IPC Media (formerly International Publishing Corporation), a wholly owned

subsidiary of Time Inc., is a consumer magazine and digital publisher in

the United Kingdom, with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies
each year.

IPC Media produces over 60 iconic media brands, with print alone reaching
almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men – almost 26 million UK
adults – while their websites collectively reach over 20 million users every
month.

IPC's diverse print and digital portfolio offers something for everyone, with
a focus on three core audiences: men, mass market women and upmarket
women.

Their men's portfolio (IPC Inspire) comprises a wealth of leisure brands

including Country Life, Horse & Hound, Rugby World and Decanter, as well
as lifestyle brands including Nuts, Mousebreaker and NME.

The mass market women's division (IPC Connect) comprises famous

women's weeklies including Look, Now, Chat and Woman; TV
entertainment brands including What's on TV, TVTimes and TV & Satellite
Week and, online, the goodtoknow network.

Lastly, the upmarket women's division (IPC Southbank) comprises luxury

fashion brands including Marie Claire and InStyle, lifestyle brands including
woman&home and essentials and home interest brands including Ideal
Home, Livingetc and housetohome.

Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or

information - the activity of making information available to the general
public. In some cases, authors may be their own publishers, meaning:
originators and developers of content also provide media to deliver and
display the content.

Traditionally, the term refers to the distribution of printed works such as

books (the "book trade") and newspapers. With the advent of digital
information systems and the Internet, the scope of publishing has
expanded to include electronic resources, such as the electronic versions
of books and periodicals, as well as micropublishing, websites, blogs, video
games and the like.

Publishing includes the stages of the development, acquisition,

copyediting, graphic design, production – printing (and its electronic
equivalents), and marketing and distribution of newspapers, magazines,
books, literary works, musical works, software and other works dealing
with information, including the electronic media.

Publication is also important as a legal concept:

 1. As the process of giving formal notice to the world of a significant
intention, for example, to marry or enter bankruptcy;
2. As the essential precondition of being able to claim defamation; that
is, the alleged libel must have been published, and
3. For copyright purposes, where there is a difference in the protection
of published and unpublished works.

Book and magazine publishers spend a lot of their time buying or

commissioning copy; newspaper publishers, by contrast, usually hire their
own staff to produce copy, although they may also employ freelance
journalists, called stringers. At a small press, it is possible to survive by
relying entirely on commissioned material. But as activity increases, the
need for works may outstrip the publisher's established circle of writers.

The final stage in publication is making the product available to the public,
usually by offering it for sale. In previous centuries, an author was
frequently also his own editor, printer, and bookseller, but these functions
are usually separated now. Once a book, newspaper, or other publication
is printed, the publisher may use a variety of channels to distribute it.
Books are most commonly sold through booksellers and other retailers.
Newspapers and magazines are typically sold directly by the publisher to
subscribers, and then distributed either through the postal system or by
newspaper carriers. Periodicals are also frequently sold through
newsagents and vending machines.

Within the book industry, some copies of the finished book are often flown
to publishers as sample copies to aid sales or to be sent for pre-release
reviews. The remaining books often travel from the printing facility via sea
freight. As such, the delay between the approval of the pre-press proof
and the arrival of books in warehouse, much less in a retail store, can be
some months. For books that are tied into movie release dates
(particularly children's films), publishers will arrange books to arrive in
store up to two months prior to the movie release to build interest in the
movie.