What’s a sure-fire sign that your unannounced, does-it or doesn’t-it exist, top-secret product is a hit before it even materializes? When major publishers like Condé Nast are racing to retool their biggest magazines in anticipation of it.

That’s the word out of Valleywag today, with Condé Nast readying a repackaged version of Wired magazine for Apple’s famed tablet. As reporter Ryan Tate puts it, “Publishers are clearly betting Steve Jobs can save their business model.”

And Condé isn’t alone. In recent weeks, New York Times editor Bill Keller and News Corp. magnate Rupert Murdoch have both praised the idea of moving print magazines to the “holy grail”-like tablet device.

The plan, as described to All Things D’s Peter Kafka, is to port Wired to the tablet by mid-2010, followed later by their other 17 titles. Adobe is working on a special digital format, since they already make the publishing software in use by most magazine publishers today. Condé hopes to gain compatibility with Apple’s rumored tablet and other such touchscreen devices already available from Hewlett Packard and others.

However, as Valleywag points out, the eager Condé might want to keep its enthusiasm in check. Just this year alone, the publisher has closed six magazines and slashed budgets 25% at its remaining titles, resulting in layoffs. “It’s doubtful that even Steve Jobs can come up with a silver bullet to rescue businesses that have spent many years squandering past digital opportunities,” Tate concludes.