Seventeen Mag Chooses New Editor in Chief – Ann Shoket

Seventeen mag has chosen their Atoosa replacement in the form of Ann Shoket, current executive editor at Cosmogirl.

Daily FishbowlNY sums up some interesting facts about the new 34 year-old editor including her Amazon wishlist and favored college cuisine.

Shoket faces the task of keeping Seventeen relevant and ad-happy (Seventeen’s single copy sales were up 2.5 percent in 2006, according to Hearst estimates, but its ad sales were down about 3 percent) in world that has seen the recent end of prior teen girl staples like Teen People and Elle Girl (now available at Ellegirl.com, and my favorite in the teen mag spree) as well as those magazines I grew up on like YM, Teen, and Sassy (RIP beloved Sassy). There are those that say that as long as there are bathtubs, there will be a place in the world for teen/women’s fashion magazines, but the real task for editors and publishers alike is providing content that girls want, in the places they want it – and that increasingly means supplanting the traditional paper mag with a strong online presence.

As for Atoosa, her myspace suggests a book in the works and a penchant for Journey.
Full release below.

The full release:

NEW YORK, January 3, 2007 — Hearst Magazines President Cathleen P. Black today announced that Ann Shoket, executive editor of CosmoGIRL!, has been appointed editor-in-chief of Seventeen, America’s largest teen magazine reaching more than 13 million readers per month. Shoket begins her new role immediately and will report to Black. She replaces Atoosa Rubenstein, who left the company to pursue a startup interest.

“Ann has extensive experience and a proven track record in both teen magazines and in the digital world, an important area of growth for Seventeen,” says Black. “She understands the teen market and has the talent and smarts to lead Seventeen to the next level.”

Shoket, 34, has been executive editor of CosmoGIRL! since October 2003. She has been with CosmoGIRL! since its launch in 1999 in positions of increasing responsibility, developing some of the most popular features in the magazine on celebrities, beauty, fashion, health and leadership. As the editor in charge of CosmoGIRL!’s leadership campaign, Project 2024, she secured high-profile interviews with leaders such as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, ABC News’ Barbara Walters, and designer Vera Wang. In addition, Shoket spearheaded a summer internship program for readers with some of New York’s most prestigious organizations in government, sports, politics and business.

Shoket is also experienced in translating a print magazine for the online space. In 2000, she was tapped as Web editorial director of Cosmogirl.com. Under her supervision, the site’s page views doubled. Hearst’s three teen Web sites — Cosmogirl.com, Seventeen.com and Teenmag.com — attract more than 1.5 million unique visitors a month and have grown 60% in revenue over the last two years.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work on this iconic category leader that has helped generations of girls grow up to be confident young women,” said Shoket. “By combining the power of the magazine with the interactivity of the Web site and mobile, the Seventeen brand is the ultimate platform to reach millions of girls in high school and college to help them look good, feel good, and have fun at such a crucial and exciting time in their young lives.”

Prior to working at CosmoGIRL!, Shoket was senior editor with Parade’s teen news magazine, React. She began her career at Steven Brill’s The American Lawyer. Shoket has B.A., cum laude, from New York University and a certificate in Media Management from The New School. She lives in New York City.

Since Hearst acquired Seventeen almost four years ago, the young women’s fashion and beauty leader has experienced five consecutive ABC periods of newsstand growth and has the most frequently visited magazine Web site in the teen magazine category.

About Seventeen

Seventeen, which Hearst acquired from Primedia in April 2003, reaches more than 13 million readers every month and is today’s largest selling teen beauty and fashion magazine. Seventeen is published by Hearst Magazines, a unit of Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com) and one of the world’s largest publishers of monthly magazines, with a total of 19 U.S. titles and nearly 200 international editions. Hearst Magazines reaches more adults in the U.S. than any other publisher of monthly magazines (73.4 million according to MRI, fall 2006). The company also publishes 19 magazines in the United Kingdom through its wholly owned subsidiary, The National Magazine Company Limited.