( CNN ) -- The outrage is clear , but the impact on Rolling Stone 's bottom line is not . As some retailers refuse to sell the latest issue , featuring a controversial photo of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover , it seems inevitable that some people who might have picked up a copy now wo n't . But any immediate loss could be minuscule for Rolling Stone overall . And recent history suggests that the frenzy could ultimately help move copies . `` It is absolutely impossible to predict what newsstands sales are going to be , '' Rolling Stone Managing Editor Will Dana told NPR after the anger erupted . `` ... It 's something you have to be mindful of , but at the same time , put out of your mind on a case-by-case basis . ... We really go with our gut on these things , usually . '' While the focus has largely been on newsstand sales , they account for only a tiny portion of the magazine 's overall circulation . Rolling Stone 's circulation is 95 % subscription , accounting for about 1.4 million copies . The remaining 5 % , about 75,000 copies , comes from individual sales . Rolling Stone did not immediately respond Tuesday to a CNN request for information on how the latest issue is selling . Support swells for trooper who released photos in response to Rolling Stone . The controversy bump . While social media is full of messages calling for a boycott -- as well as posts defending and supporting the cover -- uproars can sometimes increase sales . Ad Age puts it this way : `` Outrage aside , controversial magazine covers often pay . '' Share your view . It points to recent covers of Bloomberg Businessweek . One had `` phallic cover art '' about hedge funds ; another , about airline mergers , was `` illustrated by an image of two planes seemingly having sex . '' Opinion : Rolling Stone is right , the backlash is wrong . The `` more buzzy covers '' have lifted sales by up to 70 % above yearly average , an official with Bloomberg Businessweek told Ad Age . A Time issue last year with a cover showing a woman breastfeeding her 5-year-old son led to complaints , and some retailers refused to sell it . The issue went on to sell slightly above average , according to Ad Age . Rolling Stone sales : a mixed picture . Some critics call the Rolling Stone cover a desperate effort to boost sales . Rolling Stone 's circulation has stayed relatively steady , edging slightly upward , in recent years . The Audit Bureau of Circulations ( which recently changed its name to the Alliance for Audited Media ) calculates 1.45 million sales in 2007 , and 1.48 million in 2011 . McCain : Rolling Stone cover was stupid . Recent ad page figures -- a metric often used to determine a magazine 's health -- show a mixed picture . Rolling Stone 's ad pages jumped 5 % in the first half of 2013 , `` after a slow 2012 in which the magazine saw its ad pages decline 14.4 % , '' Ad Age reported . Much of the magazine industry has been suffering a loss in ad pages . In the first half of this year , the five major news magazines lost a combined 18 % compared with the same period last year , according to the Pew Research Center . Amid all the talk about Rolling Stone 's cover , some say the focus on the story itself inside the magazine has been lost . The lengthy piece looks at how Tsarnaev -- as the cover puts it -- `` fell into radical Islam and became a monster . '' What do you think ? Weigh in on Twitter , Facebook , or in the comments below . .
Retailers boycotting the issue might not have a big impact on sales . Rolling Stone 's circulation is 95 per subscription . Controversy sometimes increases in sales . The magazine 's front page sales fell in 2012 , but have risen in 2013 .