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Contact: Lori Rosen                                                     Margaret Bensfield
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Finally!   A Smart Magazine for

Women on the Move

Bee Magazine to Launch Fall 2005

Dallas, TX (July 11, 2005) - She's at the gym, in the conference room, on her BlackBerry, making dinner, balancing her checkbook, having drinks, buying shoes, making payments, schmoozing at parties, calling home, talking shop, feeling her way, building a life, finding out what she's made of (pant, pant) - where's the magazine for this woman ?   On newsstands, this October.  Bee magazine is the unprecedented new women's magazine of substance that will fill a void in the marketplace for confident, independent women.

A blend of SmartMoney, Newsweek , and Marie Claire, Bee will cover everything that women with packed agendas seek: personal finance, politics, lifestyle and beauty. With a dynamic format simplifying items ranging from investment tips and world news to career advice and lifestyle ideas, Bee promises to give women in its demographic the perfect package.

Bee is the brainchild of 24-year-old entrepreneur, Celine Gumbiner, a native of Monaco who graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.   Like the concepts for so many successful magazines, this one came about out of a real need: after graduation, Gumbiner searched unsuccessfully for a magazine that spoke to her as a young woman short on time but long on questions about her world.

"Newsstands are devoid of magazines addressing topics necessary for women in a modern world," says Gumbiner, now CEO and co-founder of Bee 's publisher, Femme Publications L.L.P. "Today women have very different interests encompassing all areas of life - Bee is for the busy, curious, fun and savvy woman."

" Bee goes beyond makeup and dating," adds President and co-founding Publisher Erik Velez.   "Most readers will be educated career women living on their own, and while yes, they want great shoes, they also want to be able to actively engage in conversations about world affairs and learn fiscal responsibility - all without having to interrupt their hectic schedules."

The projected Bee reader will be an active woman - either at home or in the office - between the ages of 25-45.   She has a college degree and earns about $55,000.

The magazine will sell for $5.95 at major retailers around the country.   Total circulation is 100,000, increasing to 200,000 by the end of year four.   The frequency will be quarterly initially, with plans to become bi-monthly in 2006 and monthly in 2007.  

Bee 's editorial voices are rich with empowerment, wisdom and humor.   Editor-in-Chief Ana Maria Castronovo joins Bee from Dallas-based lifestyle publications The Advocate/Home & Heritage magazines. She knows Bee is on to something original:   "If you want the usual women's stuff," she says, "pick up the magazine next to Bee on the newsstand.   Or the one on the other side of that.   Or the one above that one.   It's been done."  

Regular contributors include Lynnette Khalfani, author of the New York Times bestseller Zero Debt: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Freedom ; Laura Shin, a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times ; and Ann Marlowe, lifestyle writer and author of How to Stop Time: Heroin from A to Z .

In Bee 's launch issue, Khalfani says put the Prada handbag back on the shelf in "The True Price of Shopping 'Til You Drop: Are You Making a Short- or Long-Term Bargain With Your Money?" while Ann Marlowe provides comic relief in the true story of a woman lawyer who collects Kelly bags.   "World At-A-Glance" sums up some of the most pressing news stories in efficient, accessible paragraphs, including Iran's nuclear weapons threat, and the EU's constitution struggles.

Gumbiner and Velez, based out of Dallas, TX, have assembled an ace veteran advisory board, including Dr. Samir Husni (President and CEO of Magazine Consulting & Research), Ambassador Kathryn Hall (businesswoman, philanthropist and former Ambassador to Austria), Gail Velez (co-founder and chair of the Cool Culture Initiative), and Amber Brookman (President and CEO of Brookwood Companies, and a member of the C200).   Dr. Bernadine Healy, US News and World Report columnist, former president of The American Red Cross, and White House advisor on bio-terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, has recently been named to Bee 's editorial board of advisors.

Gumbiner created Femme Publications L.L.P. in 2004, and handles all strategic partnership opportunities.   Prior to forming Femme, she worked with Deloitte & Touche in New York, and as an analyst for The Hallwood Group Incorporated.   She now serves as a non-executive director of Hallwood Investments Limited, a money management company.

Velez joined up with Gumbiner in May 2004 to develop the project and head all future management and advertising.   Prior to Bee , Velez was Vice President in charge of strategic marketing and partnerships for New York-based Family Publications, a publisher of print publications for the parent and educational market, where he greatly increased revenue.

Email subscribe@beemag.com to request a subscription to Bee .

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