GALOTTI DUMPS ON TALK’S COMPETITION

RON Galotti, publisher of the soon-to-be-launched Talk, was calling out the bucket brigade in a frenzied bid to reach the magical 400-ad-page total for the first four issues. Advertising closed just before the July 4 weekend for the issue that debuts on Aug. 2.

In one instance, he had staffers send a garbage can to a fence-sitting media buyer at the very upscale Louis Vuitton, sources said.

The not-so-subtle message that accompanied the big bucket: “If you got the garbage off your media plan, you’d have room for Talk.”

Meg Lynch at Louis Vuitton did not return repeated phone calls from The Post to see whether she was bemused by her “gift.”

The goal of 100 ad pages in each of the first four issues was unconventional and a bit of a gamble when it was first revealed by Galotti this year.

Advertisers love big premiere issues and all the hype that surrounds them. Sometimes they can even be convinced to go for two issues in order to get the special, discounted charter ad rates. But rarely does the love affair last to the fourth issue, when the early buzz has worn off and many of the charter advertisers disappear.

“What if the second issue or the third issue bombs but you are locked into four?” said Priya Narang, senior vice president and director of media at DeWitt Media. She passed on the chance to place ads for her client BMW in Talk. As to the garbage can sent to the Louis Vuitton account, he acknowledges that someone on his staff did indeed engage in the prank but would not confirm which rival magazines were stuffed inside the bucket.

“You know the old expression: It’s war out there, baby,” says Galotti with a chuckle.

Meanwhile, on the editorial side of the fence, editor-in-chief Tina Brown is still out raiding the competition while she puts the finishing touches on the her debut issue.

Rebuffed earlier this year when she tried to get noted lensman Harry Benson to jump ship, she scored a measure of revenge last week.

Fashion photog Max Vadukul, who had been snapping for The New Yorker for 2 years, is jumping to Talk to be editor-at-large/photogra-pher.

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Conde Nast insiders are saying that Cindi Leive – pegged by Media Ink as one of the top candidates for the Self magazine job from the start – is about to be handed the job.

She beats out Sally Lee from Parents and Pamela Miller, a feature editor at ESPN Magazine, as well as Annemarie Iverson from Harper’s Bazaar.

Meanwhile, the outgoing editor Rochelle Udell is wasting no time. She is talking to Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Magazines President Cathleen Black about working on the new Oprah Magazine.

Sources say she was in to see Black last week. Udell did not return several calls from Media Ink seeking comment.