How do you determine if a publication is well read?

• If a company prints and distributes 15,000 papers it doesn't mean they have that many readers. If only 5,000 papers get picked up, that's how many readers they have. Don't let publishing companies tell you that readership is some multiple of the papers distributed. Assume 1 reader per picked up paper. Ask your sales professional from the paper for information in writing stating how many papers are picked up.
• How a paper is distributed is important as well. Remember, we're trying to figure out how many people actually read the particular paper. If it is a paid paper and it gets mailed to those who have a subscription, that is good. Folks are paying for the paper and have asked for it to be delivered to their home, so they are likely to read it. However, if it is a free paper and is mailed, that may not be so good. How would you know how many people want the paper and thus read it? You wouldn't. Nobody asked for it! Most of them may get thrown away with the other "junk mail". It's just too risky to invest in advertising with a paper that does that. If the paper is free and is distributed in stores and if the paper keeps track of how many get picked up, then that is good. If they get picked up, then people want them and if they want them, then they'll read them. The advertiser knows how many people are reading it. And READERSHIP IS EVERYTHING!