May Newsletter : Free Gifts Galore!

It's May already, and time for our monthly newsletter round up of what's new at Unique Magazines.  In this months newsletter you will find:

• A great selection of outdoor magazines for some summer fun
• A great read on the Top Sewing and Needlecraft magazines
• Free Gifts including a £25 GorillaPod Camera tripod, a Nantucket Bagg from the Little Knitting Company worth £32.25, an Executive Pen Set with Time Magazine, A baby bottle steriliser worth £24.99 with Prima Baby and Pregnancy and a Nourish Radiance Rejuvenating Serum worth £16.95 with You and Your Wedding.
• Our Online Newsagency growth update
• A reminder of the great benefits of subscribing with us, including a £40 Wine Voucher and 20% off greeting cards

Oh, and remember, it's Fathers Day on the Sunday 16th June so if you want to plan ahead and buy a great gift for Dad, then take a look at what we have in store.

Get Outdoors with these great Camping, Walking and Climbing magazines

With spring seeming like it has finally sprung, and summer apparently not far away it may be time to start thinking about planning some weekend and holiday activities in the great outdoors.

We have a wonderful selection of magazines dedicated to outdoor activities such as camping, climbing and walking. Take for example Lakeland Walker, which is a magazine dedicated to the routes and activities you can take part in throughout the Lake District, with a subscription price of only £19.95 for 12 months, with a saving of 5%. Alternatively we have Climber magazine, which as the name suggests is dedicated to people who enjoy climbing (both indoors and outdoors) mountaineering, hill walking and rock climbing.

Improve your catch with these great Angling magazines

Here at Unique Magazines we have our very own angling enthusiast in the shape of Paul, the IT Guy. He has been an avid fly fisherman for over 20 years, and a shore and boat angler for the last 4 years. "I am very much a self taught angler" says Paul, "and I have learnt much from websites and video tutorials, but I still get a lot of information from magazines. I tie my own flies using patterns in the magazines, and I have also started making my own sea angling traces using patterns from the magazines."

If you are an angler, or know someone who is then a magazine subscription is a great way to get the latest tips and techniques, as well as gear reviews and great advice through the Q&A sections. We have angling magazines to cover all the angling disciplines such as Fly Fishing on River and Still waters, sea fishing from the shore and boat, Coarse fishing, Pike fishing, Pole fishing and Sport fishing.

The Great British Sewing Bee

You may be aware that there has been a huge surge in the number of people interested in sewing, knitting, crochet and other needle crafts. There is a new wave of TV programmes to cater for this audience, which like gardening and cooking programming before it is starting to fill our television schedules. The popular TV show The Great British Sewing Bee on BBC2 pits a group of amateur sewers against each other in a series of challenges. With this in mind we thought it time we reviewed some great needlecraft magazines, bringing you the Top 10 Sewing and Needlecraft Magazines.

Yarnwise Magazine 12 Issues for £48 Save 20%	Patchwork and Quilting 12 Issues for £39.95 Save 22%	Crochet Today 3 issues for £18.99 £4.95 for a Single Copy	Sewing World 12 issues for £39.95 Save 33%

Free Gifts when you Subscribe

There are some fantastic free gifts to be had when you subscribe to your favourite magazine. In this months newsletter we feature 3 particularly good FREE GIFT promotional offers. These gifts are in limited supply, so hurry to secure yours.

Free GorillaPod Magnetic Tripod worth £25 when you subscribe to Outdoor Photography Magazine

With every subscription to Outdoor Photography we are giving away a GorillaPod Magnetic Tripod worth £25. So for as little as £42.66 for a 12 month subscription, you can save 10% on the magazine cover price and get this great photography gadget. This would make a great Fathers Day Gift!
The Magnetic GorillaPod’s flexible arms mean you can mount your digital camera in a wide variety of ways, allowing you to wrap round bars, rails, or secure on uneven or rough terrain.
Compatible with any digital camera up to 325g with a ¼” tripod thread, the GorillaPod uses a flexible ball-and-socket joint system for maximum adjustability.

Free Little Knitting Company Nantucket Bag worth £32.25 when you subscribe to Knitting Magazine

With a subscription to Knitting Magazine, you will receive this wonderful free Nantucket Bagg from the Little Knitting Company, which is worth £32.25. These amazing reversible Nantucket Baggs are the only bags like it in the world. It's a tote, a tool roll, wall rack and converts to a back pack. Further more we have a great 30% saving on a 12 Month subscription to Knitting Magazine, only £46.20 for 12 Issues, that's just £3.85 per issue.

Get a FREE Executive Pen Set when you subscribe to Time Magazine

When you subscribe to Time magazine you will not only save 81% on the cover price, you will also receive this fantastic executive pen set. We love a bulleted list, so this pen set consists of:

• Ballpoint pen and propelling pencil
• Beautifully balanced design for comfort and ease of use
• Stylish matt metal finished casing
• Smart metal presentation case
• Ideal for either the home or the office

FREE Microwave Steam Steriliser worth £24.99 with Prima Baby & Pregnancy

When you subscribe to Prima Baby & Pregnancy for £24.99, you will receive this Vital Baby Nurture microwave steam steriliser worth £24.99. What's more, the subscription price of 12 Issues for £24.99 is already a 26% saving over the normal cover price. There are only 30 Microwave Sterilisers in stock, so hurry to get yours.

FREE Nourish Radiance Rejuvenating Peptide Serum worth £16.95

Subscribe to You and Your Wedding, and receive this Nourish Radiance serum worth £16.95 absolutely FREE. There are only 20 to give away, so hurry to get yours.

Great NEW Magazines

We are constantly adding new magazines to our store, with dozens of titles added every week. We have recently added VWt Magazine, which is the only magazine dedicated to the VW T4 and T5 Transporter vans. VW's have massive cult status, and the transporter van is no exception. Due to the massive interest in the customisation of these vans, VWt magazine was born. We have a fantastic introduction deal of only £22 per year, saving you 54% on the cover price.

Classic Land Rover 12 Issues for £39 Save 22%	It's Dinosaur Action! 3 Issues for £15.99	Homemaker 13 issues for £55 Save 15%	Loaded 6 issues for £19.99 Save 21%

Update on our Online Newsagency

Recent visitors to our website www.uniquemagazines.co.uk will notice that our strap line is now "The Online Newsagent". This is because we now stock over 1000 magazines, both specialist magazines and titles from around the world.

Our aim is to have over 2000 different magazines in stock at any one time. All of our single magazines sold through our Online Newsagency service are sold at the cover price, plus a postage and packaging cost which is currently £1.20 to the UK, £2 for Europe and £2.56 for anywhere else in the world.

So why not take a look around and sample some of the fantastic specialist and international magazines we have to offer.

Sports Illustrated Magazine Honours Boston Marathon First Responders

We were all shocked by the images on Monday evening  of the horrific incident at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon.

A bomb rocked the jubilant atmosphere, and as the first responders rushed to the scene a second device was detonated.

Sports Illustrated magazines has chosen to honour those brave first responders in it's latest magazine cover.

The cover is striking in it's minimalism, 2 Boston police officers rush to the aid of a stricken competitor, 78-year-old Bill Iffrig of Lake Stevens, knocked to the floor by the blast.

The image has already gone viral, and is a stark reminder of the harrowing events on Monday.  It's a powerful image, so little wonder it has captured the attention of so many people around the world.

What do you think?  Let us know in the comments below.

Top 10 Sewing & Needlecraft Magazines

According to the BBC in the last few years there has been a “quiet revolution” going on in Britain’s homes.

People have been buying sewing machines, going to needlework classes and joining sewing circles.

The hype is partly attributed to the television programmes like Project Runway which has interested a new generation to create its own fashion and C4’s Home Made Home.

With this in mind I thought I would give you a guide to the top ten sewing and needlecraft magazines available at Unique Magazines using our sales information for the last 2 years.

Magazine subscriptions make an excellent gift so if you know someone that enjoys sewing and needlecraft one of these magazines would make a fantastic gift for them.

So let’s get started counting down from 10 to 1.

10) The World of Cross Stitching

The World of Cross Stitching is THE cross stitch magazine to inspire every stitcher whatever your level of expertise.

Every monthly issue is packed with the very best cross stitch designs, expert advice and in-depth technical features, as well as product news, reader letters and stories, competitions and free gifts.

As a cross stitch fan The World of Cross Stitching is my favourite magazine in this countdown.

It is a great place to start if you want to get into needlecraft but lack the ability, as cross stitch is easy to pick up and the result makes a great present for a loved one.

We have 6 and 12 month World of Cross Stitching subscriptions available with an incredible saving of 44% on the cover price.

Make sure you don't miss out – Subscribe to World of Cross Stitching today!

9) Magic Patch Magazine

In each bi-monthly issue of Magic Patch magazine the English language patchwork and quilting magazine from Holland you will find incredible project ideas and extensive patchwork ideas that are expertly tailored to the seasons and the skill level of any quilter.

Considered to be one of the best quilting and patchwork magazines, it is no surprise that Magic Patch has received great reviews and widespread popularity.

It contains detailed, easy to read instructions and a wide assortment of tips, techniques, and patchwork advice.

If you have been quilting for a long time or are just looking for a new hobby, Magic Patch has loads of stunning photography and project ideas that will help you pick up your needles and get quilting now!

We have 6 and 12 month Magic Patch subscriptions available from Unique Magazines.

8) Crochet Today Magazine

In each bi-monthly issue of Crochet Today Magazine this American crochet magazine you will find ideas and patterns to create funky fashion items, afghan blankets, accessories and jewellery, home décor items and much more.

It contains easy-to-follow instructions for all ability levels and information and advice from the industry’s top experts.

Crochet Today Magazine also features articles from fellow crocheters.

As well as all that, the website Crochet today website features a how-to section, patterns and a shop.

Flick through a free sample of Crochet Today here we have 6 and 12 month Crochet Today subscriptions available.

So if you fancy trying a new needle craft - Subscribe to Crochet Today Magazine.

7) Yarnwise Magazine 

Yarnwise (formerly Knit) is the knitting magazine for experienced or adventurous knitters. Written by knitters for knitters with emphasis on technique, Yarnwise offers between 10-15 original and interesting patterns per month, plus informative features, news, interviews and more.

Flick through a free sample of Yarnwise Magazine here.

We have a 12 month Yarnwise Magazine subscription saving 20% on the cover price or we have single issues available.

6) Patchwork and Quilting Magazine

Patchwork and Quilting magazine is a leading monthly magazine in the subject of stitching and quilting in the UK. The magazine gives a huge amount of information on the various aspects and methods of patchwork, stitching and quilting.

The magazine gives the opportunity for novice quilters, to learn the art of quilting and patchwork with its articles on how to stitch different patterns but it is ideal for all skill levels.

Patchwork and Quilting is full of information on different types of quilts, like Traditional American Block Patchwork, Half Square Triangles, among others.

If you are interested in quilting or learning how to quilt then Patchwork and Quilting Magazine is perfect for you subscribe today!

We have 12 and 24 month Patchwork and Quilting Magazine subscriptions available saving up to a fantastic 27%.

5) Burda Style Special Magazine

Burda Style Special Magazine (formally Burda Plus Fashion) is the sister to Burda Style.

Published 8 times per year Burda Style Special contains patterns for home sewing projects in UK sizes 4-22. It features techniques and how-to sections as well as fashion news.

We have 3, 6 and 12 month Burda Style Special Magazine subscriptions available so subscribe to Burda Style Special Today!

4) Inside Crochet Magazine

Inside Crochet is the UK’s only monthly crochet magazine.

From the creators of Yarnwise each issue of Inside Crochet is packed full of modern patterns for women, men, children and the home.

It features news, reviews and trends with projects for all skill levels.

Inside Crochet is written by passionate crocheters for passionate crocheters.

Flick through a free sample of Inside Crochet here

Subscribe to Inside Crochet today for a 20% saving on the cover price.

Get a 12 month Inside Crochet Subscription or single issues are also available.

3) Sewing World Magazine

Sewing World is a monthly magazine for people who love to sew with their machines or want to learn.

Each issue is packed with fun projects for all levels of ability, tips and techniques, master class, show news, book reviews, new product information and reviews, interviews with experts, a regular look at blogs and websites and a how to section.

There is also a SUB Club which is an exclusive draw for subscribers and a sneak peek at next month’s issue.

Subscribe to Sewing world for up to a fantastic 37% off the cover price.

We have 12 and 24 month Sewing World Subscriptions available.

2) Making Magazine

Making Magazine is your guide to creating “beautiful crafts for your home”.

This is a monthly all-round craft magazine full of projects for you and your home including sewing, embroidery, quilting, jewellery making and much more.

Flick through a free sample of Making Magazine here.

Subscribe to Making Magazine and save up to a great 36%.

We have 6, 12 and 24 month Making Magazine subscriptions available.

1) Burda Style Magazine

Burda Style “for people who sew” is our number one selling sewing and needlecraft magazine selling 5 times more that our number 2.

Burda Style’s aim is to bring sewing to a new generation of fashion designers and hobbyists.

Burda Style is published in 99 countries and 16 languages each English language issue contains up to 50 new patterns.

Flick through a free sample of Burda Style here

We have 3, 6 or 12 month Burda Style Magazine Subscriptions available.

So there we have it the top 10 run down of the most popular sewing and needlecraft magazines available from Unique Magazines.

Other top selling magazines available in this category are:

• Threads
• Simply Crochet
• Quilt Mania
• Knit Now
• Cross Stitch Gold
• Cross Stitch Card Shop
• Cross Stitch Crazy
• Crafts Beautiful

Peppa Pig vs Moshi Monster

The Peppa Pig brand of magazines has overtaken the top seller Moshi Monster magazine as the biggest selling kids magazine in newsagents, according to the publisher of the two titles.

Redan publishing said that February 2013 was the best ever month for Fun To Learn Peppa Pig Magazine, with the fortnightly pre-school magazine peaking at 112,000 copies per issue.

Adding these fantastic figures to the spin off publication Peppa Pig Bag O' Fun, the Peppa Pig brand recorded sales of 272,000 copies sold during the month, putting it ahead of Moshi Monster Magazine which sold 231,000 per issue.

These sales figures came in the same month that Hachette launched it's new Peppa Pig part work, which sold out its 430,000 copy within days.

Redan managing director Robert Sutherland said "Peppa Pig has proved to be the most popular character in our portfolio".

The original animated series was created by London based Astley Baker Davies and was launched in 2004 on channel 5.

The Trash Pack Magazine | New Launch

There is a brand new magazine hitting the shelves this month (April 2013), in the shape of a magazine with trading cards.

The Trash Pack is a range of toys launched in 2011, and becoming hugely popular in 2012, based around character which live in bins and has been licensed for a UK news trade release.

The launch of the magazine will be on sale on 26 April 2013, with a cover price of £2.99

With every issue of The Trash Pack magazine you will receive a free pack of trading cards and a free toy on the cover.

We will have copy of this magazine in stock on launch day, so watch this space for more information.  You can also subscribe to The Trash Pack Magazine through our website for 3, 6 and 12 issues.

April 2013 Newsletter

Hello, and welcome to the new look Unique Magazines Newsletter.

Once a month we will bring you the latest news, blog posts and offers from Unique Magazines.  From new magazine launches, to articles on the Top 10 magazines about a subject, and of course the latest and greatest deals are all here in this one great email.

In this month’s newsletter we have:

1. A great guide on the Top 5 Gardening Magazines for 2013
2. We reviewed a great new crafts magazine for Girls aged 8-11 called Ruby Loves
3. Our featured category is Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting Magazines where we have offers from as little as £1 per issue
4. Latest offers with savings up to 90%, or 3 issues for only £1
5. Also find out about the great benefits of being a Unique Magazines customer, a £40 wine voucher, and 20% of your greeting cards.

Top 5 Gardening Magazines for 2013

Ideally at this time of year you would expect to be thinking about getting the garden spruced up after the winter, giving the lawn its first cut, and doing a spot of pruning.  However, Jack Frost has stuck around a bit longer than welcome, so why not sit back and flick through a copy of a gardening magazine?  We have a great blog post looking at the Top 5 Gardening Magazines for 2013.

Grow It! 3 Issues for £3 Save 75%	Kitchen Garden 6 Issues for £18 Save 37%	Amateur Gardening 51 issues for £79.99 Save 26%	BBC Gardeners World 12 issues for £36.70 Save 20%

Wedding and Bride Magazines

With the wedding season getting into full steam now, we thought it was time we highlighted some of our great wedding and bride magazines.  We have some great UK based wedding magazines, with some great offers to be had on the likes of Perfect Wedding and You and Your Wedding. But what you maybe don’t know is that we also have some very specialist magazine titles such as Asiana Wedding and Belle Bridal, and we have some great American import magazines such as Martha Stewart Weddings.

Featured Topic: Pregnancy, Baby and Parenthood Magazines

Among the many great topics and interests covered on our website are pregnancy, baby and parenting magazines. Below we have listed just 3 of these titles which all have a huge saving also, with 3 issues for only £1.

Junior Magazine 3 Issues for £1 Save 93%	Practical Parenting & Pregnancy 3 Issues for £1 Save 89%	Prima Baby & Pregnancy 3 issues for £1 Save 88%

Latest Offers

We have hundreds of great magazine deals, where you can save up to 90%, or get yourself 3 issues of a magazine for only £1. With so much to choose from we have selected a few of the best deals to whet your appitite.

Glamour 6 Issues for £6 Save 50%	Men's Health 3 Issues for £3 Save 75%	National Geographic Kids 6 issues for £15 Save 37%	Andriod 3 issues for £3 Save 80%

New Titles for April 2013

We have recently added some great new magazines to our website.  The newest magazine is a brand new launch called Ruby Loves, which is a Crafts magazine for girls, aged 8-11.  You can read our review of Ruby Loves magazine on our blog.

We have also added many new specialist titles to our already impressive catalogue. If you can think of a hobby or interest, we have a magazine for it.  Passionate about Whiskey, why not take a look at our new Whiskey Advocate Magazine.  Or maybe you are an American football fan?  So take a look at the 2 new Pro Football Draft magazines, Lindy's Sports - Pro Football Draft and the Pro Football Weekly Draft Guide.

We add over 50 titles every month, so we are sure you will find something to interest you.

Online Newsagency

Over the past few months we have been building up the range of magazines we have in stock, with our aim to be the biggest and best Newsagents online, with magazines to cover every hobby, interest and specialist subject, with hundreds of magazines from around the world. We are continuing to build on this, and we now have over 900 magazine titles in stock right now.  We welcome you to come and take a look around one of the largest collection of specialist and hobby magazines on the internet.

Watch this space, as we will soon have over 2000 magazines in stock for you to choose from.

Magazines from Around the World

We are continuing to build our range of magazines from around the world.  We already have a huge number of magazines imported from the USA, with more to come over the next few weeks.

We also have a huge number of titles from Europe, with magazines from Spain, France, Germany etc. These magazines are popular with ex-patriots and foreign language speakers looking to brush up on their linguistics.

Take a look through our imports to see what interesting magazines you can find regarding your favourite hobby, and get an international slant on the topic.

Great Benefits when you subscribe

When you subscribe with Unique Magazines you get more than just a fantastic range of magazines and some huge savings.  You also get the following benefits:

Benefit 1 : £40 Wine Voucher

As a Unique Magazines customer have access to a £40 wine voucher from NakedWines.com.  This entitles you to £40 off your first order of £79.99 or more at NakedWines.com

All you need to do is go to www.nakedwines.com/uniquemagazines2 and enter the following username and password:

Username: UNIQUEM40
Password: VINEYARD

Benefit 2 : 20% off CardsFromUnique.co.uk

Get 20% off your greeting cards at our sister website www.CardsFromUnique.co.uk. Simply go to www.CardsFromUnique.co.uk and select your birthday cards, anniversary cards, wedding or new baby cards and then enter the code APR2013 at the checkout, and you will get 20% off your order.

Your Opinion Counts

We work hard to provide the best possible service we can.  We know we don't always get it right, so we look to you to tell us where we have done something wrong, so that we can act and improve. If you have something to tell us, you can do so on Facebook and Twitter. Or if you would just like to drop by and tell us we did something great, please feel free to do so.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Amateur Gardening Magazine Review

I have two young children, aged 5 and 2, and so I am always on the look or for activities we can do as a family which is also fun and educational for this kids.

When I was younger I would spend a lot of time working with my grandad in his greenhouse and allotment, so I thought it would be an interesting idea to relive those childhood memories with my kids.  However, we don't have the biggest of gardens, and I can't really remember much of what my grandad taught me, so I need some help and advice.

Working for a magazine retailer, I invariably turned to a magazine for help.  I started to flick through the pages of Amateur Gardening Magazine and quickly realised that this is a successful magazine for a reason.

Amateur Gardening is one of the oldest consumer gardening magazines on the market, having been first published 125 years ago. Over the years it has seen many gardening greats develop their careers such as Monty Don of BBC Gardeners World, Alan Titchmarsh and Charlie Dimmock.

So, my first concern when thinking about gardening was knowing what plants to plant, and when to plant them. I remember always being impressed that my grandad knew exactly what jobs needed to be done on what date, with everything from planting the seeds, to pricking out, to potting up a tightly scheduled process.  The first few pages of the magazine set my mind at ease however.  The "your gardening week" section clearly lays out what tasks you should be completing this week. The first topic in the issue I looked at was planting sunflower seeds. The article covers everything from sewing the seeds, to potting up individual plants, and then planting out. That sounds like a fun thing to do with the kids, so armed with the step by step guide we will be tackling sunflowers this coming weekend.  There may even be an updated blog post charting our success.

A few more pages later and I am looking at an interesting article about citrus plants.  This isn't something I am interested in so at move on, but I am struck again by the level of detail in the articles.  This is something for the more intermediate gardener.

As I continue to flick through the magazine the are several articles of interest such as sewing a crop of basil,which gives me an idea for a window box of herbs and garnish plants. There's a great article on deciding whether the time is right for pruning (I have some trees and shrubs I intend to prune back soon). 

There are regular sections within the magazine such as the readers questions and answers, which gives me some ideas about growing strawberries in pots.  There's also regular news updates on what is happening week to week in the horticultural world.

Finally there's a number of hints, tips and articles on planting and growing flowers, which initially I had little interest in, but on reading the articles I have decided to sew some seeds with the youngsters and see if we can raise some nice flowers for the garden.

so there you have my review of amateur gardening magazine. I hope you find it useful. Hopefully my gardening adventures with the kids will be successful, and that may lead to a future blog post.