It was nomination week in Magazineland. The American Society of Magazine Editors on Thursday announced the finalists for this year’s National Magazine Awards, which will be handed out at a luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria on April 13.

Even being named a finalist for an Ellie, as the Awards are called – winners receive an Alexander Calder-designed stabile that looks like an elephant – is considered an honor by most magazines and their editors and publishers. This year there were more than 1,500 entries submitted by 312 print and online publications. The finalists were selected by nearly 200 editors who worked in teams during a three-day screening process in February.

For the eighth year in a row, the New Yorker leads the list. It received a total of 11 nominations in nine categories. Vanity Fair has seven nominations and the Atlantic garnered five. But besides these “usual suspects,” some newcomers – including BabyTalk, Everyday Food, and Kids: Fun Stuff To Do Together – were among the nominees.

Emerging themes among the nominees included the war in Iraq, the crisis in the Sudan, and various health-care issues, including partial-birth abortion and stem-cell research. Marlene Kahan, Executive Director of ASME, said, “I believe the finalists are a true reflection of what concerns people today. Also,” she added, “this year, there was great diversity among the nominees including more women’s magazines and more magazines that are based out of New York.”

Earlier this week, Mediaweek, a highly regarded industry publication, also handed out its annual honors. If the Ellies are the Oscars, MediaWeek’s selection is closer to the People’s Choice Awards.

Its pick for Editor of the Year was Janice Min, the editor in chief of US Weekly. Ms. Min, along with Bonnie Fuller, helped relaunch the magazine in 2002, and it is now considered the best purveyor around of somewhat trashy but oh-so-irresistible celebrity fluff.

When Ms. Fuller left the magazine to seek greener pastures as the editorial director of America Media, the parent company of the Star, US was selling between 300,000 to 500,000 copies on the newsstand. Under Ms Min’s direction during the last six months, the magazine frequently has sold 900,000 copies a week. A few issues with Britney or Brad and Jennifer on the cover have even passed the 1 million mark.

Ms. Min previously worked at People. As a former colleague confided to me, the job at Us is the one Janice was born to do: “Whether it was office gossip or celebrity gossip, she was always the first to know what was going on. “At People, Ms. Min said, “I had the JFK Jr. beat, the Lady Diana beat, the Oscars. I wasn’t a feature-well girl. My covers were like, ‘Hero Pets!'” She also worked at Life and InStyle.

Those who have worked with her say that besides being clever and full of ideas, Ms. Min is usually calm and very thoughtful of her young staff – not exactly the qualities her talented predecessor was known to display. Jann Wenner – with whom Ms. Min, it has been reported, is currently negotiating a new contract – said, “She’s this completely steady, organized, inspiring person to be in charge. She knows how to bring out the best in everybody.”

Insiders say Ms. Min’s editing formula for US is to make celebrities seem not bigger than life but rather like the readers’ friends – friends you can dish about, sometimes laugh at, or even make fun of. Ms. Min said, “The more polarized this country becomes, the more celebrities matter. Because they provide common ground. I could walk into any situation, with any group of people … and we could bond discussing J. Lo’s third marriage. I mean, you can overload on beheading videos. I know some see US as a sign of the apocalypse. I see it as a safe place.”

Other MediaWeek winners include Mark Whitaker and Greg Osberg, the editor and publisher, repectively, of Newsweek. They were chosen as Executive Team of the Year. Linda Thomas Brooks, executive vice president and managing director of General Motors Mediaworks, an important print advertiser, said about the pair, “There are no must-buys anymore – just as for the consumer, there’s no must-read anymore. But [Messrs. Whitaker and Osberg] have figured out how to stay relevant from the consumer standpoint and from the advertiser standpoint.” By the way, Mr. Whitaker’s best-selling newsstand issue was about the death of President Reagan. (That was Time’s bestselling cover as well.) His worst seller: the November 1 issue about the flu-shot shortage.

Others honored by Mediaweek in clude Robert Festino, the art director, Don Kinsella,the photo editor,and Eric Paul, designer of Runner’s World as Creative Team of the Year. Working together with editor David Willey, they have updated the look of the magazine, which has helped increase circulation and brought in new advertisers.

Mediaweek chose Cottage Living, the low-key home decorating magazine published by Time Inc.’s Southern Progress division, as Launch of the Year. The magazine’s editor, Eleanor Griffin – who is based in Birmingham, Ala. – said, “Cottage Living is a decorator-free zone. … I just want people to have fun with their homes. You are not competing with the Winter Antique Show.” Circulation has climbed from 500,000 to 650,000 in just four issues, and the magazine, unlike its competitors, sometimes goes back and reshoots pictures when they look too perfect!

Mediaweek publishes a Hot List of magazines that have revenues of more than $50 million and are gaining in circulation, advertising and readers’ involvement. Top of the list is Real Simple, followed by Lucky, US Weekly, InStyle, and O – The Oprah Magazine. Five out of five are magazines that seem able to attract women in their 20s and 30s, exactly the readers beauty and fashion advertisers, who are the backbone of women’s publishing, are constantly seeking. Though such magazines may get fewer nominations for prestigious awards when it comes to the bottom line in Magazineland, girls rule.