "We know it's going to take time," Ryu says. Of course, he has a track record of being patient: Audrey's sister publication, KoreAm Journal didn't turn a profit until its eleventh year.

While Ryu hopes to add other magazines to the family, he admits that he faces an uphill battle to do so. A few years ago, he produced a prototype for a magazine aimed at Asian-American business executives, but it failed to garner enough advertiser support to get past the planning stages.

"You see African-American and Hispanic-American publications, but there are so few publications for Asian-Americans," Ryu states plainly. "And there are really so many opportunities - a magazine for the business audience, a magazine for seniors. Hopefully Audrey will be another step towards raising the visibility of this audience."