Wednesday, June 25, 2008

recommended reading: we love magazines


I've posted before about international independent magazine symposium Colophon. There's a companion book to the Colophon2007 event, which I've just finished reading, called We Love Magazines. It's worth picking up.

The book is split into two halves: the first part contains chapters on covers, advertising, and developments in design and production; key events in the independent magazine world (like the birth of New York magazine and when Ray Gun used Zapf Dingbats as the font for the body copy of one story); and interviews with the creators of magazine like Coupe, Frame, and this is a magazine.com. The second half is an index of independent magazines worldwide, which also appears updated on the website.

If you're at all interested in magazines beyond the big consumer glossies, take a look. I particularly enjoyed the opening chapter, "The Eternal Spirit of Adventure," written by professor Samir "Mr. Magazine" Husni. In it he quotes Amir H Fallah, founder and creative director of Beautiful/Decay, who echos something I've always said I love about working in this industry:
"It's a great feeling to know that the project is ongoing and that you have the freedom to continually refine it. I think that is one of the best things about publishing a magazine. If you make a mistake in one issue, you can fix it in the next."

Monday, June 23, 2008

where are the cover letters and clippings?

A friend of mine is currently going through the process of hiring an editor. Under the presumption that she would be inundated with proper application packages, she's been appalled and bewildered by the lack of cover letters and clippings – most applicants are merely emailing their résumés. Why, she wondered, has no one gone the extra mile? Some of the things you may want to include in the next application package you send in:
• portfolio
• tearsheets/clippings (preferably in colour)
• tearsheets of competitors with commentary on what they're doing right/wrong
• story ideas
• reference letters
• sample of a completed edit
• copy of the magazine or printouts/CD of the website you currently work for
• And I can't believe that people aren't including cover letters!

There's certainly no problem with email applications, but in most cases, if you really want the job, make the effort to put together a nice hard-copy package in a professional binder or folder. Then find out who you should address it to and mail or courier it to them. As my friend said, "If I were to get an awesome package, even if the job experience was a little lacking, I'd be so much more inclined to take a person seriously as a candidate."

Sunday, June 22, 2008

common sense copyright

When you work in a creative industry like we do, copyright is a major issue – it's what allows us to make a living. In a video posted on the TED website, internet lawyer Larry Lessing makes a very compelling argument – one of the most eloquent and reasonable I've seen – for reevaluating our current copyright laws. The way legislation is now, a large majority of average, law-abiding citizens are breaking those laws on a daily basis. Specifically speaking of mashups and similar forms of creativity, Lessing points out that these are forms of literacy, of how "kids" come to understand digital technologies and its relationship to themselves. But...
"The architecture of copyright law and the architecture of digital technologies as they interact have produced the presumption that these activities are illegal. Because if copyright law at its core regulates something called copies, then in the digital world the one fact we can't escape is that every single use of culture produces a copy. Every single use, therefore, requires permission. Without permission you are a trespasser. ... Common sense, though, has not yet revolted."

With Minister of Industry Jim Prentice's Bill C-61 (see CBC and Michael Geist), it's obvious common sense is not winning. I haven't figured out yet how all this affects our line of work, but I think it's definitely something to pay attention to.

Here's the full video. (Filmed Mar. 2007. Approx. 20 min.)

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

advice for wannabe travel writers

Been on a trip recently and want to make some money off of it (or at least write off your expenses)? If you're interested in travel writing, travel writer Andrew Hempstead gives what looks to be realistic advice and a good overview of where and how to get travel pieces published. (I say "looks to be" because I know squat about travel writing.) In addition to magazine writing, he also covers guidebooks and provides tons of links to relevant organizations and other helpful websites.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

the life-work balance: unlimited vacation time at techtarget

What a wonderful world it would be if more companies treated their employees like the adults they are. As reported by Matt Kinsman in his blog for Folio:, tech publisher TechTarget allows its staff unlimited sick, personal and vacation days. In a results-based industry like publishing, it makes sense to trust that your employees are going to take off only the amount of time that they feel they can handle while still getting their jobs done. If they've done their work, the issue gets published. I would think that this policy would automatically benefit the most talented, hardest workers even further, as they would be able to take more time off and still produce stellar magazines. It's a far cry from one place I worked, where staff had to keep time sheets and weren't allowed to work from home because it was assumed they were just playing hooky.

Monday, June 16, 2008

books: Up For Renewal by Cathy Alter

Do you follow the advice of magazines? In her soon-to-be-released book, Up For Renewal, writer Cathy Alter chronicles her year-long social experiment of using magazines as her guiding force in life. I'll spare you the book review – I just wanted to point out the fascinating premise:
"Cathy gave over her life to the glossies for the next twelve months, resolving to follow their advice without question. By the end of her subscriptions, she would get rid of upper-arm jiggle, crawl out of debt, host the perfect dinner party, run a mile without puking, engage in better bathtub booty, ask for a raise, and rehaul her apartment."

The book reminded me that, although I always take magazine advice with a grain of salt or adapt it to my own purposes, some people out there must blindly follow the counsel of service journalism. When packaging content, reducing solutions to 10 easy steps, perhaps it would do us well to consider this. I wonder, is it reckless of us not to?

Friday, June 13, 2008

ed2010 toronto résumé workshop: what those who do the hiring had to say

Tuesday night, the Toronto chapter of Ed2010 hosted its first resume workshop, with guests Joe Chidley, editor-in-chief of Canadian Business, Jenny Pruegger, HR consultant at Transcontinental, and Penny Caldwell, editor in chief at Cottage Life. The evening began with a panel discussion moderated by myself, the coordinator of the Ed2010 Toronto chapter, before attendees had a chance to speak on-on-one with their choice of panelist for a personal résumé critique. Here are some pointers from the discussion:
• Don't forget to proofread your résumé! Penny pointed out that though this may seem obvious, some people still don't do it. And in an industry like publishing, proofreading is especially important since it's a part of any editorial job.

• Send in a hard copy of your application package. A coloured folder or nice paper will stand out amid a pile of emails printed out on white bond paper.

• Send your resume to both the HR department and the editor. (You'll be happy to hear, HR departments tend to keep résumés on hand for about a year.)

• Include work experience outside the publishing industry only if it's relevant to the job you're applying to, it indicates a variety of transferable skills or if it fills gaps in your employment history.

• Use a professional email address. No cutesy names like foofoopants@hotmail.com. And don't send applications from your current work address – that's just tacky.

• And as important as your résumé is, don't send it out all by itself. Include a cover letter, clips, even a copy of the magazine you currently work for.

Did you attend the workshop on Tuesday? Post a comment to share what you learned.

Friday, June 06, 2008

what i learned at MagNet part III: Lewis Lapham on history – his own and the world's


The distinguished and revered Lewis Lapham spoke yesterday at MagNet about his life in journalism, his time at Harper's Magazine and his current project, Lapham's Quarterly. Two nuggets I'd like to share with you:
• The secret to good journalism, according to Lapham's mentor, is "steal."

• The merit of a journalism degree is in the networking opportunities. As far as skill is concerned, the best way to learn is by doing.

Lapham also appeared on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos last night.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

what i learned at MagNet part II: taking our brands beyond canadian borders

At the MagNet session "Global Player: What's Next for the Canadian Magazine Brand?" Don Kummerfeld, president of the International Federation of the Periodical Press, presented a case for exporting our magazine brands into other countries. As he stated, while growth opportunities may be limited here, there are chances to expand into places like China and India, which have two of the fastest-growing magazine industries in the world. From syndication to partnerships to licensing agreements (think Transcon's More deal with Meredith), publishers small and big can make a buck overseas.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though no one wanted to listen. Questions and comments from both the audience and the panel revealed a kind of "well, that's not going to work here" attitude. True, Kummerfeld seemed a little out of touch with the realities of the Canadian industry in that our major players Transcontinental and Rogers have nowhere near the resources of publishers like Condé Nast or Hearst, but he did provide the example of a small plumbing magazine that has been able to set up editions in 16 countries with very little human resources. The point that stood out for me, though, and which I feel speaks to the Canadian tendency to undervalue ourselves, is that we mustn't underestimate the universal appeal of our magazines. There is a market for our voice beyond our borders.

what i learned at MagNet part I: texas monthly editor evan smith on how to diversify your offerings

It's a busy week for magazines, what with Mags U, MagNet and the National Magazine Awards. Yesterday I attended a session at MagNet called "Survival of the Fittest: A guide to the Multiplatform Universe" with editor and executive vice president of Texas Monthly Evan Smith. An entirely entertaining presentation, Smith had these nuggets of wisdom to share:
• Publishing a monthly is a bit like chain-smoking: as soon as you're done with one issue, you butt it out and light up another, without a pause in between.

• We are no longer magazine companies, we are content companies. It doesn't matter how that content is delivered, whether we offer it via print, tv, radio, internet, mobile, events...

• The balance of power has shifted. Audiences want content whenever and wherever; they will not sit around waiting for the next issue to come out in a month.

• Print and online audiences are not the same people, the demographics are different. Think about whether you really can sell them to advertisers in the same way.

• Directly engage your readers by being there in person, through conferences and events.

• Offer a point of view. The strongest media have something to say.

• "Readers bite back – hard." If you're going to offer yourself up to reader comments through blogs and the like, be prepared for some nasty comments. And suck it up.

• You must be a multitasker. Magazines are not simply hiring writers anymore – they're looking for bloggers and tv personalities, too. You have to be able to do more than simply sit down and write.

Everything is your competitor. It's not just about the other magazines in your category anymore. You're competing with television, the internet, billboards and golf tournaments. They are all vying for viewers, they are all vying for advertising dollars.

• "Quality control is (inevitably) a casualty." You have to operate more quickly and it's not reasonable to impose 20th century methodologies – fact-checking, extensive editing, etc. – on 21st century delivery systems like blogging.

• Credibility is what will save us. When we're competing against 14-year-old Joe Blow blogging from his basement in Ottawa, the authority of our brands is what will draw readers and advertisers.