Magazines

So, you wanna be EIC, huh? Depending on the size of the publication and the stability of the market — which, let’s face it, has not been that kind to print publications lately — the magazine masthead is not the playground of overnight sensations. You can, however, climb the editorial ladder with a little strategy and lots of hard work. For example…

Sign up for the un-spectacular.

You know those grunt assignments that nobody else wants? Take ‘em. They’re like little learning boot camps, said Marie Claire features director Lea Goldman, who found unique value in a notoriously tedious task.

“When I started out, transcripts and fact checking were the most useful things I did because they taught me how to put together a story,” she remembered. “I often just copied the source with the head of an organization and add that name and number to my Rolodex like, ‘OK, that’s a source. Now, I know if I’m ever working on a story like this, I can call that person.’ So they’re very useful and they shouldn’t be dismissed as just scut work.”

To find out how other magazine veterans got promoted, read How To Become an Editor-in-Chief.

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.

Seventeen is making two editorial changes. The magazine has named Caitlin Moscatello its new Deputy Editor, and Kimberly Tranell has been promoted from Health Editor to Senior Editor.

Moscatello joins Seventeen from Redbook, where she served as Senior Editor. She has also worked at The Knot and Shape. Tranell has been with Seventeen since 2008.

Moscatello begins on June 4 and Tranell’s appointment is effective immediately.

Franklin Foer, the Editor-in-Chief of The New Republic from 2006 to 2010, is returning to the magazine for another stint in the same role. Foer has been working on side projects since leaving the title, and told The New York Times that he had no intention of coming back. “But to me, it feels like a new project,” Foer explained. “It doesn’t feel like I’m going back to my old job.”

For The New Republic’s relatively new owner, Chris Hughes, hiring Foer is a big step toward rebuilding The New Republic. Other changes that are planned include adding pages to the print version, redesigning the website and setting up offices here in the city.

Hughes, who worked for Facebook and left with a fortune estimated at $700 million, knows kickstarting the magazine is going to be rough, but he sounds optimistic. “Our goal is to recruit a lineup of all-star. We want to hire great people, and quality costs money,” he said. Good thing he’s got plenty of it.

Here’s a look at what FishbowlNY stories made the most buzz this week.

1. Playboy Battles Vanity Fair Over Nudes of Marilyn Monroe, May 11
2. Real Simple First Print Mag to 10,000 Pinterest Followers, May 11
3. 2012 Gerald Loeb Award Finalists Announced, May 14
4. The Business of Parenting, May 15
5. Long Island’s Fair Media Council Says WCBS/WLNY Deal Is ‘Wonderful Thing,‘ May 14

Keep up-to-date with the latest FishbowlNY news. Click here to sign-up for the FishbowlNY daily newsletter, bringing you our articles each afternoon directly to your inbox.

The New Yorker is getting pocket sized. The New York Post reports that the magazine will be the first Condé Nast brand to launch an iPhone app, and it might be here as soon as early September.

For now, not much is known about the app. Scott Dadich, Vice President of Content Innovation at Condé, denied having a launch date in mind, and Pamela McCarthy, Deputy Editor at The New Yorker, didn’t give any details either. “There is reason to think that everything we offer on the iPad will also be offered on the iPhone,” she told the Post.

Either way, the app is on its way. Just remember: No one thinks New Yorker cartoons are funny, so showing them off while you’re out and about isn’t going to impress anyone.

General parenting magazines are aplenty in this industry, but Family Circle specifically zeroes in on the life of raising a teenager. So, scribes hoping for a byline need to make sure they offer concrete tips for the health and well-being of readers’ families.

“We offer essential advice for tough parenting challenges, fun suggestions for family activities, healthy and delicious recipes, and DIY projects to create a comfortable home,” said senior associate editor Stephanie Emma Pfeffer.

If you’re bursting with ideas in any of those topics, you’re in luck. FC relies on freelancers for about 60 percent of its content.

Get more guidelines in How To Pitch: Family Circle.

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.

T, The New York Times’ Style Magazine, is going through quite the rough patch. According to WWD, the title has seen ad pages drop in five out of its seven issues so far this year. Overall, T’s ad pages are down four percent, and therefore the “when will Sally Singer get canned” rumors are picking up steam.

Singer has been the Editor-in-Chief of T since 2010, and has been under scrutiny during almost all of her tenure. As WWD notes, Jill Abramson even “grilled her last year over declining ad sales.”

Despite Singer’s and the magazine’s struggles, a New York Times spokesperson maintained that T is “a strong performer.” We’ll see how long that viewpoint lasts.

The New York Post is reporting that Lucy Maher is leaving Hearst to join Condé Nast’s Self as its new Digital Director. Maher had been Hearst Digital’s Executive Director of Content since June of 2010.

Prior to her time at Hearst, Maher was Executive Editor of Forbes for three years. She also has had stints as a Ladies’ Home Journal Senior Editor and as a Features Editor for People.com.

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.

EatingWell magazine has been selected winner of a James Beard Foundation Journalism Award. The publication was honored for “The Soup for Life,” an article by Anna Thomas that appeared in the September/October 2011 issue.

The piece won in the Cooking, Recipes, or Instruction category.

Additionally, two EatingWell articles were named finalists: “Going Clean” by Melinda Wenner Moyer (September/October 2011) in the Health and Well-Being Category; and “The E-Mail Home” by Ann Hodgman (September/October 2011) in the Humor category.

“Anna Thomas’ article about how one pot of green soup ended up changing her diet is the perfect reflection of our mission at EatingWell – to deliver inspiring information on how to make healthy eating a way of life,” says EatingWell editorial director, Lisa Gosselin. “We are so proud of our editorial team for their dedication to producing the story, and we are thrilled to be recognized for creating some of the most compelling food content in the country.”

Since its highly acclaimed relaunch in 2002, EatingWell’s articles and books have been recognized as winners and/or finalists for 23 James Beard Awards.

The EatingWell Media Group is a leading source of science-based nutrition advice; delicious, easy and healthy recipes; and useful shopping information. The EatingWell Media Group was acquired by Meredith Corporation in June 2011.