THE war of the regional luxury magazines is intensifying and this week it appears Los Angeles is the new battleground.
In the latest salvo, Modern Luxury Publishing CEO Michael Kong has recruited Alan Klein, the president and publisher of Emmis Publishing’s Los Angeles magazine, to be the new publisher of Modern Luxury’s Angeleno magazine.
Klein will also preside over Modern Luxury’s other West Coast publishing operations, which include San Francisco, Riviera and Hawaii magazines.
It comes only a week after Jason Binn, head of Niche Media, made peace with onetime mentor Jerry Powers at Ocean Drive Media to form a “strategic partnership” between the two companies and Las Vegas-based Greenspun Media.
Binn’s branch of the unwieldy triumvirate publishes L.A. Confidential magazine.
Modern Luxury is also launching Miami magazine in September invading Powers’ turf.
*
Isolde Motley, once the powerful No. 3 editor at Time Inc., has followed her heart and signed with Ballantine to write a book for families seeking to adopt a child.
She’s teaming up with Susan Caughman, another ex-Time Inc. executive, to co-author “You Can Adopt: The Adoptive Families Guide” due out in the spring of 2009. Christine Tomasino was the agent who sold the book to Caroline Sutton, a Ballantine editor.
Motley and Caughman met when the latter was running consumer marketing at Time Inc., overseeing subscription offers.
Caughman now runs New Hope Media, which publishes Adoptive Families magazine and ADDitude, a magazine for people with attention deficit disorders.
Motley at the time was a deputy editor who helped launch Martha Stewart Living when it was a Time Inc.-owned title and later helped start Real Simple.
She was a quiet behind-the-scenes power, especially on women’s magazines, during Norm Pearlstine‘s reign.
Once John Huey replaced Pearlstine in early 2006, Motley stayed another year to help with the transition and then retired.
“Susan and I learned that hundreds of thousands of women take steps toward adoption, but don’t go through with it because they are scared by the myths – that it’s expensive or takes forever or that the children are damaged,” said Motley.
“We both have adopted children and we know it’s a wonderful way to build a family. Our book is based on the real stories of thousands of adoptive families.
