A magazine publishing is a great source of information and entertainment. Depending on the contents, magazines are generally classified into categories, targeting different readership.

General interest magazines - They are distributed with the most readerships on the minds of publishers. They are often tailored to go well with the topics which a common man would actually like to read. Stories that are easy to read and often gratify the interests of the general public are mostly the contents of such publications.

This kind of magazine publishing caters to a reader with a specific idea of what kind of information each page has to present. It may focus on a singular subject throughout the pages or cover many different ones, accordingly to the target readers’ intents. The main idea of a magazine that falls under the general interest kind is to entertain, endorse and sell products and promote readership viewpoints.

Scholarly / academic magazines - They present information focusing on the educational. They provide the targeted readership with information in detail, often written by scholars, specialists or researchers in different fields. Articles are written using a technical or specialized vocabulary.

The main purpose of this magazine is to teach and provide data in researches. Charts, graphs or tables often accompany articles; little or no photos and other forms of graphics are used, except in cases tackling visual arts or architecture.

Trade / professional magazines - Magazines of the trade or professional kind are distributed to a very specific readership, usually managers, businessmen and those identified with trade and industry. Some of these magazines are not available to the general consumer, and the subscription is, as a rule, directed to people in the trade. This is also to ensure that any form of advertising contained in such publication reaches the target end user.

Most of the articles, news and commentaries in this magazine are written by specialists or journalist. It is issued weekly or monthly to catch up with the fast changes occurring in the trade arena. Since this caters to a particular professional or occupational group, keeping them abreast with the current trade and industry sure counts a lot.

News magazines - This kind of magazine publishing is often distributed on a weekly basis, and is directed towards a broad readership. It intends to provide the consumers with a singular source of news, current events and other topics that are in demand.

News magazines generally tackle something more in detail, as compared to the stories presented by newspapers. Rather than just the facts, magazines like this give the readers an understanding of the context around significant events in the society. They are available at newsstands, bookstores and by subscription.

Sensational magazines - Magazines of the sensational kind are inclined to creating a stir. They are usually thinner than most magazines, but larger in size and almost looking like a newspaper. Designed for attracting the attention of the consumers, they use flashy headlines written across the pages in huge font sizes. Most of the articles are related to celebrities and other stories that are astounding to their target readership.

There are usually more pictures in here than written pieces. More often than not, the vocabulary used is elementary; some might even consider the stories they carry provocative and scandalous. Freelance writers or staffers write such articles. A magazine publishing of the sensational kind is generally referred to as tabloid.