AFTER 20 years on the fringe, Australia's most unforgettably named free publication, Lesbians on the Loose, is going after a more mass audience, launching a spin-off sister consumer title, Bound.

The glossy monthly will be sold in newsagents from November 12 for $7.95, featuring lesbian writers and content from all over the world under the tagline, "Different cultures, same lifestyle".

Publisher Avalon Media co-owner and managing director Silke Bader said Bound would primarily target lesbians aged 30-plus, as well as bisexual and "curious" women, and anyone else associated with the lesbian community, including men.

"It will be a lesbian magazine but it isn't about ... politics and that sort of stuff," she said.

"It's interviews, fashion, architecture, interior design, lesbian performers, travel destinations of interest to lesbians (and) real-life stories from all over the world."

Bound would even include male contributors, something the "women's space" of LOTL did not.

Bader estimated gay men made up 15 to 20 per cent of LOTL's readership, and straight men made up a further 5 per cent. "We recognise men are very much part of a lot of lesbians' lives," she said.

The idea for Bound arose several years ago when Bader and long-term business partner Merryn Johns began a LOTL website drawing on an international pool of lesbian writers.

When the hoped-for subscriptions failed to materialise, they were left with a load of content without a proper home.

"Everyone was telling us ... the format should be on the newsstand," Bader said.

"But we couldn't put LOTL, a magazine that has been free for 20 years, on to the newsstand. People won't buy it.

"So we (decided) to split the magazine up."

The move will also allow the 20-year-old LOTL to return to its publishing roots as a street-press publication.

About 18 months ago Avalon vamped up the magazine with glossy stock, more pages and perfect-binding in a bid to differentiate it from newcomer rival Cherrie.

But the additional production expense meant its print-run had to be halved. In November the title will revert to saddle-stitching, lower-quality paper and a smaller book size, enabling its print run to return to 30,000 copies. It will remain free.

Bound, which will be edited by Johns from New York, will have a 10,000-copy print run and be distributed in North America, South Africa, New Zealand and probably Britain.

Avalon Media is also investigating whether the Newslink newsagent chain would sell the title at airports in Asian countries such as Singapore, where homosexuality is illegal.

Source: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/