UPDATE: Rodale Kills Best Life

Emmaus, Pennsylvania-based Rodale has shuttered Best Life magazine. The May issue will be its last.

“Despite the great work of the sales team and the talent of the editorial staff, given the challenges of the advertising market and general conditions, Best Life could not meet our internal benchmarks, and we have made the decision to focus our resources on our core brands,” president and CEO Steven Murphy said in a statement.

A Rodale spokesperson said the company is looking to reassign “several members of the team,” including vice president and editor-in-chief Stephen Perrine and vice president and publisher Michael Wolfe, elsewhere within the company. The spokesperson declined to comment on specific layoffs.

Launched in 2004, Best Life carried a 500,000 rate base and total circulation was up 6.1 percent in 2008, according to FAS-FAX figures. Ad pages, according to the Publishers Information Bureau, were up 6.6 percent last year.

Check FOLIOmag.com throughout the day for updates to this story.

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A growing magazine that died?

Submitted by Collin on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 13:34.

Amazing, I guess you just can't win in this business anymore no matter what you do.

Best Life

Submitted by Girl fan on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 14:03.

That is a real shame. That was a really good magazine -- well-crafted, good content, interesting to read, easy to read, not just another copycat rag.

A Great Magazine, Really added value to Rodale

Submitted by eg on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 14:27.

Best Life was great. Very sad to see it go.

Steve Murphy

Submitted by John on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 14:28.

What kind of businessman shutters a magazine that is actually growing in this kind of economic climate? Especially a magazine like Best Life, which caters to the real lives of successful men, rather than the fantasy ones. Best Life helped men to be better fathers and husbands and businesspeople. What does Details do? GQ? Esquire? This is really, really sad. More than that, it is a profound loss.

Best Life

Submitted by Larry Eder on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 14:29.

Best Life was a super magazine. Rodale has been one of the places that gives magazines time to grown and prosper. It is too bad, I really enjoyed the the title. Larry Eder Shooting Star Media, Inc.

Growth does not always equal profit

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 14:46.

Obviously there wasn't enough growth to sustain a profitability model. Yes, it is too bad a good magazine had to cease publication. Maybe more magazines would survive if publishers valued readers more than advertisers.

Best Life?

Submitted by Mark Braun on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 15:15.

If I'm anything like most average Joes, I've never even heard of the publication until today.

Best Life - value readers over advertisers

Submitted by Bob Johnson on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 16:28.

NO, the problem is paying for content. Magazines can't survive because the Internet has made it so that interest type content is cheap. Print is expensive. Everyone wants the Internet to be free, but it's costing our economy. Media and financial. It's called "cheap automation" -- editorial included. And especially advertising.

Unfortunate demise.

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/11/2009 - 19:08.

Relative to others in their category I would have gladly paid more for their title, but perhaps they were already on the high side. I realize advertising is the lion's share of their financial model, but few can say they had those kind of circulation and advertising gains in 2008. Not the first time a parent company had unrealistic expectations. Or their cost basis was too high from the get-go.

A Real Shame

Submitted by Chris Eddie, Smiley Pete Publishing on Thu, 03/12/2009 - 08:53.

Best Life was my favorite magazine. The only one I know that speaks directly to the needs of a guy my age (34). But who kills a growing magazine? (Or anything in print these days?) I own a magazine company, and any title that I had that was growing (reasonably) would certainly have my attention...

too bad, but...

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 03/12/2009 - 15:35.

I agree that Best Life had some good features, but it turned me off with its uber-hetero content. I just wish someone could come up with a magazine that would appeal to both younger, metro (hetero) guys and gay guys, because everytime I pick up a magazine like Best Life, I feel like I am being excluded from a club or something. (I am gay, in case you haven't figured that out.) I'm not saying doing this would be easy, but there's got to be a way to make a magazine that appeals to young men, regardless of sexual orientation.

Best Life Online

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 03/12/2009 - 17:05.

This is a great loss. This magazine really offered something different. I hope they'll continue to maintain the website. As of this post, it's still live: http://www.bestlifeonline.com

I'd rather read Mens Health...

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 13:24.

Rodale tried to get me to switch to the 'old men's' magazine but I refused... Creating a marketing segment for the 40+ crowd (I'm 50) looks good on a whiteboard but MH has all the 'stuff' I'm looking for without the geriatric adverts which does not match to my self-image and life-style... RichInIowa

Great Magazine

Submitted by Jermo on Mon, 03/16/2009 - 17:33.

I'll miss this mag a lot. It will leave a huge hole that no other magazine can/will fill. The writing was always smart and the topics relevant. Visit www.magazinedeathpool.com to see the other magazine that have died so far this year.

Best Life..

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 11:49.

I too will miss this magazine... MAn this stinks!

What if we have paid for a

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 15:07.

What if we have paid for a subscription that goes out several years? Mine is good through 2012...will we be reimbursed?

Great Magazine...Still Selling Subscriptions !!!!!!!!!!!

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 16:25.

Paid subscriber for 2 years and my renewal is up. Would have renewed for 3rd year. Heard that the magazine folded. I am getting renewals in the mail and just received a bill from a collection agency for my 2009/2010 subscription. What tactics of desperation!

Boy do I have bad timing!

Submitted by Foolio on Tue, 03/31/2009 - 09:47.

I just cancelled my Men's Health subscription because I liked "Best Life" better. Now, I find out it's gone. What a pity. I really loved it!

too late for Best Life

Submitted by Wife & mother on Wed, 04/01/2009 - 18:15.

I just discovered Best Life, and was looking up how to subscribe on behalf of my husband and teenage son, when I found I was too late!! What a loss. The information was solid, well-presented and really imaginative. Maybe they should try an indirect marketing approach: market to women, who will make the men aware and interested (and who may even subscribe for them).

Bestlife Magazine

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 04/10/2009 - 15:14.

Interestingly, I just received an Invoice for a subscription to Bestlife, NOT that I actually SUBSCRIBED to the mag! Looks like I won't have to worry about being hassled for the 10 bucks they billed me.

payment

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 04/10/2009 - 16:56.

How do we pay what we owe or do we need to...?

Sad

Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 04/19/2009 - 08:21.

That was such a great magazine, and I don't know will fill the void after it. No other publication caters to the same audience.

Really Too Bad...

Submitted by BTinAustin on Sun, 05/03/2009 - 21:44.

I raelly have enjoyed BL for the last several yaers, I just signed up for a two year sucription last month after buying it at the news stand for years, oh well. I really liked the content and writing, heck my girlfriend even read and enjoyed it. The absence of BL mag will be a hard thing for me to fill mag wise, really too bad it's gone!

Attn: Anonymous "too bad, but...' Author

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 05/04/2009 - 21:10.

To Anonymous poster of "too bad, but...": So sad that a men's magazine doesn't speak to gay issues. Wait, no I'm not. This is a magazine for men, not gay men. It was great not having to deal with metro-whatever issues and just read about how to be a better father, stay in shape, have better sex (with a woman), and eat healthier. If those issues "exclude" you, and I grant that most do, tough. Oh and just to be clear, you are being exluded from the club. This is the club where we like girls & strip clubs. You have joined another club, where you like boys & pastels. So be happy with your choice and move on.

Crap!!!!

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 00:49.

I just skimmed through Best Life Magazine at the Magazine store. I ran home to subscribe to see it will no longer be offered. I really saw potential in this magazine. I hope some of the themes and ideas will grow and assimilate into MH.

Any suggestions?

Submitted by Bummed in Dallas on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 08:18.

Man, I am really bummed about this. This is (was) just about the only magazine that I read cover to cover. Does anyone know of anything out there that even comes close to what Best Life offered? A magazine, for straight, grown-up men with real-life concerns, ambitions, and interests?

Subscription renewal

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 05/09/2009 - 18:23.

How strange. I received the May 2009 issue yesterday and a subscription renewal in the mail today. How is this legal or ethical? I expected more from a quality magazine such as Best Life. I will miss it.

A great magazine.....dead...

Submitted by CSW on Sun, 05/10/2009 - 16:13.

As a woman, I actually loved this magazine and had just raved about it to someone as the "only" magazine I read cover to cover... So sad to see it go by the wayside for lesser magazines to prosper.

Best Life closing

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 05/11/2009 - 21:57.

It totally sucks. Thank you, Rodale. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, right?

damn this sucks. i just had

Submitted by Brandon on Tue, 05/19/2009 - 15:08.

damn this sucks. i just had my Cadillac in a photoshoot with Danica Patrick for this magazine and now it won't be making the pages? damn!