THE choppy advertising market has not dissuaded Hearst Corp. from pressing ahead with its launch of Chic Simple this fall. The project was actually announced in February as a joint venture with book publisher Chic Simple Ltd. – but now insiders say the debut September/October issue is getting ready to close, with 52 total pages and between 25 to 30 ad pages.
It is one of the only launches from a major publisher on the docket this year.
Two new Chic Simple books, the 24th and 25th in the series, will appear from Warner Books in late September: Chic Simple Dress Smart for Women by Christy Zimbalist and Chic Simple Dress Smart for Men by former Premiere editor-in-chief Michael Solomon.
Marilyn Bethany is the editor of the new launch.
The Chic Simple line of books was conceived by Kim Johnson Gross and Jeff Stone, who are serving as editorial directors of the magazine.
There will be no newsstand sales of the magazine. Instead, 400,000 copies will be sent in a polybag to specially targeted subscribers of four existing Hearst titles: O, the Oprah Magazine; Marie Claire; House Beautiful; and Redbook.
The new mag will cover apparel, home, lifestyle and travel and will appear once more this year, polybagged with December issues.
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Bonnie Fuller, that little mischief maker, is busy raiding Time Inc. once again for her resurgent Us Weekly.
Jeremy Helinger, who was the entertainment editor of Teen People, has jumped to Us as a new senior editor. He’s done cover stories on everyone from Christina Agueliera to Britney Spears and the cast of “Friends.” It marks Fuller’s third major raid on Time Inc., home to Us’ archrival People.
Earlier, Janice Min moved over from In Style to be executive editor and Melissa Green, the beauty editor, was In Style’s associate editor.
But it has not been all a one-way street of course, since Fuller only got her job when Bonnie’s predecessor Terry McDonell jumped to be editor of Sports Illustrated. Charlie Leehrsen, passed over for the top Us job, soon followed his old boss to SI.
One of the biggest blows to Us came when Todd Gold, the well-connected West Coast bureau chief of Us, went back to his roots at People to work with Martha Nelson – taking a few potshots at the shorter and lighter-weight stories in Us under Fuller. Now Fuller has finally found a replacement for Gold in Ken Baker, who had been writing for Us from the Left Coast.
While the Jann Wenner- and Disney-owned Us Weekly magazine is resurgent on newsstands, it is coming at a price. Some of the staff is burning out from the long hard hours. Fuller also fired seven of the copy and production people. But she is apparently keeping her pledge to replace them with more writers and top editors. Linda Friedman, who was freelancing, also moved to Us as the new West Coast deputy bureau chief, and the key position of celebrity wrangler will be taken up by Jeanne Wolf, who was at Redbook.
Of the intensifying rivalry with People, Fuller said, “We’re not just competing against any one magazine. We’re all about celebrities and stars – we don’t necessarily see them as head to head with Us.”
People, with circ of 3.7 million, still makes more than any other magazine in America – over $300 million a year, while Us, with circulation of 929,131, is hoping Bonnie’s newsstand surge pushes it into the black sometime this year.
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Just in time for the start of summer, The Earth Times looks like it is nearing the end of its 11-year run.
“The June/July issue goes to press in about 10 days – at the moment it looks like it will be the last issue,” said Pranay Gupte, the editor-in-chief and publisher, who co-founded the publication with labor lawyer Theodore Kheel in 1991.
Over the years, the publication has received some backing from a variety of white shoe philanthropic organizations including the MacArthur, Rockefeller, Packard and the New York Times Foundations.
Earlier this year, the company decided that rather than relying on the kindness of others, it would try to turn itself into a for-profit company.
Gupte, a one-time reporter for the New York Times, sent out a private placement memorandum in a bid to raise about $5 million, with plans to push circulation from its present 15,000 level to the 100,000 threshold. So far, he says there have been no takers whatsoever, he said. And that has him contemplating shutting down for good.
Some freelancers said they know all too well about the company’s financial straits. Veteran photographer Marina Garnier said she noticed that one of her photographs of S.I. Newhouse Jr., which had been used as the cover of Carol Felsenthal’s controversial bio “Citizen Newhouse,” was picked up and used without permission in the January/February issue of The Earth Times. The photo ran as one of 300 snapshots in the “NY Influentials” list of the city’s power brokers.
Garnier said that when she saw the photo, she was aghast. She recognized it immediately and she sent Earth Times a bill for $1,000. “I sent letters, an invoice and made phone calls, but have not been paid,” she said.
“I’m going to make a few more calls, if they don’t pay, I’m going to small claims court,” she threatened.
Gupte says, “I wasn’t aware of her. If she billed us, I’d pay her. Normally, I’m pretty good at paying bills. If she hasn’t been paid, I will do so.”
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