Transcript The Great Magazine Lecture

The Great Magazine Lecture
An adventure into the real world….
© Perry Glasser
Overview
 Business Models
 Editorial Models
 Implications for the Professional Writer
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Business Models
 Open “circ” (short for “circulation”)

Sold to anyone with the cover price
 Closed circ
Selected audience
 Often free

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Costs
 Money is the lifeblood of magazines. Costs
include:



Production and sales staff
Materials of production (paper, ink)
Distribution costs (postage, trucks, cost of
shelf-space)
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Income
 Sales
 Advertising
 Donations

Usually in the form of “real” contribution, such
as office space granted by a college to a literary
journal
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Critical Pause
 Why aren’t the thickest magazines—the
ones that cost the most to produce—the
most expensive to buy?
 How do closed circ magazines that give
away copies stay in business?
 If these questions puzzle you, go back to
the slide about Income.
ADVERTISING!
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Ad Rates
 Advertising rates increase with circulation.
 Magazine circulation is audited just as
independent accountants audit finances.
 Closed circ magazines can guarantee a niche
market to advertisers, and so can charge
advertisers more $$$ per reader.
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Ad – Edit Ratio
 Gauge a magazine’s financial health by comparing
the number of advertising pages to the number of
editorial pages.
 A “healthy” ad-edit ratio is about 4:6, or 40%
 Some magazines have ad-edit ratios of 9:1, or 90%
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Who cares? I just wanna write!
 Expect little or no pay from magazines in
financial straits.
 Expect few readers if you publish in low
circulation magazines.
and…
 Knowledge of business models = knowledge
of audience = more effective writing.
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Editorial Models
Consumer magazines
Broad demographics
 Newsweek
 Parade
 People
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Niche magazines
Narrow demographics
 Quilting
 Yachts
 PC Gamer
Magazine Feature Qualities




Urgency
Up to date information
Primary sources
Specific details
Critical Pause: Ah-ha! Could this be why so many cover
lines include a specific number?
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Kinds of Articles
 How-to
 Personality profile – interview or narrative
 Op-Ed and reviews
 First person witness, such as travelogue
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Purpose of Articles
 Entertain
 Persuade (foment attitude)
 Inform
 Provoke (foment action)
A feature article can have multiple purposes.
NOTICE: Purposes affect the reader.
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Implications
 Know the magazine’s audience.
 Know your sources.
 The writer is never the subject.
 An article must give readers “value.”
A reader who takes away no value, won’t buy the next
issue, circulation sinks, advertising rates go south…
disaster
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Good Magazine Writing
 Effective – achieves purposes
 Collaborative
 Timely
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