Up Here Publishing Ltd. has closed both of its quarterly b-to-b books, Far North Oil & Gas and Canadian Diamonds. The company is shifting resources into the launch of Up Here Business, a monthly that will cover general business in all three territories.

Up Here Publishing Ltd. has shuttered its two trade titles to make room for a new mag that covers business in the North.

The new mag, currently in production and scheduled to debut in mid-January, will have a circulation of about 10,000. Former Far North Oil & Gas managing editor Darren Campbell has been named editor-in-chief, while former Canadian Diamonds editor-in-chief Michael Ganley will serve as managing editor.

“Being monthly will allow us to be more timely, more newsy and to cover more current events,” Ganley says. Going to a general business magazine format, meanwhile, will allow for “more variety in editorial selection.” Areas of coverage will include tourism, finance, mining, zinc, lead, gold, as well as oil, gas and diamonds.

The glossy will sell on newsstands for $4.95, while subscriptions will cost $29.70. Free subs are currently available on a request basis though Ganley says the plan is to eventually phase them out. A one-time, full-page, full-colour ad is priced at $2,800.

As part of planning for the new publication, Up Here recently hired Whitehorse, Y.T.-based Katharine Sandiford as associate editor. Sandiford, a former freelancer, will split her time between the new business magazine and Up Here, the company’s flagship Northern lifestyle and tourism publication, which publishes eight times a year.

As for the closures, Far North Oil & Gas, founded in 2000, was named Trade Magazine of the Year at the Western Magazine Awards in 2003 and 2004, while Canadian Diamonds, launched in 2001, has been nominated five times in that same category.  FNO&G had a circulation of 10,000 while CD had a circ of 5,000.