earst Magazines (a unit of The Hearst Corporation, one of the world�s largest publishers of monthly magazines, with 18 US titles and 137 international editions including House Beautiful in Thailand and Good Housekeeping in India) will launch its first US weekly, a low-cost women�s service title dubbed Quick & Simple. Quick & Simple becomes the boldest move into the low-cost women�s service niche - as well as the most expensive. An industry executive pegged the costs of such a launch at between $40 million and $70 million.
Editing the project is Susan Toepfer, a veteran of Time Inc�s People and the final editor of Gruner & Jahr USA Publishing�s ill-fated "woman�s magazine with attitude" Rosie. After Rosie ceased publishing, Toepfer worked on developing a US version of G&J;�s weekly celebrity title Gala. Bernadette Healy, a former publisher of Reader�s Digest and the launch publisher of Rodale�s Organic Style, will be the publisher.
The launch of Quick & Simple testifies to how magazine publishers are seeking any category for growth. The low-cost magazines produced by Bauer Publishing USA have proved a rare industry bright spot on newsstands. Each issue of its weekly Woman�s World sells more than 1.5 million copies on newsstands.... more