Hamptons mag business is hot this summer

THE Hamptons publishing scene is once again defying the soft national trend.

Revenue at the beachy titles is up double digits and publishers are tossing posh kickoff parties this weekend — with other big events planned through the summer.

And because it is the Hamptons, there is also a good bit of score-settling built into the mix.

“Print advertising is thriving in the Hamptons — it’s really a national branding capital,” said Debra Halpert, the longtime publisher of Hamptons magazine, who added Beach to her portfolio after Hampton owner GreenGale Publishing was sold in April to onetime rival Modern Luxury.

“I am loving the consolidation of the older demographic titles under one owner,” snips Brandusa Niro, the publisher of the fashion-centric Daily Front Row, which becomes Daily Summer for the season on the East End.

“The sameness will be even greater, and that has already sent a lot of new business our way, especially in the event area,” Niro said. “Our sponsorship revenues are up more than 40 percent so far this season.”

Of course, Beach, which has Padma Lakshmi on the cover, was repositioned away from lifestyle into a health and wellness publication, stirring some local rancor.

Cristina Cuomo was the launch editor for Beach until she was dismissed suddenly by Modern Luxury last September in a downsizing. Then, a month after she announced the launch of her Hamptons Purist in the health and wellness niche, her former publisher followed her by announcing a conversion of Beach in the same niche.

“We don’t think there’s any copy catting,” said Halpert. “We wish her well. We think we’re just doing what resonates with people here.”

“I know I am nuts launching a Web site, app, magazine and a guide all at once,” said Cuomo but, between the magazine and an accompanying pocket guide, there are 147 ad pages and the debut issue that features health advocate and former supermodel Christy Turlington. She’s tossing a kickoff party on Friday night at a private home on Palm Lane in Southhampton.

Business is also booming for Richard Burns, who hired bestselling author Michael Gross to edit Avenue on the Beach. Burns renamed his company from Dan’s Papers to Dan’s Hamptons Media earlier this year to reflect the fact that Dan’s business is now more than 40 percent non-newspaper.

Burns’ year-on-year revenue has risen 10 percent — and the week of Memorial Day is up 25 percent. He is holding one of the largest kickoffs, dubbed Rosé Soirée, on Sunday, May 28, at the Southampton Arts Center. Roughly 600 people are expected at the fifth signature event in his Dan’s Taste of Summer series.

Social Life Magazine, now in its 14th year, is holding its launch Saturday in Southhampton and features a cover shot of Montauk summer resident Naomi Watts, who is starring in the upcoming Netflix movie “Gypsy.” Publisher Justin Mitchell says ad revenues are up 18 percent.

“I think what you have here is peo- ple want to disconnect from the electronic world and sit by the pool or the ocean and read a traditional magazine,” Mitchell said. “It’s almost like a luxury to do that.”

Hearst launches

Despite its bumpy ride with Dr. Oz The Good Life, Hearst is plunging ahead with two new test launches.

The latest on tap is Ree Drummond’s new magazine, Pioneer Woman, debuting June 6.

It will be sold only in Walmart stores.

The publisher hopes that Drummond’s popular cooking show and her blog — which snags 23 million page views per month — translates into a magazine success story.

It is the second test issue to launch from Hearst in recent weeks. The test launch of the travel title Airbnbmag hit this week.

Joint ventures hold down launch costs, but TV success is not an automatic pass to success.

Dr. Oz The Good Life moved to 950,000 circulation at 10 times a year at the start of the year, but poor ad support caused the company to cut back to a quarterly “bookazine” earlier this month. Vicki Wellington, who is also publisher of Food Network Magazine as well as Pioneer Woman, says of Drummond: “She never wrote a business plan on how to be a success. She’s basically been operating from the heart.” In her first meeting at the Hearst Tower in September, Drummond wore cowboy boots, Wellington said. Drummond married Ladd Drummond and moved to his sprawling Oklahoma ranch when she began doing a mom blog on cooking, country life and family in 2006 that soon ggained a national following. Her blog eventually turned into a guest appearance on Bobby Flay’s cooking show and eventually her own Food Network show and a bestselling cook book. Wellington said the first test issue has 35 ad pages. “It sold out very quickly,” she said. “I had to turn people away.” The company is only distributing 150,000 copies of the first issue. The second test issue, scheduled for September, will broaden out beyond the Walmart chain, said Wellington.