Magazines

Landing a byline at a regional pub when you’re an out-of-towner takes some effort, but as long as you keep in mind the audience you’re writing for, editors are usually open-minded.

Take The Boston Globe Magazine, for example. Editor-in-chief Susanne Althoff asks freelancers to remember that the Globe magazine is, at root, a local magazine. “That doesn’t mean we’re not interested in national trend stories,” she said. “But it’s got to be a trend that’s of interest to readers in the Boston area, or in the greater Boston/New England area.”

Find out where to send your story ideas in How To Pitch: The Boston Globe Magazine.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

The NYT Sunday Magazine owes a lot to last night’s AMC’s “Mad Men” episode. Pete Campbell, played by Vincent Kartheiser, is having an erotic daydream in his office.  The object of his lust arouses him with this line: “I forgot you, and then I saw you in the New York Times Sunday magazine.”

Just in time for Spring Break and another influx of Girls Gone Wild videos, TIME‘s Joe Klein announces his third campaign road trip and he’s asking readers for their help.

He writes, “The campaign is in a lull. The wars overseas are winding down. Washington is paralyzed. I’ve loaded up my iPod with some new songs. There’s nothing to do but….hit the road! And so, my third annual election road trip will commence on May 31–for three weeks through presidential battleground states, from North Carolina to, well, as always YOU get to decide the details of my route.”

He goes on to say, “I’m open to anything: brats, barbeque, baseball, flea markets or just a cup of coffee. As in the past, I’ll be bringing along some interesting traveling companions to keep me company. But my best traveling companions will be you. When was the last time a pontificating punditory prefect of the mainstream media asked you for your opinions? So put up or shut up…No kidding: I’m looking forward to hearing from you.”

In the self-promotional culture that now dominates modern journalism, some try to make an event, story or quote all about them. Some journalists are even subtle about it. But Washingtonian Editor Garrett Graff does it with an unparallelled expertise. Congratulations to Graff (or something like that). He’s referring to an award won by New York Magazine.

RT @mlcalderone: New York wins single-topic award for 9/11 Encyclopedia issue. #ellies // congratulations NY! proud to have contributed.

— Garrett Graff (@vermontgmg) May 4, 2012

If you’re as crazy without your coffee (or doughnut, or chocolate covered strawberries, or oysters…) as CBS Radio’s Mark Knoller is, why not channel that obsession into a byline for Food Network Magazine?

The pub pays at least $1.50 per word and, although it isn’t easy to break into, editors there are always hungry for fresh takes on everything from food news to kitchen trends.

“We’re a hard pitch. I can probably count on one or two hands how many pitches we’ve accepted since we launched,” said deputy editor Tracy Saelinger. “That said, we welcome ideas from writers, but they just have to be newsy, quirky and fun. We get pitched lots of tired trends that feel like old news.”

Get more details in How To Pitch: Food Network Magazine.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

We’re still digging our way through the TIME-People swag bag from Friday night. So far our favorite items are the fancy chocolates, the almond energy bar that got us through at least the beginning of Saturday night and the pretty soy candle. A little regifting may happen with the navy T-shirt that is three sizes too big. Also quite enjoying the purple snakeskin purse and Urban Decay eyeshadows — to the female reporters who haven’t yet opened yours, watch out for the sparkly versions or you may feel glitter bombed upon application.

Among the perks of a journalist covering the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and the events surround it are the gift bags that are doled out at select parties.

Last night we collected our first bag of the weekend, and what a delight it was. A big fat thank you to Elle, Lanmark Technology’s Lani Hay and the Creative Coalition for assembling a collection of items we never knew we wanted so badly. This was awaiting us on our chairs inside a banquet room at The Ritz to celebrate female journalists. Who the hell says there’s a war on women?

Contents of the black bag:

1. Beautiful bright orange hair ties from South Moon Under.

2. The latest Elle Magazine with Rihanna on the cover. If you don’t know how to pronounce Rihanna just ask CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

3. Skinny Pop Popcorn. Only 100 calories per bag. Guilt free, cholesterol free.

4. A creamy yellow box of chocolates from Largess Affair.

5. Liz Earle face cleanse & polish in a pretty mint green container.

6. Kate Somerville intensive exfoliating treatment and a separate bottle of dermal quench Liquid Lift.

7. Glo Therapeutics skin revitalizer bronzer.

8. $35 toward perfume at Lafco in New York.

9. A diamond in the ruff Radiance Micro-Oxygen facial at RPS Medspa.

10. A delectable lemon flavored Georgetown Cupcake.

11. Free training session with Laurant at YaLa Fitness.  Uh oh. Who’s Laurant? Who knows? But it’s free.

12. Lip gloss. The color: luna (a dark peachy pink).

13. An absolutely luxurious turquoise eye mask from Kumi Kookoon. We’re in the cocoon as we speak.

14. Burt’s Bees lip shimmer in the always necessary array of plum, cherry and strawberry.

15. Burt’s Bees daily moisturizing cream for sensitive skin. It’s hypoallergenic.

16. Promise Me by Nancy Brinker, founder of Susan. G. Komen for the Cure.

Who showed up?

Read more

In the latest episode of mediabistroTV’s “My First Big Break,” we hear from HollywoodLife.com editor Bonnie Fuller. Fuller gained international acclaim as the editor of magazines such as Marie Claire, US Weekly and Cosmopolitan, but did you know that she started out as a beat reporter writing about sports clothes? Or that a friendship with an upcoming fashion designer named Tommy Hilfiger led to a meeting that would change her professional career? Watch below, as Fuller explains how she went from a young cub reporter, to one of the most powerful women in publishing.

For more videos, check out our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter: @mediabistroTV

Feeling lonely and pathetic? Blame Facebook.

The Atlantic‘s second annual Culture Issue is out today and the cover story, by Stephen Marche, explores the affects social media like Twitter and Facebook are having on the mental and physical health of individuals as well as their impact on society. New research suggests these mediums, despite enhancing connectivity, are driving people toward narcissism and loneliness.

Also in the magazine:

• “American Mozart: The Genius of Kanye West,” by David Samuels– This one’s a goodie. At a recent fundraiser in New York City, President Barack Obama is asked to pick between rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West. He picks Jay-Z and says this of West: “He is a jackass. But he’s talented.”
• “How to Make a Hollywood Hit,” by Nicole Allan– An inside look at the “strategic ‘rules’ that Hollywood is following to appeal to the largest audience worldwide.”)
• “The Tea Party Takes Japan,” by Molly Ball– Seriously, there’s a small group trying to make the Tea Party happen in Japan.

The new cover of TIME is titled, “THE WORLD’S MOST EXCLUSIVE CLUB, The Secret Society of Presidents.”

In this week’s cover story, Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy look at the private relationships among the living U.S. Presidents — the backroom deals, rescue missions and rivalries — that have marked modern American history.

The cover story is adapted from their forthcoming book, The Presidents Club, and brings to light new details, including: The first two calls Barack Obama placed on the night that the SEALs killed Osama bin Laden was to George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.