Magazine publishers weathered the difficult recession year of 2009 with admirable resilience. Although several magazines failed and many saw reductions in advertising revenue, a number of new publications have been launched as industry professionals continue to demonstrate their ability to adapt to new technologies and difficult business conditions.

According to Ulrichsweb, 73 U.S. consumer magazines—notably Blender, Country Home, Nickelodeon Magazine, and Condé Nast's Gourmet and Modern Bride—suspended publication in 2009. PC Magazine, National Geographic's Adventure, and Northwestern University's TriQuarterly are continuing online only. Initial dismay at Nielson Business Media's announcements to close Kirkus Reviews and Editor & Publisher ended in relief after the word that they will continue relatively uninterrupted. E&P was bought by boating magazine publisher Duncan MacIntosh, and Kirkus was purchased by Herb Simon, chair emeritus of a real estate company and the owner of the Indiana Pacers basketball team.

Magazines heavily dependent on advertising revenue from luxury products had to tighten their belts until it hurt, and several publishers laid off employees. In Mediaweek's "2010 Forecast: Print Media" (1/4/10), Lucia Moses notes continued gloom in some quarters and predicts especially tough times ahead for entertainment, shelter, and business publications.

Ulrichsweb data reveals that, despite the economic difficulties, 284 consumer magazines were launched in 2009. In "The Twenty Tweetable Truths About Magazines" (10/14/09), Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) reports 325 million paid subscriptions to magazines in 2008 and that this number rose in the first half of 2009.

Nine of the ten magazines chosen last year in LJ's Best of 2008 are alive and well; the business magazine Strategy has failed to stay on a regular schedule.

Publishers continue to experiment with best uses of online content, launching blogs and enewsletters, referring to the print product online and vice versa, and even trying "Augmented Reality"—Esquire's December issue featured a video of Robert Downey Jr. that could be accessed by holding the cover up to a webcam. In "Magazines and Their Web Sites" (Columbia Journalism Review), Victor Navasky and Evan Lerner describe various ways publishers use print, the web, and social media and express concern that lower editorial standards are employed online than in print because web content tends to be driven by immediacy at the expense of accuracy.

It has never been easy to define exactly what a magazine is, and the proliferation of online-only magazines and the continued development of web-exclusive content make it even more difficult. Magazines in any format typically meet the Cooperative Online Serials (CONSER) definition of a periodical: "A serial appearing or intended to appear indefinitely at regular or stated intervals, generally more frequently than annually, each issue of which normally contains separate articles, stories, or other writings." However, a magazine can be defined by its physical format. Samir "Mr. Magazine" Husni's statistics on new and ceased magazines include many glossy newsstand pubs that show no intent to appear beyond one issue (see "New This Month" at www.mrmagazine.com). Wikipedia uses the helpful distinction that online magazines "typically have editors or editorial boards who review submissions and perform a quality control function to ensure that all material meets the expectations of the publishers...and the readership."

For the first time, this year's selection of the ten best magazines includes online-only publications. At LJ, we're using a combination of the CONSER and Wikipedia definitions and aren't concerned with the physical format. What's important are editorial selection, editorial quality control, and publishing at intervals with the intention to continue indefinitely. The monthly online reviews and selections of the best of the year are based largely on evidence of good work in choosing content, checking facts, copyediting, and producing coherent issues that advance a clear mission. Graphic design and production quality count insofar as they support or detract from the magazine's mission.

The magazine publishing industry is abuzz over the potential impact of ebook readers. Wireless readers could facilitate charging for online magazines like folks pay for ebooks, but, so far, most people expect online magazine articles to be free ("For Most, Online=Free," Mediaweek, 10/26/09). Although gray-scale readers like Kindles would be fine for scholarly journals, it may take the full-color visual impact of Apple's new iPad (and its inevitable contenders) for ereaders to effect an experience similar to print magazines. The Wall Street Journal, reporting on magazine publishers' interest in how titles will be sold and ads displayed on the device, quoted Bonnier senior VP Sara Ohrvall: "Either we have to package our products much differently, or we just lost the paid content game." ("For Media Industry, a Mixed Bag in iPad," Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg and Shira Ovide, 1/28/10).

Librarians' expertise in selecting and describing publications is especially valuable for free online mags that are easy to miss in the morass of web resources. Library catalogs can boost patrons' awareness of excellent titles like Cerise Press, Tablet, and other online-only magazines reviewed in LJ. For patrons' benefit, it's worth the time and energy to add bibliographic records to catalogs for online magazines and to add links to records for those print magazines with a strong web presence. Observing where new e-media take us and how magazines adapt continues to fascinate and entertain, but print publications will remain relevant and valuable.

Here, then, are ten excellent new magazines in print and online formats worth considering for your library.

Cerise Press (online). 3/yr. free. Eds: Fiona Sze-Lorrain, Sally Molini, & Karen Rigby. www.cerisepress.com

The high-quality eclectic mix of poetry, translations, short fiction, photography, art, interviews, and reviews is enhanced by exceptionally clean, tasteful graphic design and crisp, detailed images. The editors' good taste infuses the entire project, from the selection of original and translated works to the paintings and photography to the works chosen to be reviewed. Cerise Press is an excellent arts and literature review at an unbeatable price.

Electric Literature. q. $48/6 print issues; $24/6 e-issues. Eds: Andy Hunter & Scott Lindenbaum. electricliterature.com

Subscriptions are available in print, multiple e-formats—broken down by device, including Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone, and Android—and as downloadable audio. Rick Moody's "Some Contemporary Characters," in Issue 3, first appeared as 153 Tweets sent out over three days, an experiment that garnered quite a bit of attention and decidedly mixed reviews. Technological innovation alone does not a good periodical make, but the five stories in each issue are fine exemplars of contemporary short fiction.

The Flyfish Journal. q. $39.99. Ed: Kirk Deeter. www.theflyfishjournal.com

This is the third magazine launched by Funny Feelings of Bellingham, WA. Its stock in trade is coffee-table magazines gorgeously produced to present stunning photography to maximum effect. As with Frequency: The Snowboarder's Journal and The Ski Journal, the writing is good, but the images are what make The Flyfish Journal great. This is a delight to browse, even for folks with little interest in fishing.

Guitar Aficionado. q. $24.95. Ed: Tom Beaujour. www.guitaraficionado.com

Now on its fourth issue, a magazine at risk of being a haphazard clutter of, as the cover boasts, "guitars, cars, watches, wine, and the deluxe life" has successfully developed a coherent identity and strong editorial voice. Guitars, guitarists, and collectors securely hold center stage. Profiles of diverse guitar lovers, including tennis star John McEnroe, author Jonathan Kellerman, and actor Jeff Bridges, give the magazine appeal beyond instrument enthusiasts. Targeted primarily to men, the stories about wine, cars, and the like match (or at least don't contradict) interests of those willing to pay thousands for a guitar.

HerStoria. q. £26. Ed: Claire Jones. www.herstoria.com

The history of women in Great Britain and its territories is full of fascinating stories and characters. HerStoria fulfills its motto—"history that puts woman in her place"—with well-written, entertaining, and attractively illustrated articles. Recent issues describe trousers and golfing attire, first-century Queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes, and pioneering civil servants and doctors. A noteworthy regular feature is an illustrated women's history walk through a British city.

Listen. q. $19.80. Ed: Ben Finane. www.listenmusicmag.com

Subtitled "Life with Classical Music," this is a classy, tastefully designed 80 pages—per— issue magazine about musicians, recordings, performances, and trends in serious music. Recommendations and advertising for new recordings comprise a substantial portion of Listen, but the commercialism is well balanced with plenty of informative feature articles. Listen's sophisticated yet accessible writing style is a perfect match for readers who appreciate music but may have little formal musical training. [Library and academic institution subscriptions are discounted to $4.95/year.]

Modern. q. $19.95. Ed: Gregory Cerio. www.idealmodern.com

Modernist style gets its due in this fine new magazine from the publishers of Art in America and The Magazine Antiques. The primary focus is studying or collecting furnishings and architecture of the 20th and 21st centuries. Articles about various objects are balanced with treatments of modernism as an aesthetic. Modern is amply illustrated, elegantly designed, and clearly written. Ads for galleries and auctions tightly match the theme to enhance the magazine's appeal.

National Affairs. q. $27.99. Ed: Yuval Levin. nationalaffairs.com.

Amid media overrun with name calling and shrill dismissal of others' points of view, it's especially important to have responsible outlets like National Affairs that present reasoned discussions of health care, education, the economy, and other public policy issues. It features thoughtful analyses of current issues from prominent neoconservative writers based at organizations including the Manhattan Institute, Hoover Institution, and American Enterprise Institute. Compared to the inaugural issue, the second edition tends to speak more to policy wonks, but the journal should still interest anyone concerned with the future of our nation and willing to consider neoconservative viewpoints.

Tablet (online). updated daily. free. Ed: Alana Newhouse. www.tabletmag.com

Tablet is updated daily and is technically a continually updated resource, but each article has a date of publication, and the editors consider it a magazine. The content, look, and feel are similar to the online versions of many print magazines, and it has a strong editorial team, so it's no real stretch to include it here. The tidy and easily navigable web site divides content into "Arts & Culture," "Life & Religion," "News & Politics," and "The Scroll," a blog of recent events in the news. Tablet is expertly targeted to its audience of American Jews but covers a broad enough range of topics also to interest others.

Vintage Magazine. s-a. $32. Ed: Ivy Baer Sherman. vintagezine.com

Before subscribing to a periodical, librarians typically (and wisely) consider its chances of staying in publication for a reasonably long time. Vintage is worth buying regardless of how many issues are published. The inaugural edition is a work of art, from the stitched binding to the various creative uses of paper and printing to tell stories. Issue 2 is due out in May. One hopes the beautifully creative Vintage will succeed in the long run, but even if it doesn't, each issue is worth preserving.