The Observer is launching a high profile TV and radio marketing campaign to back up a three-week long serialisation of the forthcoming journals of tragic musician Kurt Cobain. The book is being serialised in Observer Magazine on the 20, 27 October and 3 November.

n X-Ray arrives
X-Ray magazine will be hitting the newsstands for the first time on October 24. It is published by Swinstead Publishing on behalf of London-based music radio station Xfm. The launch is supported by TV and radio advertising. Each issue comes with a free covermounted CD. The launch issue has a cover price of £2.50, and the second issue goes on sale on February 2, 2004, when it goes monthly. Distribution is by Comag.
n Bookish lift
BBC Magazines expects this year's History Books of the Year supplement to push up sales of the November issue of BBC History Magazine at least 15%. Last year's supplement added 15% to the usual monthly sale. Distribution is by Frontline.

n What a Cracker
Family Wordsearch Christmas Cracker ­ a special publication from Cottage ­ goes on sale on November 14. The title has a cover price of £1.99 and is distributed by Comag.

n More kitchens
25 Beautiful Kitchens will move from a quarterly to a bi-monthly frequency from the February/ March issue, on sale January 24.
Publisher IPC said that sales of the title had increased 25% over the past 12 months. Distribution is by Marketforce.

n Party time
S Club Party Special is a new one-shot publication from publisher GE Fabbri based around the pop group S Club 7.
The magazine is a spin-off from the partwork S Club Style.
S Club Party Special goes on sale 23 October, with a cover price of £3.99 and is distributed by Comag.

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