ANOTHER celebrity editor is packing it in.
Sarah Ivens, who has been running OK! since British billionaire Richard Desmond launched the American version three years ago, is leaving the mag by the end of the year.
“I’m leaving at Christmas,” Ivens told Media Ink.
She’s getting married to fellow Brit and software architect Russell Moffett, but she won’t be moving to England after she’s hitched. Instead, she’s off to Lexington, Ky.
“The wedding will be next April in the Cotswolds, England,” said Ivens over lunch at DB Bistro. “That month, I also have my first American book out, ‘No Regrets,’ published by Random House. It’s a collection of essays from famous people on life decisions they’ve made.
Ivens insisted that she made the decision to resign in June, months before Kent Brownridge arrived on the scene as the magazine’s new general manager, and she says she gave the company a six-month notice as required by her contract.
Ivens has had a dizzying ride, working in daily journalism and at British Marie Claire before landing at Desmond’s profitable British version of OK! four years ago as its No. 2 editor.
She was a last-minute replacement to run the American version of OK! three years ago, and Brownridge played an inadvertent role in making that happen while he was still at Wenner Media, which owns Us Weekly.
Brownridge had raided Desmond’s British OK! in 2004, taking then-Editor-In-Chief Nicola McCarthy to be second in command to Janice Min, who at the time was on maternity leave.
Now there’s speculation that Brownridge might have his eye on her again, this time as editor of OK!.
There is also chatter that Brownridge would love to snag Bonnie Fuller, the out- of- work editrix who was most recently editorial director of the financially struggling American Media Inc.
However, that might be a long shot, given Fuller was pulling in $2.1 million a year at AMI – a price tag Desmond might be loath to pay. Ivens was said to have earned a mid-six-figure salary.
Not too surprisingly, Fuller insisted nothing was afoot. Via e-mail, she said, “I think Kent is terrific and I wish him all the best in his new position. I’m very happy working on my new venture, Bonnie Fuller Media.”
Mom mags
Here it is the end of September, and the long drought in publishing mergers acquisitions has ended with Swedish publishing giant Bonnier snapping up Working Mother Media, owner of Working Mother and publisher of the list of the 100 best places for moms to work.
Terms weren’t disclosed but sources say the sale price is estimated to be just under $10 million on a group that was operating at a small loss on revenues of about $23 million. Also included in the deal are the Working Mother conference, exhibitions and the trade group, the National Association of Female Executives.
“The cultural fit is perfect,” said Terry Snow, who is the CEO of Bonnier Publications in the US.
On an ad and demographic front, the newly acquired title matches up nicely with Bonnier’s Parenting and Baby Talk.
Snow said he sees global spin-off possibilities in Europe, where Bonnier is one of the largest publishers.
Working Mother Media CEO Carol Evans said she will stay on board, as will Editor-in-Chief Suzanne Riss.
Through October, the magazine is up 7 percent in ad pages to 463.9, according to Media Industry Newsletter.
Buffett book
Many were astounded when Alice Schroeder, the one-time Morgan Stanley analyst, scored a $7 million advance back in 2005 for a book on Warren Buffett, for which the Oracle of Omaha agreed to cooperate and give her full access.
Now the book, “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life,” will hit Monday with a first printing of one million copies, according to publisher Bantam Books, which is part of Random House Inc.
The book’s arrival comes just as Buffett reaps a blizzard of publicity from his $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs. The book details a similar bailout that Buffett did for Salomon Brothers in the 1980s.
Dollar Bill
Fox News Channel anchor Bill O’Reilly is believed to have snagged an advance in the $5 million range for his latest book, “A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity,” from Broadway Books.
A spokesman said that the company is cranking out a first printing of 850,000 copies.
All of O’Reilly’s previous four books have hit No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
This one offers insight into O’Reilly’s very middle class up bringing in Levittown, LI, including his Catholic school.
The words that eventually became the title of the book were uttered by his teacher Sister Mary Lurana after he acted out in class.
O’Reilly, often cast as a rock- ribbed conservative, has some harsh criticism for President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and more than a few kind words for Barack Obama.
And he doesn’t say “Shut up” once in the book.