The magazine's circulation, 500,000, will all be through single-copy sales.

Much of their circulation consists of single-copy sales rather than subscriptions.

Even with a 24 percent drop in the number of papers sold, annual revenues from single-copy sales would increase by about $650,000, to nearly $2 million.

In the last six months of 2003, single-copy sales were down 14.6 percent, to 724,170, compared with the previous year.

"No level of continued investment was going to overcome the lack of single-copy sales," he added.

About 25 to 30 percent of the papers are sold to subscribers, with single-copy sales accounting for the remainder.

Three of the states with a tax apply it only to single-copy sales.

According to the magazine, 603,555 copies were by subscription and 29,199 were single-copy sales.

It handles the single-copy sales operations of the magazines of both companies.

Adding single-copy sales, the paper's total circulation is 437,000 copies.