ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 14, 1997 TAG: 9703140031
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BALTIMORE
SOURCE: ALEX DOMINGUEZ ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jonathan Adler got the idea for the periodical from his father, who wrote ``War of the Roses.''
If your marriage is on the rocks, or if it's history, a Maryland publisher thinks he has the magazine for you.
Jonathan Adler plans to debut his new magazine about divorce, Marital Status, this May in Maryland.
The market is certainly there. More than half of American marriages end in divorce. In 1994, the year for which the most recent figures are available, there were 17.3 million divorced people nationwide, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Adler says he got the idea for a magazine from his father, who wrote ``War of the Roses,'' a 1979 book about an exceptionally ugly divorce that 10 years later was made into a dark comedy film.
``The interesting thing is, he and I are both happily married, and each of us have three children,'' Adler said.
Adler's magazine will focus on four topics - separation, divorce, being single again and getting married again. Adler envisions how-to advice columns on such topics as lawyers, handling the emotional side of a divorce and getting back into the dating scene.
Targeted advertisers include therapists, private investigators, plastic surgeons and orthodontists.
The magazine will appear twice yearly and carry a newsstand price of $9.95 an issue.
``The readership will be moving through the four phases and the publication comes out every six months because we think that's the cycle of the phases,'' he said. ``It's not a subscription-based publication. The purpose of the product is for them to educate themselves on whatever transition they are going through.''
Adler formed his Silver Spring-based publishing firm, the Adler Group, in 1988, and has been in publishing since the 1970s.
Adler said he plans to introduce the magazine in Maryland in May and expand to Virginia in September. He hopes eventually to expand to 21 states with localized magazines for each state.
Adler feels his magazine can achieve the same success bridal magazines enjoy, which also rely on a transient audience.
``The purpose is for them to educate themselves on whatever transition they are going through,'' he said.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. Jonathan Adler shows off a copy of theby CNBmagazine. He thinks there's a market, because more than half of
American marriages end in divorce. That translates into 17.3 million
divorced people nationwide, according to the Census Bureau. color.