Pride in their guide: business and life partners Jane Pirone and Diana Pizzari talk about their travel guides--designed for residents too.

"I'm a member of the gay and lesbian community, and I'm also one of the best consumers on the planet," says Jane Pirone, creator, publisher, and executive editor of the Not for Tourists Guide series. "I figured if it was the perfect book for me, then it would be probably pretty good for a lot of other people."

On its debut two years ago, Pirone's Not for Tourists Guide to Manhattan proved a godsend not just for lost tourism but also for on-the-go New York City residents. Now Pirone, along with her partner of two years, Diana Pizzari, is demystifying Los Angeles as well with the Not for Tourists Guide to Los Angeles, coming out in March.

Asked to describe the major difference between the Los Angeles and New York books, Pirone is typically down-to-earth. "Things like bagels aren't an essential in L.A., but they are in New York," Pirone says, laughing. "But the L.A. book has a listing for a 24-hour place for head shots. Now, that's an L.A. essential."

Pirone's idea of the essentials is exactly what sets her nifty guides apart. Forget the tourist traps. Neighborhood by neighborhood, the guides cover the things we really need to know about--restaurants, bookstores, pet stores, video rental outlets, hardware stores, coffeehouses, hospitals, club events--even the lighting schedule for the Empire State Building.

The guides get the essentials right when it comes to packaging too: New York's guide is pocket-size for pedestrians; Los Angeles's driver-friendly edition is more like a Day-Timer.

Pirone got the idea for the guides while she was working in film production in 1990. But it wasn't until 1998, after starting her own multimedia company, that she began the two years of legwork that made the Manhattan guide a reality.

Now, working with a full-time staff of five, including editor Pizzari, Pirone plans to cover all of the major U.S. cities--a Chicago guide is due out in September--and eventually go global. For gay and lesbian users, Pirone and company include an exclusive section on queer interests and resources--but within a comprehensive whole.

Pirone and Pizzari plan to follow that formula with future guides, concentrating on major U.S. cities with a gay and lesbian presence that may benefit from their work. "The cities that really need the gay and lesbian coverage aren't New York, San Francisco, and L.A., but the cities where that community is not as prominent," says Pizzari. "So when we start covering cities like Boston, Houston, Philadelphia, and Dallas, that's where I want to see the best gay and lesbian coverage. We want to definitely put those communities on the map."

Mathis also writes for L.A. Weekly.