The goal is to have 5,000 to 6,000 paid subscribers and a newsstand circulation of 1,500 by the end of the year, Mr. Morris said.

Some publications increase their newsstand circulation by cutting cover prices, but Vanity Fair just raised its cover price to $3, from $2.50, without losing sales.

The magazine, so far untitled, is scheduled to appear in October with a newsstand circulation of 500,000.

The agency's initial assignment will be to create 30-second black-and-white television commercials to help build newsstand circulation for five special issues during 1994.

The initial newsstand circulation will be 100,000.

Magazines are also being hurt by what some analysts see as a serious weakening in newsstand circulation of some major magazine categories.

"We've really kind of defied the odds," he said, noting that Consumer Reports' newsstand circulation has increased by 19 percent over the last year.

By the end of the first year, the full-color, slick paper magazine had newsstand circulation in fourteen states.

Hearst officials said it was too early to gauge the success of the magazine, which has an initial newsstand circulation of 700,000.

Last April, according to Consumer Reports, an extra 325,000 copies of the magazine were sold on newsstands, about three times the newsstand circulation for other months.