Eugene David<br>...The One-Minute Pundit

Posted 9:47 AM by Gene

But my favorite method of gauging the vitality of India's publishing industry is to weigh it. That's what I did with the October issue of the local edition of Cosmopolitan. At 1,016 pages it landed with a solid thunk on my desk, evoking a mixture of shock and curiosity. Shock that anyone would need a thousand pages-plus of sex advice, fashion and beauty tips; and curiosity as to the secret of Cosmo's success given the struggle so many publishers in America face over declining readership and fickle ad sales. The verdict? October's Cosmo weighed a hefty 4.95 lbs.

"It's a sunrise moment for Indian publishing," says Mala Sekhri, publishing director of Cosmopolitan India and the brains behind the 10th anniversary issue — the biggest of any Cosmo edition anywhere ever. "It's really not as developed or evolved as the U.S. or U.K. But it's growing fast." Sekhri got the idea for a 1,000-page edition when she visited Cosmopolitan's New York headquarters two years ago. "The Russian edition had just put out an issue around 850 pages," she remembers. "I told them: India will soon catch up."

Psst! King Richard! Maybe we should buy HEARST, n'est-ce pas?