For Now at Least, Magazine Is the Talk of the Town

Talk is more than just talk.

The new chic publication from editor Tina Brown and Miramax is also a lot of buy. Los Angeles news vendors say they can barely keep the magazine on their shelves.

“Sales are through the roof,” said Heidi Weisman, owner of World Book & News in L.A. The popular Cahuenga Boulevard newsstand has sold more than 200 copies in two days and ordered 150 additional copies to keep up with demand.

News vendors aren’t surprised at the brisk sales. The first lady is on the cover, and Tina Brown is renowned for her skill in attracting media attention.

“[Brown] had it well planned,” said Gary Pierson of West Hollywood’s Book Soup, which has also sold out of its first batch of 200 copies and has reordered more. “She had her party, she had her newscasts, she even had Jay Leno talking about it. I don’t know where she gets her pull from, but she’s got it.”

But media observers say it’s far too early to talk up the magazine (which costs $2.95 at the newstand) just yet. Establishing a profitable magazine takes lots of money and years of effort.

“You save up all your stuff for a first great issue, and that’s important,” said Bryce Nelson, a journalism professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication. “But you have to do it issue after issue. . . . You aren’t going to get Hillary Clinton on every cover.”