I’ve paraphrased a couple of answers to this question. These were published elsewhere some years ago. The answers came from people in the industry.
It’s to do with publishers trying to make a magazine look current for longer. Their production calendar may shift slightly throughout the year, for example, so they can get a December edition full of Christmas content on the shelf early, but mostly its to do with competition. A publisher wants to get its title on the shelf (or to subscribers) before its rival(s).
Factor in too, that a magazine is usually sent out to subscribers before it is bundled and sent to the distributors who supply shops and stores. That’s often one of the selling points, as well as price offers, to encourage subscription.
Glossy magazines are expensive, say a title is £5.99 on the shelves. Someone browsing a September edition in mid-September may baulk at paying that much and decide to wait for the October edition.
Publisher A might aim to have its September edition on the shelf by the third week of August.
So Publisher B aims to have its September edition on the shelf by the second week of August to get a lead on Publisher A and steal some sales.
What can Publisher A do? It can aim to have its September edition on the shelf by the first week of August but that will cause problems in the production chain for content commissioners, researchers, writers, proof readers, photographers, advertising departments and advertisers etc before it even goes to press.
A simple solution is to stick with the original aim to publish in the third week in August but to call the September edition October. To the consumer it looks like Publisher A’s October edition is out earlier than Publisher B’s and will look current for much longer. Publisher B realises what Publisher A has done and does exactly the same, getting its October edition on the shelf a week earlier. This competitive cycle has evolved until it has become the norm with seasonal and date-critical content adjusted accordingly.
There is only so far publishers can push this game until it starts to look silly and customers think there has been some kind of mistake. Two months seems to be about the limit. With digital editions now sitting alongside paper editions, the September digital edition (in OP’s case) may be available to the new subscriber.
What happens as a consequence is that September paper editions are pulled from the shelves before the month has even begun … which is great for people who buy magazines at bargain prices from market traders who buy up the stock. Shoppers may be able to buy a September edition in September for a £1.
I hope that is slighly clearer than a copy of Mud & Muckslingers Monthly.
