How come you get the august issue of guitar world in may?

Question

How come you get the august issue of guitar world in may?

Answer 1

Because the Date Given on the front of a magazine is the "Offsale Date," which tells the vendors when to remove it from the stands because it's now a back issue and the new one is due out.

Works for publishers and vendors, but it does get confusing for the rest of us. Here in Chicago, the last edition of the newspapers carries the next day's date. It's officially tomorrow's morning paper. Many of us were tempted to head for the track or the lottery booth before someone explained that to us.