Hano said his magazine was already selling upwards of 10,000 digital issues a month, at $5 a pop. Customers' "biggest complaint" was the lack of a subscription option, and he expects the magazine's new $15-a-year offering to be popular.

And some money lost in commissions to Apple could be made up with information about those subscribers. Customers will have the option to share their name, e-mail address, and zip code with publishers. Even a partial gathering of subscriber data will be useful in luring advertisers, both Stephenson and Hano suggested.

"We're interested in being able to share with advertisers more information about who is buying our brand on tablets, and on the iPad in particular," Hano said. "If we can help them learn more about who our readers ... we think that's good for everybody."

Ted Nadeau, general manager of the Elle Digital Group, said the arrangement will allow his magazine to concentrate on content while Apple handles the money matters.

"This is good for the consumer," Nadeau said. "We are not in the payment processing business. We're happy to concentrate on our core strength of producing great content."