Launching nationwide at the end of the month, Motivated magazine is a quarterly magazine that aims to inspire readers not only in business but in life.

Targeted at readers aged 35-55 with some business savvy, the launch issue has 72-pages with 18 of those being advertising, said vice president sales and marketing Heidi Lyon. “We are hoping to find a balance in advertising between more business-oriented companies such as rental cars, hotels and travel and ads that focus on self-improvement,” she said.

Magazines Canada is warning of a potentially “serious” drop-off in subscriptions for Ontario-based magazines when the new harmonized sales tax (HST) in that province kicks in on July 1, 2010.

This edition brings an article from Folio on a study which said magazines along with confectionary and beverages make up the “power group” of top performers at the checkout. Still at Folio, an update on layoffs at Business Week as up to a third of its staff could lose their jobs through the sale of the magazine.

Cameron Williamson will assume the role of editor in chief at Glow magazine effective November 30. Williamson has been art director of Chatelaine since 2006. Prior to that he was creative director at Toro magazine, fashion director at The National Post and fashion editor at Saturday Night.

On November 26, CSME is hosting “Picture this: telling stories through photography” at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto. The luncheon will feature veteran photojournalist Peter Bregg  speaking on how using photography can turn a turn a good story into a great one.

Presented by Toronto-based K9 Design Co., the inaugural National Magazine Makeover Contest is now accepting submissions. Organized to celebrate print and design the contest is open to all Canadian magazines.

Billed as Alberta’s heritage, arts and culture magazine, Legacy will cease operations after the release of its Winter 2009 issue. The decision to close the magazine which has been in print for 14 years was made not for financial reasons or lack of advertising but simply because the time has come, said publisher and editor Barbara Dacks.

At the recent ABC board of directors meeting a few changes were announced including making some paragraphs optional for business publications and digital editions in reports. The creation of a Canadian digital advisory committee was also announced.

At day two of Marketing Week, president of Hearst Magazines Cathie Black was the luncheon speaker with a talk entitled “Innovation: The Future of Magazines.” In a half-hour that recognized the industry’s hardships while looking to the future, Black painted a picture that was not as bleak as many might have expected despite Hearst having folded “one or two” magazines in the past year.

It was announced yesterday that Quebecor Media Inc. is combining its four sales teams — Sun Media newspapers, Canoe.ca, TVA Broadcast and TVA Publications into one group. According to vice president, national sales Philippe Guay the move was made not to cut costs but to better leverage the synergy between the groups.